Mitt Romney vs. Ron Paul

This article presents an unbiased comparison of the policies and positions of Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, candidates for the Republican nomination in the 2012 Presidential election.

Mitt Romney was the early frontrunner in the Republican race and has, at various phases, lost that status to other contenders like Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. In the early part of the race, Ron Paul had support in the single digits in opinion polls and was ignored by the media. But he experienced a surge of support in December 2011 in Iowa, the first state to caucus.

Comparison chart

Mitt Romney versus Ron Paul comparison chart

	Mitt Romney	Ron Paul
	current rating is 3.41/5 1 2 3 4 5 (10362 ratings)	current rating is 4.46/5 1 2 3 4 5 (254 ratings)
Political Party	Republican	Republican (1956–1988), Libertarian (1988 Presidential Election), Republican (1988–present)
Position on Healthcare	Created similar legislation in Mass. but believes it's not appropriate for all of USA and wants to repeal. Proposes encouraging individuals to purchase their own health insurance rather than via employers, and allowing insurance across state lines.	Would repeal Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul: "The answer to it is turn it back over to the patient and the doctor relationship with medical savings accounts."
Position on Immigration	Would make English the official language of the US and "turn off the magnets like tuition breaks or other breaks that draw people into this country illegally". In favor of promoting legal immigration.	Would "abolish the welfare state" to discourage illegal immigration and end automatic citizenship for everyone born in the U.S. unless the mother is in the US legally.
Alma Mater	Stanford University, Brigham Young University (BA), Harvard University (MBA, JD)	Gettysburg College (B.S.), Duke University (M.D.)
Full name	Willard Mitt Romney	Ronald Ernest Paul
Position on Iraq	Romney says that keeping the U.S. in Iraq is the best option for minimizing casualties and maintaining a democratic government in Iraq.	Opposed to attacking. Also believes that it has not made America safer.
Profession	Businessman, politician, author	Physician, politician, author
Website	http://www.mittromney.com	ronpaul2012.com
Position on Iran	Tighten economic sanctions; Military option not off the table.	Supports diplomacy and free trade with Iran as well as all other nations.
Place of Birth	Detroit, Michigan	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Religion	Christian (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a.k.a. Mormon)	Christian (Baptist)
Position on Abortion	Opposes Roe v. Wade; believes states should be allowed to ban abortions., 1994: Supported abortion rights but personally opposed, No punishment for women who have partial birth abortions, change of heart in 2005 when preparing to run for President	Opposes abortion on principle and would repeal Roe v. Wade, however supports a state's right to choose.
Children	Tagg (b. 1970), Matt (b. 1971), Josh (b. 1975), Ben (b. 1978), Craig (b. 1981)	Sons: Ronald "Ronnie" Paul, Jr., Randal "Rand" Paul, Robert Paul. Daughters: Joy Paul-LeBlanc, Lori Paul Pyeatt,
Spouse(s)	Ann Romney (m. 1969–present)	Carolyn "Carol" Paul
Date of birth	March 12, 1947	August 20, 1935
Running mate	Paul Ryan	n/a
Residence	Belmont, Massachusetts	Lake Jackson, Texas

Comparison of Political Positions

Ron Paul is a staunch libertarian and some of his views are radically different from other Republican candidates, including Mitt Romney.

Foreign Policy

Ron Paul believes that America should not keep its military stationed all over the world because it is unnecessary, increases costs and leads to animosity towards America in other parts of the world. His view of Iran is that they are not close to building a nuclear weapon, that Ahmedinejad's "wipe Israel off the map" comment was a mistranslation and that the military-industrial complex in the US is lobbying for increased tensions with Iran. He wants to improve diplomatic relations with Iran.

Mitt Romney has called Ron Paul's views radical. He believes Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon and supports sanctions against Iran. He has not ruled out a military option against Iran.

Economy

As a libertarian, Ron Paul has argued that the Federal Reserve's powers to print money at will are resulting in the dollar being devalued. He wants to abolish the Fed and return to the gold standard. He has also proposed radical spending cuts to rein in big government, including major cuts in defense spending arguing that the US spends more on defense than the next 10 highest countries' budgets combined.

Mitt Romney does not advocate returning to the gold standard, cutting defense spending drastically or abolishing the Fed. His plan is based on reducing repealing President Obama's healthcare legislation, reducing taxes and cutting government spending by 5%.

Primary Results

Here are the results from the various state primaries and caucuses. Mitt Romney won several states; Ron Paul did not win in any state but tended to perform better in states that hold a caucus instead of a primary.

Romney vs Ron Paul in Opinion Polls

Mitt Romney was the early frontrunner and consistently polled in the 20-25% range for much of the race. He weathered surges experienced by other candidates like Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. In December 2011, opinion polls suggested that support for Ron Paul grew -- especially in Iowa, the first state to caucus.

Opinion poll results have an inherent margin of error but on the whole present a picture of the mood of the electorate and, over time, a trend that can be useful when comparing candidates.

References

• http://mittromney.com
• http://ronpaul2012.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul

Related Comparisons

• Mitt Romney vs Newt Gingrich
• Caucus vs Primary
• Liberal vs Conservative
• Democrat vs Republican
• Barack Obama vs John McCain

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