If you've watched any of the Republican debates, you may have wondered about the diminutive (in stature, at least) candidate who's always blasting the war in Iraq.

In fact, you may have thought the guy had mistakenly stumbled into the wrong debate, since his anti-war rhetoric often sounds more like John Edwards and the Dems than John McCain and the Reps.

Check out the video and judge for yourself.



For many traditional conservatives, Congressman Paul sounds kind of kooky (he's even been called the "Dennis Kucinich of the Republicans"). After all, isn't National Security one of the ideological pillars of modern day conservatism?

Actually Dr. Paul (he's a medically trained obstetrician) is libertarian on other issues like taxes and regulation where he strongly favors "limited government." But what's curious about Paul's brand of libertarianism is that on almost every other issue, the Texas Congressman hews closely to today's conservative line--he's pro-life (many libertarians are pro-choice), pro-business, and tough on border security (libertarians seem evenly divided on the issue).

What's also interesting about the Texas Congressman (besides his medical training and unorthodox opinions) is the almost electric atmosphere in the blogosphere whenever his name is uttered. That's especially surprising given his rather paltry numbers in the primary polls. In fact, the disparity between Dr. Paul's low polling numbers and immense grass-roots appeal is little short of astonishing.

So what do you think explains the Ron Paul phenomenon? Why would a candidate who generates this much enthusiasm fail to attract any solid support in the primary polls (at least not yet)? Use the Comments link to post your answer.