so which candidate's looking good this season? heh, trick question, get real. really tho I'm going to get all my information from saltw this time around
On the Republican side it's a too-close-to-call race between Romney and Perry. I'm putting my money on Perry. But I don't think he's going to be the next president.
I think its those very things that make him popular. People who'd vote republican want to defund/privatize everything, that sort of insanity is exactly what's on the menu for the no-taxes types and is where a lot of the debate is at in the us right now. In fact its precisely because o his stance on militarism that he won't ever be nominated, everything else except maybe the gold standard shit is just a balls-out version of what's gonna be done anyway.(the other republicans and democrats will end implementing austerity too, but theyll do it 'nicer')
tbqh I think paul is less deluded than the 'progressive' politicos who are trying to make Keynesianism fashionable again.
I think we're talking about different voter blocs here. He's never going to be nominated for the Republican ticket for the reasons you outlined but when you look at most of his online base (the completely deluded people who changed their affiliation from Paul to Obama, instead of McCain or Barr, after he got eliminated the last time around) it's exactly the other way around. But I do think his stance on militarism has more overlap with the current Republican base than you might think, even if it's very far from being a majority opinion.
Also explain what you mean about Keynesianism. I don't really know much about it other than what it is. I mean, is it because stimulus spending isn't a substantive solution, or because progressives consider it to be a holy grail of some sort while ignoring more deeply rooted problems?