The Ron Paul hard core are not going to vote for the nominee this year, no matter what. They are not conservatives, do not like Republicans, and will not see the value in defeating Obama. They see the two parties as “opposite sides of the same coin, evil banksters”, etc. They are more progressive than conservative, but they like the “smell” of the Constitution support on the right.
[pullquote]more anarchic than they admit[/pullquote]They want their pot and their money, and that’s about where their understanding of liberty begins and ends. Yet conservatism is predicated upon support for small government, which contains an explicit support for government–so long as it’s small. The Paulists are far more anarchic than they admit. Ask them if they are anarchists, and they say no. But criticise anarchist proposals (open borders, 100% drug legalization, unregulated gold standard), and you will have a real fight on your hands.
Ron Paul himself is a nasty racist anti-Semite (or if he’s not, he made a lot of money pretending to be). His supporters are not any better on average. They sound like Jared Loughner and they argue like pimply Obama-bots.
I have zero use for Ron Paul and zero patience for his supporters. I do have some friends on that side of the fence, but I certainly do not discuss politics with them.
