Crazy Is Not Taking Ron Paul Seriously

Articles about Ron Paul and his presidential campaign almost always take one of two stances: Either he's wacky or his supporters are wacky.

The most recent piece comes from Stuart Rothenberg, who writes the Rothenberg Political Report. Rothenberg argues that Paul's wackiness proves both Paul and the Internet's effects on politics need to be ignored. Rothenberg is wrong on both counts.

Rothenberg notices that the Republican congressman from Texas raised lots of money in a single day and received national headlines. Few reporters had written about Paul before then. Despite the shock of Paul's success, Rothenberg downplays the amount of money raised, comparing it to the gobs of money that big hitters like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani have raised.

But the parallel proves poor. Those are major candidates with strong national profiles who can easily tap into key fundraising networks. Professional fundraisers hold events in major cities where big donors line up to give the maximum of $2,300 per person. ...