It finally dawned on me the other day why otherwise reasonable and intelligent people would support this nut-job. Every person who I know who likes Ron Paul has a strong anti-authoritarian streak which sometimes overrules their better judgment.
I'm a person who likes Paul and I consider myself pro-authoritarian.
I simply want all authority to recognize and subordinate itself to the chain-of-command especially to Him who is at the top of it!
Romans 13:1
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Psalm 2
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
There is truth in that. Another reason I've identified for RP support. Paul rarely if ever shoots down nutty conspiracy theorists. When presented with something completely insane, Paul will empathize with the person or group rather than specifically explain why dumb conspiracy theories are dumb. Part of it is that Paul likely believes many of these things too, another part is Paul knows conspiracy theorists are a big part of his coalition and he doesn't want to alienate any of them. With that in mind, every quack and crank from across the land believes Paul is a truth teller who will validate their goofy beliefs. Imagine believing your whole life that there are FEMA concentration camps housing everyone who knows the truth about the Bilderberg Group. Now imagine a presidential candidate that doesn't actually laugh at you for thinking that. Well, those people are drawn to Paul because they think he is going to prove them right. The fact that he doesn't giggle at them alone is enough to get their vote.
That is probably the most accurate analysis of RP fans that I have seen. Ron Paul is seeing more support than ever becuase some conservatives are so sick of the nanny state and the liberal GOP that they will support the man becuase they think he hates the same people they hate. These people want so badly to send a big FU to the establishment that they are willing to overlook many troubling things.
Oh.
How unAmerican of them.
(/sarc)