Left's profitable Pauline conversion?

Debate raging between Left, Greens and Progressives on whether or not to support Libertarian Republican outsider Dr Ron Paul's bid to win the Republican nomination for President.

Really, it is a no brainer, of course the left should be supporting Dr Ron Paul's bid to win the Republican nomination and many are – see Blue Republican movement. All the other candidates are openly saying that the United States should bomb Iran, whose key allies include China and Russia. All of the other Republican candidates would do nothing to address Wall Street's crimes. All the other candidates would happily attack civil liberties further.

Obama has done nothing to address Wall Street's crimes. His administration is full of people from Wall Street and Goldman Sachs is his largest donor. Civil liberties have been further decimated, and tensions with Iran have been raised to dangerously high levels.

It is naivety in the extreme to think that Obama's second term would be any different (remember that Clinton bombed Iraq and repealed Glass-Steagal in in his second term), unless political pressure is applied. As there is no democratic primary challenger to Obama, that pressure must come from Dr Paul.

Ron Paul's campaign is unique for the major parties in that he is calling to end the wars overseas, restoration of civil liberties and to end the favouritism shown to Wall Street over Main Street.

If Ron Paul won the Republican nomination Obama would be forced to debate these key issues on which is first term administration has failed miserably. Obama would have to stop taking the left for granted, or risk losing the Presidency.

Perhaps the best kept secret in American politics today is that Ron Paul is the only non establishment politician who has a shot at beating Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. Despite the mainstream media ignoring him, polling between Dr Paul and Barack Obama consistently has Paul within striking distance, but just out of reach of Obama and Paul polls very well with the important young and independent voters.

No other non status quo politician's organization comes close to rivaling Dr Ron Paul's. The grassroots Ron Paul Revolution's(written rLOVEution) ability to raise money from small donations is phenomenal with its 'money bombs' (Ron Paul holds the record for money raised in a day for a Republican candidate, money raised in a day online, and leads all candidates including President Obama in money raised from serving military personnel).His team has been putting together some very effective political ads such as this one.

Of the two Paul has been the most outspoken in support of the Occupy movement. Paul has said 'I'm very much involved with the 99. I've been condemning that 1 percent because they've been ripping us off. The people on Wall Street got the bailouts and you guys got stuck with the bills and I think that's where the problem is.'

There are certainly a lot of ideological differences, but there is also a lot of common ground between the Left, Greens, progressives and Dr Ron Paul's Constitutional Libertarianism, even if Paul's reasons behind these shared goals differ from Greens and the left. Paul has worked closely with Democrats, Greens and the Left on a number of issues.

After Paul exited the 2008 race, he rejected a request to endorse John McCain's candidacy, and instead endorsed four third party candidates - Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, independent Ralph Nader, Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr and Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

All four candidates found common ground with Paul agreeing that the most four most important issues were bringing US troops home from around the world, restoring civil liberties, investigating the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationship with big banks and large corporations, and not to increase the federal debt.

Former Green Party and Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader said that Ron Paul's campaign is one of the few political movements that give him cause for hope. "Look at the latitude," Nader says, pointing to the possibility of libertarians and the left working together. "Military budget, foreign wars, empire, Patriot Act, corporate welfare-for starters. When you add those all up, that's a foundational convergence.'Green Party candidate Dr Jill Stein said 'We do have a lot in common with our opposition to the wars, our support for civil liberties, and our opposition to the bank bailouts.'

Paul wants to end the embargo of Cuba. He supports the Gaza Flotilla and recognizes Hamasas the democratically elected government of Gaza.

Dr Paul voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the US-Australia Free trade agreement and others including abstaining from the recently passed US – Colombia Free Trade agreement. Despite over 2800 union membersbeing killed in Colombia between 1986 and 2011, President Obama signed offon the agreement last October.

Dr Paul may not believe that government has a crucial role in protecting the environment but he does support one of the most important policy measures to address climate change – the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.At least Paul considers himself an environmentalist, though unfortunately, but consistent with his ideology, a free market environmentalist where the environment is protected by enforcing private property rights through torts.

Ron Paul has worked with Democrats to introduce a number of bills on issues close to the left.

Dr Paul has co-sponsored with Democrat Dennis Kucinich a bill to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement, and another to remove all US troops from Pakistan and to end funding for the war in Afghanistan.

Paul teamed up with Democrat Barney Frank to sponsor a bill that would allow the States to legalise, regulate, tax and control marijuana. Dr Paul introduced H.R. 1831, the 'Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011' that would legalise hemp farming in the United States.

Many on the left rule Ron Paul out immediately because while they may like his stance on US led wars, they cannot stomach his ideas on the role of government in social matters. Importantly, the policies that Paul shares with much of the Green Left such as ending the wars, and the appointment of the chair of the Federal Reserve (which dolled out trillions in bailouts to big banks without congress approval) can be implemented by the President at the stroke of a pen. The President also has considerable power to reverse the War on Drugs. Congress has far greater control through budgets and regulatory statutes over those areas that those on the Green Left find abhorrent such as his desire to cut social spending.

In 2008 Barack Obama won easily on the back of his campaign of hope and change and what his candidacy represented as the first African American President of the United States.

But 2012 is a very different situation. Official unemployment is at 8.5% and one third of Americans are living below or near the poverty line.

While everyone was celebrating New Years Eve Obama signed off on the National Defence Authorisation Act, which codifies indefinite detention without trial, and has expanded the scope of the 'War on Terror' ten years after 9/11. Didn't the President just assassinate Osama Bin Laden rather than bring him to justice? What is he worried about?

Enthusiasm from the Left for an Obama reelection has waned. His administration has been a continuation and in some cases escalation of the Bush era policies. Obama's administration has failed to prosecute any of the bankers that crashed the economy, extended the Patriot Act, kept Guantanamo open, dramatically escalated the drone wars, maintained the Bush tax cuts, shown a willingness to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, assassinated terror suspects, including US citizens rather than bring them to trial, heightened tensions in the middle east, sat on the sidelines while police violently shut down peaceful Occupy protests, failed to push for any meaningful action on climate change.

Dr Jill Stein referring to Obama's abuse of civil liberties 'These are the beginnings of a proto-fascist state' and 'we need to nip this in the bud now.

Obama has been at least as bad as Bush if not worse, for extending the Patriot Act, and extending it into cyberspace, spying on American citizens, and they have no idea whether they're being listened to or not. We've also recently heard of some assassinations the president has been committing, including the teenage son of someone who is suspected of terrorism, and these were American citizens.'

But didn't Obama implement the Holy Grail for United States Progressives? Didn't he achieve generational reform of the dysfunctional US healthcare system? Obama's health system is modeled on the Republican model, or 'RomneyCare' that was implemented in Massachusetts and is a disaster according to Dr Jill Stein who is also a medical doctor and Massachusetts resident.

'When people get sick, they don't like the system. They find that the insurance policy doesn't protect them or their financial security very well. And you have just as many bankruptcies under "RomneyCare" as before. It's a mixed bag. It did some good, but health care can't just be half good. You can't take care of half of your body.'

In the absence of any Democrat challenger to the Obama administration, the Left, Greens and Progressives should be supporting Dr Ron Paul's bid to win the Republican Party nomination. A Paul victory would force Obama to discuss the key issues of the senseless wars overseas, civil liberties and the Wall Street bailouts. Obama would no longer be able to take these issues for granted – and that can only be a good thing.