The Quarterly Review, a distinguished British publication, has an interview with Congressman Ron Paul in its Autumn 2010 issue. The interview was conducted during the last week of October 2010 by Peter Gemma. See it here. Gemma asked Paul about his run for President as the Libertarian nominee in 1988, and about today’s minor parties. Paul said he ran in 1988 as a Libertarian because the people deserved a legitimate alternative to the increasingly indistinguishable major parties. He added, “I believe alternative parties serve a crucial role in politics because they give voice to the issues the major parties ignore. The problem is that both Democrats and Republicans have made the American system very biased in order to entrench their power. I find it especially interesting that the establishment justifies unconstitutional wars as ‘promoting democracy’ overseas while doing its best to silence opposition at home.”
Paul has more to say about that subject (as well as many other subjects), all of which can be read by using the link.
I voted for Ron Paul for President in 1988.
That was the only time I voted for him.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Independent Party
Excellent article, thanks.
Casual Bystander asked [in an earlier post]:
December 20th, 2010 at 7:03 am
Phil- Not to belabor this but why do you believe the Republicans will fall to minor party status and not the Democrats?
Phil Sawyer responds:
That is another very good question and it deserves a thoughtful answer. My thinking had been that the Republican Party had been made irrelevant by the eight years of the Bush-Cheney Administration – and that it was holding on, essentially, because it was being propped up by the large corporations and the establishment news media (even more so than the Democratic Party). Then, with the elections this year, the GOP got very lucky because the economy has been so bad. (The Democrats forgot their own mantra: “It’s the economy, stupid.”) It is possible that the Republican Party can now transcend the Bush-Cheney era. Let me give this some more thought and get back to you.
In any case, we have to keep our optimism about our chances for liberation from the two-party oligarchy. We really do not know what the future will bring; we have to remain confident, keep organizing and working, and always be ready to take advantage of any openings that come along.
By the way, in 1988, I voted for Eugene McCarthy for President and Maureen Smith for Vice President. That ticket was an official write-in slate in California. I really do like Rep. Ron Paul’s position against unsconstitutional wars, though.
I voted for Ron Paul in 1988 by absentee ballot in Florida. Then in 2008 I voted for him again in the Republican Presidential Primary in Florida by absentee ballot again. (I had changed by party registration to Republican so I could vote for him. Immediately after the primary I changed back to Libertarian.) It has been an interesting era. I agree with Phil Sawyer: “We really do not know what the future will bring; we have to remain confident, keep organizing and working, and always be ready to take advantage of any openings that come along.” That is a wise strategy. I look forward to becoming more active in the future.
Thank you, George!
Phil