It is primary (or caucus) season around the country, and millions of Americans are gearing up for the 2012 presidential race. We already know who will be representing the Democrats this November: President Barack Obama.
But who will represent the Republican Party this November? It is time to look at the candidates Republicans have left in the field as of February.
Four politicians still have their hat in the ring: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.
Of the four candidates still left in the race, Ron Paul often seems to be a student favorite What does Ron Paul offer Americans, and can he be elected?
At the age of 76 years old, Ron Paul is one of the oldest candidates to run for the presidency. He has run for the presidency two previous times. In 1988, Paul ran under the Libertarian label and in 2008 under the Republican Party. Paul has his medical degree and has been very open about his view on the Obama administration's overhaul of the health care industry (he is not a fan of the Obama administration's plan).
Paul is also a long time Texan who has won his Congressional race several times and has worked on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives and on several economic committees within the House. Paul has several years of experience and is very outspoken on several issues. From health care, to immigration, to foreign policy, Ron Paul has a view on every issue that concerns America.
What does Ron Paul offer in the race for the nomination? Well, he certainly has the experience and motivation to take on some of the big wigs of the Republican Party. Paul has several different ideas and articulates his feelings with passion, but passion in politics only gets a candidate so far. Paul is the outsider to the tradition Republican Party and he offers different ideas that the established Republican Party does not agree.
Republicans have constantly bashed Paul on his foreign policy stance. Established Republicans have labeled Paul an isolationist who wants to take the United States away from the world and help other countries with nothing. If you look at his actual plan, Paul is not an isolationist, but his plan is to remove several United States troops from areas around the world.
Paul believes that doing so will also help our country's deficit, which concerns almost every American.
Through several of the televised debates, he has constantly called for those that want to spend money through the government and those who want cut money from the government to meet and discuss how to do so through defense cuts. As many noticed during the South Carolina debate in January, Paul was booed heavily while making his case for withdrawing U.S. troops from around the world.
Is Ron Paul able to win the nomination, and better yet, the presidency?
Sorry, students. All major polls have placed Paul at the bottom of the field.
Real Clear Politics, a website that conducts political polling data, has compiled data about the nominee race and it does not look pretty for the Paul campaign. The Rasmussen Poll (the creator of this poll is a DePauw graduate! Woot!), Reuters Poll, Gallup Poll and ABC News Poll all have Paul either dead last among the candidates or next to dead last in the polls.
While it does not look good for Paul, he does offer something for all of us. Paul pushes the envelope on several issues that many established Republicans do not want to tackle (this may come from his libertarian side).
With him in the race, Americans really get to see where the candidates align themselves. Paul is the agitator that makes it awkward for a Santorum or a Romney. He is exactly who we need in the primaries to better understand what the eventual nominee stands for.
I commend Representative Paul on his willingness to compete, and who knows? He could beat the odds and win a Primary. As they say, that's why they play the game.
— Spahn is a senior political science and history major from McCordsville, Ind.
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