Ron Paul's Goldwater Moment

May 11, 2007
Ron Paul's Goldwater Moment
He's a Republican, he's antiwar – and the Establishment is deathly afraid of him
by Justin Raimondo

Portraits of Congressman Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, invariably descend into cliché – he is "Dr. No," he’s against subsidies even for his own district, he’s a libertarian Don Quixote – but, then again, clichés are what the conventional wisdom is made of, and so we are told Rep. Paul’s run for the White House is a fool’s errand. He’s a "fringe" candidate, he has "no chance," he’s just doing this to annoy the folks over at "The Corner" – this is what the mostly Washington-based cognoscenti of political punditry are telling us. Yes, even the ostensible "libertarians" over at the Cato Institute, one of whom sneered:

"The Republican debate in California last night showed that the field of candidates still lacks a Reagan-style small-government conservative among the top tier of candidates. The candidates invoked Reagan's name at least 19 times, but one had to go all the way down to Rep. Ron Paul's quixotic campaign before someone reflected Reagan's commitment to limited government."