Dig that Ron Paul

The cat raises well over $3 million in one day. He's now passed the one day record of Mitt Romney and is well on his way to the $12 million goal by Dec 31st. Expect a blitz of advertising in New Hampshire and, possibly, a serious dent in the polls/primaries. If he can come away with double digits in the NH primary, the GOP will have to take him quite seriously, in my opinion. It could be the beginning of a true erosion of the religious "cultural conservatives" in the GOP and force the GOP to address what have been traditional conservative principles and their betrayal of them.

I should say that I am no sort of conservative and I disagree with much of Ron Paul's platform--in fact, a very large amount of it. But I would much, much, rather have Goldwater conservatives push the GOP platform than self-righteous evangelicals. More importantly, Ron Paul shows that one can be a conservative and anti-war, conservative and a civil libertarian, and conservative and tolerant. It has always been that way, but the last 10 years or so of American conservativism would lead one to believe otherwise.

Though rather sad to think of now, believing in civil liberties (to include Habeus Corpus, of course), a non-aggressive foreign policy, and a deep reverence for the Constitution used to be things American liberals and American conservatives didn't have to negotiate on--they were just a given. The Cold War did challenge that common ground--particularly the Vietnam War--but it seems to be eroding at a terrible, and frightening, rate now. Here's hoping we will move closer to those days of common ground again. And, paradoxically, perhaps Paul will help the Democrats grow at least a few vertebra in a new defense of civil liberties vs. capitulating to the Decider every time they have to show a spine.