The New Republic on Ron Paul
Michael Crowley's excellent, short profile of the Ron Paul campaign is up at TNR's website, complete with a quote from noted author/journalist/adventurer Brian Doherty:
Paul's candidacy leaves some of his erstwhile libertarian fans cold--particularly the intellectuals who congregate in Washington outfits like the CATO Institute or Reason magazine. "He comes from a more right-wing populist approach," explains Brian Doherty, a California-based Reason editor and author of Radicals for Capitalism, a history of the libertarian movement. "Culturally, he strikes a lot of the more cosmopolitan libertarians as a yokel." (Doherty himself is a Paul admirer.)
And, while some libertarians criticize Paul from the left on social issues, others are swiping at him from the right over the war. "Will Libertarianism Survive Ron Paul?" asked one article on the America's Future Foundation website, before continuing, "Paul's prominence threatens to make his blame-America instincts the defining characteristic of libertarianism in the public imagination. If libertarianism becomes inextricably associated with radical pacifism, will young people with classically liberal instincts be discouraged from serious political engagement?"
The latter quote is from Reason contributor John Tabin. Me, I'm impressed that Peretz didn't insert any innuendos into the piece.
