Our Missed Ron Paul vs Giuliani Moment

It’s difficult to remember how rabidly pro-war Republicans were in 2008. They were basking in the glow of the perceived victory of the Iraq Surge. Their rhetorical trick of painting everyone who disagreed with them as weak, unpatriotic or disdainful of the troops was still effective. Seven years after the September 11th attacks, the anger and fear was still deep.

It was in this environment that Ron Paul stepped onto the presidential debate stage.

No political strategist would have told Ron Paul to blame the September 11th terrorist attacks on US foreign policy. Not in a Republican debate. Not after the popular Iraq Surge. Not to the face of Rudy Giuliani.

But he did. And a generation of libertarians was born.

This story has become legend among libertarians. If libertarians were sitting around the campfire, this is the mythical story we would tell each other. For many of us, it is our political creation story. A tale of heroism and bravery with a powerful moral.

The moral of the story is always the same: libertarians are at our best when we are courageous. We should never hide our beliefs, even when they are unpopular. Instead of only highlighting our similarities, we should have the guts to stand for our principles.

In hindsight, it’s obvious that strategy would work. Dr. Paul was on a crowded debate stage. Repeating the same old lines as everyone else, “support the troops” or “they hate us for our freedom” would have drawn cheers instead of boos. But he would have never gained any real attention. He would have been boring and forgettable.

In business, they call this the “Blue Ocean Strategy.” Sharks who swarm in the bloody “red ocean,” where the other sharks are, must divide up the limited fish. If one shark leaves the bloody, red ocean, they may find less fish, but they won’t need to divide the fish with all the other swarming sharks. 

The other Republicans on the debate stage were swarming, competing over the pro-war Republicans, trying desperately to out-warmonger one another. By standing for principle, Ron Paul left the red ocean and went to the blue ocean of anti-war conservatism. There were fewer anti-war Republicans, but because Dr. Paul was the only candidate speaking to them, he was able to get all of their attention and inspire them to fight for liberty.

Eight years later, Libertarians had a similar opportunity to stand for principle. To display inspiring courage. To leave the red ocean inhabited by Republicans and inspire another group of disenfranchised voters. Instead, we hid our principles.

In 2008, it took courage for free market advocates to stand for peace. In 2016 it took courage for us to stand for immigrants. But we didn’t. We put our tail between our legs and repeated old Republican lines like “you can’t have immigration and a welfare state,” and “I’m for legal immigration, just not illegal immigration.” This was as cowardly as Ron Paul saying “they hate us for our freedom” in 2008.

Unlike Ron Paul, we were scared of being booed by Republicans.

In 2016, the blue ocean was open borders. Republican candidates were swarming, trying to out-authoritarian each other on border policy. We could have left the red ocean and spoken to pro-immigrant conservatives and Democrats upset with the Obama Administration’s record-high deportations.

Targeting the disenfranchised makes sense, even if there are less of them.

We missed the opportunity for another Ron Paul moment.