Where Republicans and Democrats Unite: Stifling Dissident Voices Within Their Own Parties

As GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul surges in the Iowa polls, his rivals have undertaken a concerted attack to ensure his defeat. Paul is certainly being targeted because he has a legitimate chance of winning the Iowa caucus. Yet his opponents aren't simply drawing policy distinctions between themselves and Paul. His opponents have deemed him unelectable. They've denounced his policies as dangerous. Newt Gingrich even questioned whether he would vote for Paul if he in fact won the GOP nomination. Their attacks have become increasingly vicious, and convey the seriousness of the threat that Paul poses to the GOP establishment.

Paul espouses ideas that are firmly rooted in the libertarian philosophy. He doesn't pick and choose his ideology like most of the GOP candidates who favor a mix of laissez-faire economics, broad government intervention into personal matters (marriage, abortion), and unfettered state power for matters involving national security and foreign policy. And that is why Paul poses such a threat to the Republican establishment. He is the only candidate to speak out against imperialism, monopolistic capitalism, and the assault on civil liberties stemming from the 'war on terror.' In other words, he has been fighting against his own party's platform, and the pet issues of its primary supporters.

Thus, Paul's opponents are attempting to marginalize him. The attacks on Paul are actually quite similar to those that the Democratic Party has mounted against liberal voices. Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who has frequently taken stances in opposition to his party, has been attacked by fellow Democrats, stifled as a presidential candidate, and had many of his legislative efforts (like the impeachment of President Bush) tabled by party leaders. As a general matter, voices on the Left have no place in the Democratic party, nor do their ideas receive any recognition from its leaders. Much of the same goes for libertarians within the GOP. Democrats and Republicans in fact operate in a similar manner when it comes to dissident voices within their respective parties. They don't even bother paying lip service to their views for fear of upsetting the real core of influence within the parties: corporate money. 

And that is the real reason that Paul is being bombarded by his own party. He is indeed dangerous. He poses a threat to the traditional power structure of the GOP and the status of its most influential supporters. Paul, like Kucinich, refuses to play by party rules. That is why he is so popular, and also why he will ultimately lose.