Is Ron Paul Courting the Extremist Vote?

These developments remind me of Hillary and Obama debating the difference between 'denouncing' and 'rejecting' when it came to Jeremiah Wright's anti-Semitic and anti-American views. Ultimately, Obama decided to leave Wright's church because it was politically necessary.

Apparently, Ron Paul is dealing with a similar version of this phenomenon. To this point, he appears to have decided that it's best to disown the views of extremists but embrace their support.

Via the New York Times:

The American Free Press, which markets books like “The Invention of the Jewish People” and “March of the Titans: A History of the White Race,” is urging its subscribers to help it send hundreds of copies of Ron Paul’s collected speeches to voters in New Hampshire. The book, it promises, will “Help Dr. Ron Paul Win the G.O.P. Nomination in 2012!”

Don Black, director of the white nationalist Web site Stormfront, said in an interview that several dozen of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s presidential campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments. “I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one.

The Times goes on to discuss how Paul seems to be playing both sides of the Libertarian philosophy against the middle. First, there are the very sane libertarian views that call for limited government and active support for Austrian economic theory. Then there is the more racist strain endorsed by the likes of Stormfront.

The economic theory is supported by the guy who oversaw the production of Paul's now very controversial newsletters; his name is Lew Rockwell. Rockwell was a close adviser to Paul and forged an alliance with another guy named Murray Rothbard, according to the NYT, who reports on Rothbard invoking the name of David Duke:

In the Rothbard-Rockwell Report they started in 1990, Mr. Rothbard called for a “Right Wing Populism,” suggesting that the campaign for governor of Louisiana by David Duke, the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, was a model for “paleolibertarianism.”

Will the real Ron Paul please stand up?

In fairness, it would sure be nice to see the liberal media vet Obama like this.

h/t Hot Air