I'm a Ron Paul Defector, but Let Me Explain...

In the second South Carolina debate this week, Rick Santorum said he was the best person for the presidency because he could get results in Washington. While doing so, he criticized Newt Gingrich for the "grandiosity" of his ideas and said that Newt rarely gets results. Although I think that's just factually incorrect, I found it interesting that with the candidates whittled down to the final four, they're finally getting more serious about who can actually accomplish what they preach. Although I explained in my last post why I think Gingrich is the most logical person to get results as President, I want to explain why I think Ron Paul, my other favored candidate in the race, isn't the right choice for the nomination. 

My concern with Ron Paul is exactly Santorum's concern with Gingrich. Ron Paul has a good talk and a lot of pro-liberty/freedom rhetoric, and I do like quite a bit of what he says, but he can't get results out of any of it because he has little to no interest in working with others. I voted for Ron Paul in the 08 Primary, and I do like him as a politician (which is rare for me), but I can't get over the feeling he'd be an incredibly ineffective president. He has been in Congress a very long time and his record reflects his beliefs, which I like. Unfortunately he's largely ignored by both parties and spins his wheels when trying to push for or implement any of his ideas. This is actually a large part of why (other than the intelligence, etc. mentioned previously) I currently favor Gingrich- I think he would actually get results simply because of his history. No, I don't think he sticks to his beliefs as hardline as Paul does, but I don't think you can actually be that inflexible and get anything accomplished in Washington D.C. No, I don't really like parts of Gingrich's personal background, and no, I don't agree with everything he has done (this goes for both though), but he did get results in the 90s working with both sides and I think he could do it again.  Gingrich was instrumental in reaching a bipartisan balanced budget even after his very aggressive campaign to put Republicans into Congress in 94 and he actually got Bill Clinton to sign it eventually. I'm sure there were compromises made along the way, but I can't think of any American right now that doesn't want their government to get back to a balanced budget and put the ridiculous partisan politics aside long enough to actually get some work done. 

Ultimately, I think that's what we need this election, whether Republicans realize it yet or not. You don't need a leader with great ideas that can't get anyone else to support him- the Presidency is not a bubble of total power. We need someone who can get results out of a dysfunctional government and start getting things back on track. Unfortunately I just can't find a way to convince myself that Paul is that candidate. Based off his track record of largely standing alone on issues and being known as "Dr. No" even in his own party, I don't think Paul can get any bipartisan traction going or get many (if any) of his bigger reform goals accomplished. The president can't stand alone and get anything done, and that is exactly what Dr. Paul has done with his time in Congress, no matter how much I respect him and his views.