Republican Candidate Ron Paul

Radley Balko describes little known Ron Paul on Foxnews.

Interesting article about Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul, who is running for President. He ran for the office once before as the Libertarian candidate, which is probably where I recall the name. He's been in Congress since 1996, returning with larger margins of victory every election. However, he's not your run of the mill politician.

"When most members of Congress see a bill for the first time, they immediately judge the bill on its merits, or if you're more cynical, they determine what the political interests that support them will think of it, or how it might benefit their constituents.

For Paul, the vast majority of bills don't get that far. He first asks, "Does the Constitution authorize Congress to pass this law?" Most of the time, the answer to that question is "no." And so Paul votes accordingly.

This hasn't won him many friends in Congress, or, for that matter, his own party. It hasn't won him influential committee assignments or powerful chairmanships, either. Those are generally handed out to the party animals who vote as they're told. An incorruptible man of principle in a corrupt body almost utterly devoid of principle, Paul is often a caucus of one."

While it is unlikely that he would get the nomination, what is interesting about him is how he might influence the Republican primaries. He voted against the war in Iraq, and opposes the war on drugs as both immoral and unconstitutional, but he also is against illegal immigration, abortion (he's a OB/GYN), over-regulation, and the expanding role of government.

He favors limited government and spending, as well as a return to the gold standard, which I find curiously amusing. If he can last long enough, he could interject some substantial debate on these issues where the Republicans have, to a large extent, lost there principles, like limited government.