3) Paul - He'll tear the country apart (We'll see if he's a Lincoln)
Please explain how Ron Paul will do this.
First off, let me say that I like a lot of things about Dr. Paul and if he is the Republican nominee I will vote for him. That said, his election would be problematic to the survival of the nation. He references the Constitution a lot, which is good. He also expresses many views which have nothing to do with the Constitution.
1) His view of foreign policy is basically live and let live. Mind our own business. Actually, this has been a popular idea and tried at a couple of different times in our nation's history. The problem was that other nations didn't feel the same way and it provided an incentive for some of them to create wars that we were dragged into in both instances. In other words, it didn't work.
To think that we could adopt that policy now would be extremely dangerous to our nation's survival. In addition to Russia and China now actively seeking to expand their influence and power. We also have regional players, Venezuela, Iran and probably Egypt in the near future, who are or will be trying to attempt the same feat. Probably in coordination with one of the larger players.
To think that should we adopt a "mind our own business" policy will ensure long term that they would continue to leave us alone out of the kindness and good will of their hearts is not something that we should be willing to bet our nation's future on. If the U.S. did adopt that policy it should not surprise anyone if Russia and China both turned on India, and after completing that conquest simply split the rest of the world up. Europe wouldn't be a problem. Russia can take over Europe right now any winter it wants by turning off the heat.
After dividing up the rest of the world they would either turn on each other, or turn on us in unison and then on each other.
2) Dr. Paul's strong support for the Constitution, surprisingly, would more than likely lead to a break up of the U.S. Regardless of who wins the election, Paul, Romney, Gingrich, or the slug. That in itself is not going to end our tall stack of problems or the 16 to 17 trillion dollars of debt we will incur by the time the election arrives. The winner might be able to jump start employment by bringing some industry back to the U.S. to a degree. But we are still going to be in the shitter for many years to come, collapse or not, as a result of our past sins.
Not just the Federal Government, the individual States and Cities as well. Even though all states are sucking wind right now, some states are in better shape than others due to mildly saner financial policies. As tough as times are going to be, those saner states are going to be very resistant to bailing out the total whacko states. (Similar to Germany being unwilling to bail out Greece.)
Given Paul's respect for the Constitution, especially as recognized with state's rights to secession prior to Lincoln's transgression of Posse Comitatus as you mentioned, many of those states will be incentivized to secede either individually or in groups for financial reasons if for none other. It wouldn't surprise me if Texas were to secede if Dr. Paul didn't just return to Texas.
3) There are other reasons why I think he, as a good man, could do extreme harm to the country. For one the Congress and Supreme Court would not work with him and would most likely look for a reason to do away with his Presidency. Another is that Dr. Paul has never managed anything other than his medical practice. He has never been the person responsible for dealing with a crisis on a local level much less a national or world wide level. Honestly, after watching him struggle with pressure during some answers in the debates, I don't think he is capable of handling the most high pressure job on the planet. But then, neither is Barry.
All this said, if he gets the nomination I
will vote for him over Barry. But it will be problematic.