Political consultant Chuck Muth writes a regular online newsletter, DC Confidential, is one of my favorite online reads, and the latest installment - not online yet, but forwarded to me by a friend - looks at the impact that Rep. Ron Paul's longshot bid for the Republican presidential nomination may have on the 2008 presidential race, and at rumors that Paul "may ask illegal immigration's fiercest warrior, Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, to be his running mate (or vice-versa)."
Paul, a Texas Republican who ran for president in 1988 as the Libertarian Party candidate, filed papers to set up a presidential campaign exploratory committee last week. (Website here.) Admitting that Rep. Paul "is far from a household name to the general population," Muth says that, to limited-government libertarian/conservatives, "he's the patron saint of their philosophy" and "the congressional embodiment of Barry Goldwater's belief that an elected representative's job isn't to determine if something is 'needed' before determining if it's constitutional.
Says Muth:
His odds are long, but his grassroots support from around the nation will likely surprise a LOT of people. Many of us are dying for a leader we can vote FOR, someone who actual believes the Constitution means what the Constitution says. By the way, although Rep. Paul is a committed, self-described, card-carrying libertarian...he's also pro-life and has impeccable credentials on the illegal immigration debate.
Given the current GOP field so far boasts a number of flawed candidates that libertarian/conservatives aren't rushing to support, Muth says, "a Paul/Tancredo or Tancredo/Paul 'Dream Team' would be a huge shot in the arm which would force discussion on SO MANY issues which heretofore in recent years have been swept under the carpet, mostly by Republicans (including the current president)."
Rep. Paul's opposition to the Iraq war is going to cut into some of his support among conservatives and even among libertarians, so I'm not as upbeat about his chances as Muth. But he will make the primaries more interesting and issues-oriented.
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