When I told my father in March 1997 I was going to run for governor on the Libertarian Party ticket, the first thing he said to me, “Remember, politics is dirty.” Dad did not have a college degree nor did he ever take a political science course. Dad was “street smart.”
Dad drove a cab in New York City for nearly two decades and came in contact with celebrities, journalists, and politicians, and of course met thousands of average New Yorkers and tourists. He also learned a great deal about human nature when he was a partisan commander of more than 230 freedom fighters (1943-44) before the Russians liberated their region of Poland in July 1944.
Dad did not give me much advice other than say “there is a right way and a wrong way; always go the right way.” That sums up Dad’s philosophy of life. If you don’t lie, you can never be called a liar. And if you are ethical, no one can call you unethical.
As the GOP presidential primary campaign is unfolding, it is becoming clearer that politics is indeed dirty…very dirty. Before our very eyes, we are seeing egregious behavior by Republican Party officials as they “counted” the votes in Iowa, Nevada and now in Maine. Although there are no blatant smoking guns in the first two caucus states, the Maine fiasco is as underhanded as it gets—cancelling caucuses in Ron Paul strongholds, and reporting Romney the winner even though 84% of the caucuses have reported their votes. Furthermore, there is a pile of anecdotal evidence that the overriding goal of the GOP establishment during the primaries and caucuses has been to undermine Ron Paul’s vote totals and thus downplay his candidacy among voters.
Although Ron Paul was leading in Iowa’s entrance polls, he came in third. A first place finish by Ron would have set off a wave of momentum going into New Hampshire primary, where he may have defeated Romney. And that could have doomed Mitt’s presidential campaign, just as it did in 2008, when McCain defeated Mitt who was the favorite to win in his “backyard.” Thus, Iowa was the “first shot” to derail Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy, and the elites took it.
We may never know for sure if there was any hanky-panky in the caucus states, but Ron keeps saying it is the delegates that count not the glorified straw polls. So even though Ron appears to be getting shafted by the GOP political elites, he may have the last laugh when all the delegates arrive in Tampa in August.