[mnehring]

I like Paul, but I believe that he is wrong on the war and thus will not vote for him.

If I may jump on a soapbox here, I think you've hit on the core of this. For most Conservatives, we believe that the #1 responsibility of the government is national defense. If it wasn't for this issue, I doubt many would scrutinize Paul in the slightest, but, because he has made his opposition to our current national defense position the centerpiece of campaign platform, it draws into question the legitimacy of his conservative values, versus, being a populist. If this were any other year, in peacetime, with nothing going on of major importance, then Paul may not get the scrutiny from Conservatives. But, because Paul is so vocally against something we hold as a fundamental issue, it makes us question his sincerity on the other stances he takes. What we are finding, is, like with the earmark issue, Paul takes a populist position, taking every side of the issue, and tweaking the way he approaches it so he is all things to all people. That seems to be the case with many other things. On abortion, he is pro-life, yet he can make the pro-choice people not worry too much as he has voted against some federal restrictions (such as taking minors across State lines and making killing an unborn in the coruse of a crime illegal.) This way he can tell the pro-abortionists, don't worry, I'm not a radical right-winger, I'll let you take care of the issue.

Basically, IMHO, he is a populist who talks like a Constitutionalist.

That's enough of my soapbox... I've promised it before but I just read something that has made me decide to stop challenging Paulites.. it seems, according to their internal forums, that they want these fights because it is attention and gets them high Google ratings and one of their strategies is to 'egg people on' to get the fights to continue...and thus, the attention to continue on Paul

[uxbridge]

If it wasn't for this issue, I doubt many would scrutinize Paul in the slightest, but, because he has made his opposition to our current national defense position the centerpiece of campaign platform, it draws into question the legitimacy of his conservative values, versus, being a populist

Let me ask you...do you believe that a conservative can honestly and legitimately believe that the war in Iraq was a mistake and has worked to our disadvantage in the war on Islamic jihadism?

Not asking whether you agree with the statement...just whether someone could honestly take that position without being anti-American...or a traitor? (just two of the things that Paul is routinely called on here)

[George W. Bush]

it seems, according to their internal forums, that they want these fights because it is attention and gets them high Google ratings and one of their strategies is to 'egg people on' to get the fights to continue...and thus, the attention to continue on Paul

Of course. That is merely our public strategy, to force you to help our Google rankings and such. We can't have routine threads here at FR with 300, 500 even 2000 posts without your help.

But our ulterior motive is to spread this rumor about our motives in order to make you stop attacking us so we can spread the Revolution unchallenged.

So, which of our two dastardly plots will you fall for?

[Harvey105]

First allow me to apologize. I missed this post and thought that you were ignoring my question.

Thank you for your reply.

As I said, I believe Paul is wrong on the war, but I would trade the war for secure borders, no IRS, and a smaller government in a heartbeat if I thought it possible.

The flames that some here use will do more to boost the interest and perhaps his support but may also hurt the final nominee when he most needs our help.

As to the war, one final thought. I believe that from a constitutional standpoint, Paul is right. However, as you say, he ignores the reality that we are dealing with an irrational enemy. The hatred may well be rational, but the means to achieve their goal is totally irrational and we must defeat them. This cannot be a negotiated truce as every war since WWII has been. We need victory.

Again, thanks for your reply.