And That’s Exactly The Point About Ron Paul

From Andrew Sullivan:

It would be pretty easy for Paul to distance himself from some of the kooks who will always gravitate to a non-interventionist, small government candidacy. I don’t know why he hasn’t.

And from Libertarian and law professor at my alma mater George Mason University David Bernstein at the Volokh Conspiracy:

Ron Paul is a tempting protest vote, and I did support him in 1988 when he ran as a Libertarian, but he strikes me as running less of a “libertarian” campaign than a pacifist, populist campaign that does have some appeal to young and idealistic libertarians, but has too much appeal to the old, paranoid, and racist pseudo-conservatives. There seems to be a right-wing version of the Popular Front mentality among many Paul supporters: just like it was okay for Social Democrats to ally with Stalinists for “Progressive” ends in the old days, it’s okay to ally with 9/11 and various other conspiracy theorists, southern secessionists, Nazis and fascists, anti-Semites and racists, against the common enemy of the modern “welfare-warfare” state. Count me out!
….

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, I’ve heard from some Paul supporters urging me to reconsider. Also not surprisingly, none of them have provided any indication that my description of the Paul coalition is inaccurate, or that Paul has gone out of his way to discourage support from the conspiracy-mongers and “white nationalists.”

And that’s exactly the point about Ron Paul.

Similar Posts:

• Ron Paul and the Nevada Republican Convention Fiasco
• Discontents Made CNN Today, We’ve Gone World Wide Baby!
• Bless Their Little Ron Paul Hearts

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