Obligatory Ron Paul Won The CPAC Poll Post

News outlets are playing up the CPAC straw poll that Ron Paul won.

Some are asking "What does this mean?" Others are saying "Here's what this means."

Being a conservative blogger -- I'm a better at being a conservative than I am at being a blogger -- it's my duty to either ask what it means, or say what it means.

So, I'll do neither.

Instead, I'll tell you why Ron Paul is a nutcase: Because he's nuts.

Oh, sure, he has some good ideas. There are many, many issues where he and I agree. And, where we disagree, it's likely an issue where I'm more conservative than he.

But, there are areas where I agree with Barack Obama. Like sending more troops to Afghanistan. If the military says they need more troops, they should get more troops.

And, if we want to play to "I agree with ..." game, it could done with just about anybody.

And, on lots of issues, Ron Paul is right.

But, he's like that crazy uncle that fought in the big war. He was right about so many things, and has done a lot of good. But also walks down to the post office and pees on the plastic plants in the corner.

That's Ron Paul. Here's an old CNN video where he says he doesn't accept the 9/11 commission findings, and says that our presence in the region contributed to the attacks.


[Direct link]

You know who else blames the U.S. presence for the 9/11 attacks? Osama bin Laden.

Yes, Ron Paul has some good ideas.

But he needs to shut up and go pee on the plants in the post office.

Update: I also posted this at IMAO. And boy, did it ever attract the Ron Paul trolls there!

What the ACU thinks of the candidates

I wrote earlier about what the ACLU thinks about the 4 members of Congress that are running for President.

The ACU -- that's the American Conservative Union -- rates the candidates, too.

Here's the ACU's lifetime rating for the four:

John McCain (R) 82.3
Ron Paul (R) 82.3
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (D) 9.0
Barack Hussein Obama (D) 8.0

I can't find any ratings for Mike Huckabee (R) or Mike Gravel (D), the other two candidates from the major parties. If you have any data on that, let me know, citing sources. I suspect Huckabee's rating would be similar to McCain's and Gravel's similar to Obama's, if not lower.

Being a conservative, I'm naturally drawn to the more conservative candidates. But not Ron Paul. He's crazy.

Of course, I'm now on board with McCain.

What the ACLU thinks of the candidates

Here are the ACLU lifetime ratings of the major party candidates still in the race:

Barack Hussein Obama (D) 82%
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (D) 75%
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (R) 61%
John Sidney McCain III (R) 25%

Note: I have been unable to find ACLU ratings on Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (D), who was was in the Senate from 1969-1981, and Michael Dale Huckabee (R), who served 10 years as governor of Arkansas. I would be very interested any any data (with sources) regarding their ratings. I will say that I suspect they rate Gravel very high, and Huckabee in the same range as McCain.

So, there you go.

The ACLU rates Obama, Clinton, and Paul highest of the four remaining candidates that are currently in Congress.

And McCain the lowest.