“The party,” says Doherty, “hates him.”
Paul is the kooky uncle in the GOP family, the one who flouts political conventions, represents the fringes of Republican ideology, and refuses to walk the GOP line, says Professor Hanson.
“Many of Paul’s views are considered eccentric or downright unacceptable,” he says. “For example, he’s suggested that Social Security and Medicare may be unconstitutional and should be phased out. National Republicans look at a Paul candidacy as a recipe for disaster.”
It will be easy for rivals to paint Paul – who once said the 9/11 attacks were the Muslim world’s response to American military intervention overseas – as extremist or radical.
He’s also 75 and will be 77 by the time the 2012 election rolls around, making him the oldest GOP contender by a long shot.
If nothing else, says Doherty, “he can convincingly run as a true outsider.”
