Ron Paul hasn't had a good week. Losing badly in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary hurt quite a bit his chances to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate. Looking rather silly in one major debate and being left out of another didn't help him either.But worst of all is the turn being taken by the media. For after months of treating the quirky libertarian with respect and some affection, reporters are now starting to air a few of the more extremist views Ron Paul has espoused over the years.
Most damaging was James Kirchick's piece in The New Republic which quoted old Ron Paul newsletters with his views about race, conspiracy theories, and other issues -- quotes that are going to be a grave disappointment to many of his current supporters. The influential blog PajamasMedia weighed in as well with Daniel Koffler writing, "I might add, on a personal note, that as a libertarian with significant sympathy for Paul’s platform, I initially viewed claims of his past history of racism skeptically. But the evidence is so overwhelming that the defense of Paul is now, itself, indefensible."
Koffler then listed about 30 statements taken from the newsletters (Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report, The Ron Paul Investment Letter) and...well, they're not pretty.
On his website, Paul dismisses the quotations as being taken from someone else and not truly reflecting his own views. But one is forced to ask how such things appeared over many years under his byline and/or in newsletters bearing his name without a definite break from and a very public repudiation of them.
No, except for his warm reception from Jay Leno, it's not been a very good week for Ron Paul.
