Opinion: Ron Paul, in the spotlight

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Call us hopelessly conventional, but we still can’t quite see Republican Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy ending with the oath of office at the Capitol. But we are more than willing to posit this: the campaign that the Texas congressman launched with oh-so-little-attention months ago has unquestionably exceeded expectations.

Need proof? Well, as the Washington Times recently reported, his staff has outgrown the 348-square-foot office in Arlington, Va., that once was deemed sufficient. We checked with his campaign, and it will be moving to nearby quarters that provide a spacious 3,000 square feet of work space.

He’s already outlasted a former governor of Virginia and onetime chairman of the national GOP (Jim Gilmore, who ended his campaign earlier this month). And during the year’s second quarter, he outraised, among others, a senator from Kansas (Sam Brownback), the former governor of Arkansas (Mike Huckabee) and the former governor of Wisconsin who also served as a cabinet member (Tommy Thompson).

But here may be the crowning achievement: on Sunday, he’s profiled in the New York Times Magazine.

The National Journal’s daily on-line political briefing, the Hotline, provided a preview Thursday, a combination of direct quotes and paraphrases from the piece.

For instance: Based on his ‘simple plan’ for the Iraq war --- ‘just leave’ --- the article says Paul has become ‘a sensation’ in magazines ‘he doesn’t read,’ on Web sites ‘he has never visited’ and on TV shows ‘he has never watched.’

Here’s more, via the Hotline: There’s ‘something homespun’ about Paul. He communicates with constituents ‘through birthday cards, August barbecues and the cookbooks his wife puts together’ every election year. But there’s ‘also something cosmopolitan and radical’ about him. His speeches ‘can bring to mind the World Social Forum’ or the French international-affairs periodical Le Monde Diplomatique.

The profile also probes his links to the John Birch Society. Again, from the Hotline preview: Paul says in ‘mock horror’: ‘Oh, my goodness, the John Birch Society! Is that bad? I have a lot of friends in the John Birch Society. They’re generally well educated, and they understand the Constitution.’

All in all, sounds like a must-read.

-- Don Frederick