Ron Paul’s racist newsletters probably won’t kill his lead in Iowa
On the other hand, polls taken through holidays tend to be off kilter, as Huffpos’ poll consolidation this am states.
Ron Paul’s presidential campaign is so unorthodox that it flourishes when others might fail. The big story for the past week has been the rediscovery of a series of racist and homophobic newsletters published under Paul’s name in the 1980s and 1990s. One reads: “We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational.” Another says, “95 percent of the black males in [Washington DC] are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.” If any other presidential candidate were associated with this sort of race-baiting filth, they’d be out of the race by now. Yet, not only is Ron Paul still in the running, but he maintains his slim lead in the crucial first-in-the-nation state of Iowa. Moreover, a recent poll found that he is actually the most popular Republican candidate among non-whites. What in the name of Jesse Jackson is going on?
It is important to acknowledge the seriousness of Paul’s crime. Whether or not he personally wrote the offending newsletters is beside the point: they were published in the first person under his name and he has, in the past, accepted “moral responsibility” for them. It is estimated that they netted him nearly one million dollars a year.