[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGGOiv7sA4w]
With the Republican field being dominated by candidates fighting to show how much they are willing to pander to the authoritarian right and most of them showing they are totally clueless as to the nature of terrorism and the mistakes made in getting involved in Iraq, Ron Paul has attracted considerable interest.
Ron Paul’s support is far stronger on the web than is demonstrated in the polls, and he’s the most popular candidate on You Tube. The above video, which I provided for those who may be interested in hearing his views on issues beyond Iraq, shows Ron Paul answering questions from members. I suspect that most viewers will agree with him at times, and disagree at others. As, despite his popularity on the web, I don’t think he has much of a chance to win either the Republican nomination or a general election race, I’m not really concerned about elaborating on disagreements, and will continue to enjoy him providing his views as a welcome contrast to the others at Republican debates.
he polls about the same as bill clinton in 1991 and jimmy carter in 1975. these candidates at the respective times lacked name recognition as does Dr. Paul. you could be right, but poll numbers at this stage cant prove it. Its early, sportsbook.com has Dr. Paul at 1 of 7 to win the nomination and 1 of 15 to win the presidency. that puts him in the upper middle of the other candidates. As of now, the odds are against him, but his popularity curve is on a fairly steep rise.
BTW, about a month ago pauls chances were pegged at 1 in 200.
The reason I don’t think he can win the nomination has nothing to do with the polls and comparisons to Clinton and Carter’s poll numbers at this time don’t really matter. The primary race is starting much earlier than usual this year, and at this time in 1991 and 1975 there wasn’t much action yet.
The major difference is that Clinton and Carter were both former Democrats whose views matched many Democrats, and both were seen as being more electable being former Southern governors. Paul’s views are quite different from those of most Republicans and the party is much likely to back him than Democrats were to back Clinton and Carter.