That GOP insiders and their media acolytes despise Paul is no secret.

Paul has an unsettling habit of exposing the intellectual and political vulnerabilities of Republican frontrunners like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He also has a mass appeal – as evidenced by his remarkable fund-raising, his unexpectedly strong finish in Thursday’s Iowa caucuses and his solid position in New Hampshire polls – that scares Washington insiders who view the GOP as an extension of their special interests.

Despised by the GOP insiders and media acolytes.  Exposes vulnerabilities of his opponents.  Has mass appeal.  Scares Washington insiders.  Threatens the special interest groups.

Just a few of the reasons Ron Paul should be the next President of the United States.

The NYT was not too happy about the amount of exposure Ron Paul got on Saturday night:

But Mr. Gibson withdrew whenever the discussions grew heated. And by not intervening more forcefully early on in the Republican debate, he allowed much of their discussion to remain staid and uninformative — Representative Ron Paul, of all candidates, dominated the foreign policy debate.

Of all people?  Would they have preferred more Huckabee, the man who was clueless about the contents of the NIE report, or more Giuliani, who hadn’t read the 9/11 Comission Report nearly six years after it’s release. 

In a press release, state Republican Party chairman Fergus Cullen said on Saturday afternoon, “We believe all recognized major candidates should have an equal opportunity to participate in pre-primary debates and forums. This principle applies to tonight’s debates on ABC as well as Sunday’s planned forum on FOX. The New Hampshire Republican Party believes Congressmen Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter should be included in the FOX forum on Sunday evening. Our mutual efforts to resolve this difference have failed.”

That’s a fact. 

Also, contrary to claims, Rudy did not “skip” Iowa.  In fact, he spent more time there than Ron.  Here’s the breakdown according to the NYT.

– Paul – 27 Appearances, 11,598 votes

– Giuliani – 35 Appearances, 4,013 votes

– McCain – 38 Appearances, 15,248 votes

– Thompson – 75 Appearances, 15,521 votes

– Huckabee – 86 Appearances, 39,814 votes

– Romney – 109 Appearances, 29,405 votes

Ron captured 10% of Iowa voters.  Rudy?  4%.  Who is in the single digits, now?

This will be the deciding factor in New Hampshire.  Obama got 41% of Iowa’s 20% Independent caucus goers.  Paul got 29%, McCain 23%.  New Hampshire’s Independent voter base is nearly 50%.

McCain’s victory is almost certain, regardless of the independent vote.  However, the standings after that are up for grabs.  Will Independents vote Democrat or Republican?  If they vote Democrat, then Obama surges, and Hillary is (mortally) wounded.  If they vote republican, will they gravitate toward McCain or Paul?

The momentum from New Hampshire will define every other primary and caucus leading up to Super Tuesday. 

The anti-Paul brigade ridicules him for his “crazy” notion that our foreign policy has contributed to the instability in Pakistan.  However, in this interview, who did Bhutto agree with regarding U.S. foreign policy?  Ron Paul. 

Despite the corrosion of her reputation by corruption and compromise, Bhutto appears to be America’s strongest anchor in the effort to turn back the extremist Islamic tide threatening to engulf Pakistan. What would you like to tell President Bush? I ask this riddle of a woman.

She would tell him, she replies, that propping up Musharraf’s government, which is infested with radical Islamists, is only hastening disaster. “I would say, ‘Your policy of supporting dictatorship is breaking up my country.’ I now think al-Qaeda can be marching on Islamabad in two to four years.”

Ron Paul consistently points out that our current foreign policy involves only two options.  Either subsidize corrupt military dictatorships with billions of dollars (Pakistan) or bomb them (Iraq).  His suggestion?  Stop funding and bombing other nations, bring our troops home, and mind our own business.  Then, establish relationships with them through diplomacy and trade.

Which of these policies really sounds the craziest?

Two great articles that help to explain the “long-tail’ phenom of the Ron paul Revolution.  This one by Joshua Snyder:

Ron Paul is the one candidate able to unite the diverse elements in the Long Tail. His supporters range from strippers to evangelicals, from gun-totters to peaceniks, and yet his message is as mainstream as the Constitution. His libertarianism and federalism will drive crazy the busy-bodies on the left and the right who want to impose their vision on the rest of the country, but these same laissez-faire ideals will unite those in the Long Tail who simply want the federal government out of their lives. This is the key to Ron Paul’s diverse range of supporters, and why they don’t mind spending time together under the good doctor’s big tent.

And this one by fellow Ohioan Jim Fedako:

On December 16, Ron Paul proved for the umpteenth time that his long tail could create a scene. And, Paul’s record fund raising – money received from tens of thousands of lovers of Liberty – demonstrates that his long tail can change the face of politics in a flash.

Given that long-tailers tend to be committed and willing to face the wind and rain – note the crowd at the Ron Paul Tea Party held the same day in snowy, windy Columbus, Ohio; and given that primaries typically have a low voter turnout; it’s easy to see how just a small percentage of the population can change history. It certainly did on December 16.

However, instead of a being just a long-tail candidate, I claim that Ron Paul is also a long-reach candidate. How else do you explain the fear he creates within the establishment, on both sides of the aisle?

But who are the other “kooks” supporting Ron Paul? What kind of people give more than $18 million in a quarter-year to a Presidential candidate that is almost universally ignored by the mainstream press? What kind of people give record contributions to a Presidential candidate that is lampooned by his fellow Republican Presidential contenders?

For example, Mike Huckabee recently said he could support any of the other Republican Presidential contenders (including Rudy Giuliani), except Ron Paul. That means, Mike Huckabee would rather support a pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control liberal such as Giuliani than support the pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-Second Amendment candidacy of Ron Paul. Why is that?

Furthermore, why are the entire major media and establishment Republican machine either ignoring or lampooning a distinguished Air Force veteran, medical doctor, and ten-term Congressman? What is it about Ron Paul that the elite are so afraid of?

Here is something else: while Ron Paul’s contributions have exploded, Mike Huckabee is all but broke! How can that be? How can a political “front-runner” be out of money, while a man who “doesn’t have a chance” is breaking fundraising records?

So, who are these “kooks” who are sending Ron Paul so much money? And just why are they sending him so much money? I will tell you who they are, because I am one of them. They are rank-and-file, tax-paying citizens who are sick and tired of out-of-control federal spending and deficits. They have had it with an arrogant federal government that runs roughshod over both the Constitution and the liberties of the American people. They are people who have had enough of the IRS, the BATFE, and a thousand other federal agencies that have “erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.” (Declaration of Independence)