Hardly Surprised by Tribute to Ron Paul at GOP Convention

by: Publisher

Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 00:19:38 AM EDT

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) today expressed deep disappointment -- but not surprise -- at the announcement that the Republican Party will be honoring anti-Israel Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) at the Republican National Convention. NJDC President and CEO David A. Harris said:

It is extremely disturbing for so many Americans — especially American Jews — to see that the Republican Party will be honoring anti-Israel Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) at its convention next week, but it is not the least bit surprising. Throughout the campaign, every alarm bell possible has sounded signaling that Paul is a legitimate factor within the GOP — whether it was his strategic partnership with Mitt Romney, his delegates winning multiple state party conventions, his former spokesman receiving a senior position at the RNC, or the legions of followers who turned out the cheer him on during debates. As these alarms were sounding, Jewish Republicans and other pro-Israel Republicans utterly failed to counter Paul's influence. Now they will be sitting respectfully — or perhaps even applauding — while their Party honors one of the greatest opponents of the U.S.-Israel relationship on Capitol Hill.

Paying tribute to this man who disparaged the U.S.-Israel relationship on Iranian television and empathized with Iran's nuclear weapons program — on top of the history of his hate-filled newsletters — is a national disgrace. Romney and the RNC should cancel the tribute and end this dangerous strategic partnership once and for all.

Ron Paul and his supporters will have a lot to look forward to at Mitt Romney's Republican National Convention, the Romney campaign told reporters Friday. Paul will be the subject of a 'short film' played to the crowd in Tampa and the national TV audience Tuesday night.

'Gov. Romney and Rep. Paul, while they certainly disagree on many issues ... they've always had -- if you watched part of the debates this year, you've have seen there's a lot of mutual respect between the two of them,' Romney strategist Russ Schriefer said. 'And so Rep. Paul's people came to us and said they'd like to do a short tribute to him, and we said absolutely, it would be a good time to do that.'

Schriefer noted that the next generation of the Paul Nation is getting a prominent role in Tampa as well. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is speaking at the podium Monday night. 'We look forward to his speech,' Schriefer said.