The problem with many Ron Paul supporters

[Reluctant Republican]

As someone who supported Ron Paul, I have to say I think he was wrong on some things.  For example, maybe returning to the gold standard would not be the best move. I still maintain he would have been a good president though, given he’d have to make concessions to get his program through a largely opposed congress. Perhaps this is an idealistic view of the situation, but he could have a pretty bipartisan presidency, relying largely on Democratic votes to pass some things, such as his withdrawal from Iraq, and negotiating mainly with Republicans when it came to the economic side of his agenda. Realistically though, I think most of his agenda would never see the light of day, and he’d be a largely ineffective president in accomplishing what he set out to do.  But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, if he prevents the agenda he’s opposed to of making any progress either. In some cases that’s more important.

As for his supporters, I’ve met a few kooky ones, and I’ve known more unstable ones online then anywhere else, as is common. But I’ve known some that seemed to really have a good grasp on reality. I like to think I’m pretty stable, though I’ll admit I’m ignorant or naïve on plenty of things.  I’d say that the Ron Paul movement is in part a personality cult though, as others have said. I just can’t get as excited about Gary Johnson or even Mark Sanford as I can about Paul. If he doesn’t run in 2012, and I tend to think he’s leaning against it, though maybe his performance at CPAC changed that, I’ll probably gravitate towards Romney, unless Johnson or Sanford run and actually poll pretty well. But it's a long way out, still.