The GOP's Fear of the Rise of Ron Paul [View all]

[FreakinDJ]

Congressman Ron Paul's strong third place showing in Iowa Tuesday is garnering the libertarian firebrand a newfound respect and fear amongst the GOP establishment. Coming in just 3,000 votes shy of Republican front-runner Mitt Romney and runner-up Rick Santorum, concern that Paul's supporters won't eventually warm up to the non-Ron Paul nominee or even worse, Paul could stage a third-party presidential bid and split Republican votes, is more palpable than ever.

"Our team has to be very careful in being gracious to Ron Paul and his supporters," a senior GOP operative e-mails Politico's Mike Allen. "Paul running as an independent is a total, albeit unlikely, disaster, but only a little less bad is alienating his supporters with disparaging comments to the point they stay home in November."

Though his views on foreign wars and drug legalization are anathema to the party line, some Republicans would rather tolerate his meandering diatribes than tempt a revolt by either the Texas congressman or his supporters. "Paul agrees with us 85 percent of the time," said the operative, "and his supporters are earnest conservatives and libertarians who have no reason to support Obama in 2012 unless they're stepped on by our team."

That point was driven home by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on Fox Business last night, putting the idea of alienating Paul supporters in even starker terms. "If we marginalize these supporters who have been touched by Ron Paul and what he believed in over these years, well, then, through a third-party run of Ron Paul's or the Democrats capturing those independents and these libertarians who supported what Ron Paul's been talking about, well, then the GOP is going to lose," she told Neil Cavuto. "And then there will be no light at the end of the tunnel." She reiterated the point during a second interview on Fox News with Bret Baier.



http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/01/gops-fear-rise-ron-paul/46951/