The rap on George Phillies is that he’s a poor speaker. Perhaps he was at one point, but few people in Denver who’ve seen him in action are likely to agree.
Phillies received lots of applause and laughter at his jokes last night. His wit is probably unmatched by the field of candidates.
When asked how he would respond to a nuclear device being set off by Islamic terrorists in a major U.S. city, Phillies said one of the major problems in America was the entertaining of these nightmare scenarios. The crowd loved that. He then said, “I’m a physicist. I’m boring. One thing I would do is bore the American people into being calm.” This caused the most laughter of the night, but in reality, Phillies’s performances have been anything but boring.
Phillies also received lots of applause when he went off on rants condemning conservatism and the Republican Party. “Conservatism is racism, conservatism is bigotry!” he said. “We need to push conservatism to the bottom of the Nolan Chart until we can push it off.”
However, on other issues, Phillies did not score points with the delegates. He called for reciprocal tariffs and immigration restriction, receiving the consternation of the radicals in attendance.
Afterwards, Phillies shook hands with a well-known critic from the blogosphere. “Oh, so you’re G.E.,” he said. “You forgot to mention that I eat hard-boiled babies. And yes, hard-boiled really is the best way to prepare them.”
Phillies’s support at Denver is surprisingly strong and being unreported. His stickers and buttons adorn the lapels of many delegates. Despite his deviations, many consider him a purist or “real” libertarian. One man is wearing an anarcho-capitalism t-shirt and a Phillies button.
Phillies is positioning himself as a “compromise” candidate.
I personally apologized to Dr. Phillies for some of the over-the-top statements I’ve made against him when heated. He graciously accepted. I disagree with him strongly on economics and the Constitution, but I would support him as nominee. That’s a big turnaround for me!
I would be very happy with Phillies as a compromise candidate. He is very engaging and funny, based upon my telephone conversations with him, and you’re right that he has earned it.
The most interesting thing about a Phillies campaign, in my mind, would be to see how he uses the million or so dollars that he’d be able to raise as the party’s nominee.
Thus far, on a pretty limited budget, he has accomplished quite a bit in terms of putting out professional campaign material, campaigning nationwide, etc.
Until Barr, Gravel and Root entered the race, Phillies was the main LP candidate with less than perfectly libertarian ideas. IOW, the candidate that could be considered the “mainstream” LP candidate.
When I have seen Mr. Phillies speak, he has not sounded or looked like a professional politician. Maybe that is a good thing. He certainly has a nerdy demeanor and a grating speaking style. Not meaning to demean him, he certainly looks sexier than I, and his speaking ability is better than my own.
One thing anybody can agree on though, is of ALL the candidates, Mr. Phillies probably “deserves” the nomination more than any other candidate. No other candidate actively sent news releases on a regular basis. No other candidate made his way to most, if not all the state conventions. No other candidate received the endorsement of a daily newspaper.
He would not be a bad compromise between the anarchist and minarchist camps. Though the camp that wants big vote totals at any cost will be disillusioned.
PEACE
Steve