Reality Check for the Paulbots (Who won't read this)

If there’s one thing to be said about Ron Paul, it is that he probably has the most loyal supporters out of any GOP candidate. This does not apply to Barack Obama, as the only thing his supporters have left to stand on is their loyalty, and little else. Even so, Paul commands a very dedicated, albeit small, group of voters.

But the pipe dream of Ron Paul’s candidacy is coming to a close. Paul supporters are quick to point out that he’s “unique” and “one of a kind” and that “there’s no other candidate like him.” Many are also quick to point out that there’s no difference between the other GOP candidates…they’re all the same thing wearing different names. If this is indeed the case, Paul supporters would do well to realize that the candidates then fall into two categories: Ron Paul, and Not-Ron-Paul. If this then is the argument they make, then the harsh truth is that “Not-Ron-Paul” has consistently garnered the majority of votes. The best boast Paul has is a second place finish in New Hampshire, a state gutted of its delegates, and a second in Maine. Both times Mitt Romney beat him to the first place finish. While the race is about total delegates won, Mr. Paul has failed to win anything. Second place is a loss with a minority consolation prize at best—and only in states the divide their delegates proportionally. Furthermore, the road to the White House is not paved with 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th, place finishes. Paul is lagging in delegates behind the flagging Newt Gingrich, whose bull-in-a-china-closet methods won him South Carolina and lost him everything else. Truthfully, the odds aren’t good. In fact, they’re simply awful.

One of the official Ron Paul websites hosts the latest polling data from upcoming states. While the Paulistas are busy holding spray painted cardboard signs to change the world, the polling data from his on site suggests something very different is going on. In most states Paul is only holding single-digit percentages of voters. In the states where he holds double-digit percentages of support, he is still badly lagging behind the other candidates. The truth is, he’s not winning anything.
While many are quick to attack the mainstream polls with a hipster sneer, the facts that correspond to reality are thus: the only thing Ron Paul has actually won is non-scientific internet polls where his followers show up and stuff the ballot box.
If this weren’t true, he’d either lose those Internet polls, or win states…and unfortunately for Paul, he’s done neither.

Paul needs nothing short of a miracle. The other candidates are over 100 delegates ahead of Paul, and he is badly lagging in the polls, as over 500 delegates are up for grabs in the next 40 days. Aside from Newt being caught with Charlie Sheen and 7 gram rock, Rick Santorum being busted with kiddie-porn, and Mitt being ousted as a polygamist, (or something akin to this), Paul’s days as a even a mathematical possibility are dwindling fast.

Ron Paul may have garnered the most recorded military support. Ron Paul may have the most loyal followers. He may have the most organized ground forces, and the most technological methods. But in a world of Ron Paul versus Not-Ron-Paul, the one thing he doesn’t have is votes. There’s a host of reasons that might be offered as to why: his associations, dicey newsletters, inability to debate, foreign policy, personality, you name it. Any of these could be argued as possible causes for the lackluster support among the GOP voter base. Whatever the case may be, Gallup reports that he’s got a lot of negative feelings directed at him from voters…more so than he or his followers realize.

Ron Paul's supporters will have to face reality in 40 days. They will either help drive Barack Obama from the White House, or they will not. They can stay home, or vote for an impossible third party. Or, they can decide that the other candidates are preferable to another four years of socialism, failed policies, and the lame-duckery that has put our unemployment rate around 15%. Ron Paul supporters are hell-bent on their man in the face of reality. That is admirable and even fairly harmless at this stage. But come November, that mentality of “my way or the high way” will serve no other purpose than the reelection of Barack Hussein Obama. The Paulistas will have to put away their nasty words about the other candidate, and vote for him. Either that, or hold their peace for another four years while the country slides deeper into the hole our president so graciously dug for us.