In 2008, Ron Paul ran a campaign that it would be fair to describe as "ill-defined." He had little organization, disjointed grassroots efforts and little ground gain in crucial caucus states.
When he wrapped up his second bid for president in 2008, he offered no promise to his supporters that he'd be back in 2012. Many argued, as you do now, that his young throngs of supporters would disappear.
Even so, his eager young supporters dug in, banded together and stuck around for another four years — and have now propelled the once 5% name-recognition candidate to the status of a household name. Ron Paul's young supporters aren't going anywhere. Period.
Now as for the question of whether he'll influence the RNC platform — I hate to say it, but you're off-base again. Ron Paul has ALREADY influenced the RNC platform.
Auditing the Federal Reserve? Addressing the debt?
These were uniquely Paul stances just a year ago that have now found their way into the mainstream GOP thinking. There is no question that many of the economic stances that Republicans take in 2012 will result directly from Paul's now-7-year-national campaign.
As for his "isolationist" foreign policy — which, closely mirrors the foreign policy platform that propelled George W. Bush to the White House in 2000 — has caught on with many Americans and is widely-supported by active military members.
Reporting from Bloomberg today argues that Paul will, in fact, amass enough delegates to influence the GOP platform:
It's hard to argue that a candidate who earns upwards of 200 delegates, as both Bloomberg and CNN have projected, won't influence the party platform moving forward.
As I've argued, and Sarah Palin and other GOP pundits have agreed, harvesting Paul's eager young voters is crucial to the future of the party. Mitt Romney is clearly buying that line of thinking, and continues to forge an alliance with Paul.
As for his avenues for further political consequence — how about that Tea Party thing he founded back in 2007? Then there's also that popular senator from Kentucky who bears the same last name.
It's a mistake to measure Paul's political consequence on his ability (or lack thereof) to win caucuses and primaries. He's not an opportunist looking to get back into the national spotlight, he's an issues candidate looking to mold the national discourse.
When he doesn't win the GOP nomination, he will most likely continue to campaign on his economic platform — forcing the eventual candidate, and President Obama, to court his zealous supporters.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Paul use the staying power he's leveraged through the "Campaign for Liberty" and "Young Americans for Liberty" groups, as well as his various SuperPACs to influence presidential politics for years to come.
But let's move beyond Ron Paul. What about the others? Assuming Mitt Romney continues on his path to GOP victory, what are the political legacies of Gingrich and Santorum?
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