Great job, Jamie. Ryan Lizza has a successor. Keep at it. This is why I subscribe to TNR.

Where the f*** did his legions come up with the Ron Paul "LOVE" [rEVOLution] motif? This man is one of the most repellent little haters we've seen in US politics in a long time.

So...um...who wants to break the news to Andrew Sullivan?

again, good work James. I posted a kudo on the other blog but the new new web gods have not yet deigned to post it.

The whole Paul mini craze has a retrograde/dork/creepy feel to it. i finally parked and spoke to those Paul supporters I mentioned on a post last year and these two doofusses, if they are representative of the whole peanut gallery, are a weird scary bunch. it does not surprise me that there is hate and bigotry just under the veneer of the thrill of backing an "insurgent" candidate.

I know I have been hard on your work but I also know that when you do some good yeoman research, you will hear it from me too.

It's amusing that the newsletter references the same Michael Kelly article on Ted Kennedy that Kirchick randomly disinterred a few months ago to flog contemporary Democrats.

As others have noticed, these Ron Paul fanatics are more than just eccentric.  There's a cultish quality to their comments under the full article.  He seems to have united the conspiracy theorist vote.

Third very good, very short Kirchick post in a row. Well played, sir!

One request, though, to TNR in general: Please identify any PDF links as such. Big PDF links mess with my browser, so it's good to have warning that that's what I'm about to click on.

In Manhattan, it's hard to be noticed for being odd, but the biggest weirdos I've seen in a long time are  the Ron Paul crazies - these are not fun or irreverent Greaful Dead head-like crazies, I happen to like weirdos being one myself,  but these guys (always guys) are often so gloomy-eyed wild and humorless.  I'm sorry, but they look like a collection of angry postal workers

Six months or so ago, I watched a pale, sweaty faced tubby white man in his late 20's march grimly down Broadway slowly swinging a large RON PAUL sign (no handle, he just held the sign by its sides) slowly back and forth in front of him while glaring at anyone whose eye he could catch. New Yorkers are masters at not catching the eye of these types - it's ingrained, automatic - so no one looked. This only made him scowl more.  I still worry about that guy.

I also saw a few of the exact same guys standing on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, California last summer when I was home seeing my Dad.  Just standing there holding those signs by the sides, glowering at cars.  These are some serious bizarre-o's.

Jamie, I don't have the stomach to go through or post on the open comments site- and I hope you don't read it (we have given you a hard time, but those Paul guys are nuts), so I'll say this- nice work, guy.  Very well done.  

Yes, wandrey, Paul's got a lock on the DMEC* vote

* Don't Make Eye Contact

That is a damning post if the memo is for real.  Tim Russert really blew an opportunity.  Imagine if he had this to work with during Dr. Paul's recent appearance.

Fix TNR's website.  The Ron Paul article already has over 400 comments, most by non-subscribers.  Non-subscribers should not be able to post comments!

Ron Paul has a respone to the article on ronpaul2008.com:

January 8, 2008 5:28 am EST

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – In response to an article published by The New Republic, Ron Paul issued the following statement:

“The quotations in The New Republic article are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed.  I have never uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts.

“In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that we should only be concerned with the content of a person's character, not the color of their skin.  As I stated on the floor of the U.S. House on April 20, 1999:  ‘I rise in great respect for the courage and high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood steadfastly for the rights of individuals against unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.’

“This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade.  It's once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

“When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit.  Several writers contributed to the product.   For over a decade, I have publically taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”

wow, did you read that stream of craziness on Kirchick's other post?  Who let the loonies out one wants to know!

teppy, love that DMEC...so true...what a bunch of whack jobs!

hey, I can see, if someone, under my august name on the masthead, published one, maybe two bigoted hate filled screeds while I was busy. But you can bet that someone would alert me and I would nix that deal.  To say that it went on for 10 freakin' years and he was too busy or occupied to take care of the situation is just plain BS.  If someone believes that, they're pretty naive...

I'm betting TNR.com will have its first 1,000-comment post. Maybe 10,000

Internet junkies + Ron Paul fans will make the STB threads look like nothing.  It is almost exciting, frankly.

And juantycookie is right- Paul's statement says he takes responsibility for the articles, but how about doing that in the decade prior.  Either the man is a bigot, a charlatan, or a moron.  Or all three.  Regardless, not someone I want as President.

Ron Paul for Pres...what? Come on, what? Down with the Fed. Fight the Illuminati! Jews are gay and gays are black. Barman, another round for my good frie...Wait come back, Cookie? Bone? What's the matter? Come on, put the music back on...row, row, row your boat...barman another drink! God damn it! I'll tell you when I've had enough! Get your hands off me, this is a very expensive Wookie suit, I'll have you know. What's your surname? Huh? Figured, sounds mooslim...row, row, row your boat...

I had a feeling there was something lurking in Ron's past. A decade or two of Buchanan moments.

(The BBC is leading with Obamaram as I type.)

I had the misfortune, on Friday night, of learning that two otherwise rational dining companions of mine were Ron Paul fans.  And, get this, because "he's incredibly intelligent."  I know.  I was so stunned by this that I actually ended up defending the intelligence of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.  Even now, in the light of day, I'll admit that neither of those two are especially dumb, by any stretch, but I was passionately defending their brilliance.  This is what Ron Paul people do to you.

Ron Paul's statement pasted by DavidSmith192 (thanks) seems to deal with race but not sexual orientation.  I'm with jaunty.  If you let this stuff happen under your name for 10 years, you can't be absolved that easily.

On the other hand, Jamie should really have called the campaign for comment.  

Iggy -- hilarious.  

And Mr. Kirchick, the article is a fine, thorough and damning piece of journalism.  Like others, I've taken exception to what you've written on other subjects in the past, but this was reporting at its best, and I'm grateful for the fine work you've done.

And I agree, once again, that non-subscribers should not be allowed to post at TNR.  If they want to post, they should subscribe like the rest of us.  THEN they can rant us much as they like.

I don't Dan, let them post on the main articles. They make me look like reasonable, moderate and centrist. And I'm kinda curious to see what the final tally is - 1 Euro (that's 257 American Peso's at the last count.) say's it exceeds 1000.

No bet!

And that was hilarious Ig!

Its pretty amazing how hot blogs get whenever Ron Paul shows up on a google search...  but I've seen a lot of heat but few factual breakdowns.  For instance, Paul says it was previously dealt with.  Uh, where exactly?

Oh, and Dr. Dan, he gets it: andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/.../libertarians-re.html