Who is this Ron Paul?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

He has some very good general notions- but on economics he is an absolute moron, and his simplistic view of foreign policy is troubling.

Ron Paul in 2008 is Ross Perot in 1992 x 10. He has some seemingly good ideas that resonate with the simple-minded average voter at an emotional level- but he does not even comprehend the intelligent and discretion required of the office to which he aspires.

I think support for him has been so strong because a lot of the Republican base does not like Giuliani's more liberal views on social matters and because an intelligent and progressive society is never going to put a Mormon nutjob (Romney) in the Oval office.

If Huckabee looks to be the winner of the nomination- or even Giuliani (who I support)- then Ron Paul will become "Ron Who?" pretty fast.

While I agree with a lot of the sentiment here (and the Perot comparison is pretty apt, as well), Paul's leanings are actually very Libertarian, and I really don't see either the aim nor the ability to resonate with "stupid" average voters. In fact, outside of his desire to be rid of the IRS (which is a view shared by about half of the major GOP candidates), most of his views would seem very fanciful to most average Americans - think about his view on drug policy, for instance.

He's about half of the perfect candidate and half complete miss for someone like me, who aligns well with the Libertarian/state's rights view on social policy but desires fiscally conservative government. However, he just misses the mark badly on some issues - being rid of NAFTA? OK, possibly - low governmental spending? OK, well, that's a great concept . . . eliminating the Federal Reserve under the guise of a strict construction of the Constitution? Well, now we're pretty far off the reservation, and I've never really heard a good defense of why he wants to do this.

And it's like this over and over again - he has pretty sound views on health care, but no plan to implement those ideas and no structure beyond "do not socialize" (which, admittedly, is a good start). His views on immigration and war are draconian and incredibly inflexible, while his views on state's rights and education seem like the most uniquely American ideas I've ever heard.

He's about 50% fantastic candidate and 50% horribly awkward - this pretty much adds up to Drolefille's "no chance to win" for the most part, but it really is fascinating to watch. Since McCain and Romney have been absolute stiffs in any sort of unscripted environment and Giuliani has struggled to gain a foothold with casuals and hardcore right-wingers, it'll be interesting to see how Crazy Ron fares in the debates today - especially if Huckabee gets drilled about his amazing half a million in reported gifts as governor and has to get defensive. It would be completely sick, but I could see him bouncing out as the winner . . . he might be the only guy who can't beat Hillary.