Paul's Progress

The ever-readable Matt Labash, whose nigh-Faustian literary skills were enough to make John Cox interesting, takes on the Ron Paul musical REVOLution in the current Weekly Standard. Paul's inspired "atrocious music," but Labash isn't too hard on them…

Perhaps the most talented Paul songwriter I've encountered is the Pittsburgh folkie named Daryl Fleming, of Daryl Fleming and the Public Domain. He sings with a pleasing tomcat rasp, and when reaching for the bigger notes, sounds like he should be twinning harmonies with The Band's Levon Helm. Fleming feels that limited government is underrepresented in rock and folk music. He's a far cry from dancing pizzas and seems a bit self-conscious about the company he's keeping. "I am not guilty by association," he emails of the grab bag of other Paul supporters. "The 9-11 Truthers, white supremacists, and assorted kooks (perhaps some of the other songwriters?) who support Ron Paul do not invalidate his message. Faulting RP (or me) for some of his non-sanctioned supporters is like blaming Jodie Foster for the shooting of Ronald Reagan."

Over the weekend Paul won the Virginia GOP straw poll with 38 percent of the vote, even after Sen. George Allen made a personal appeal for Fred Thompson.

Republican officials dismissed the poll's outcome, noting that Paul has been concentrating on winning straw polls all over the country.

"He brought people in here. What is more critical to look at is who finished second and third. That is a more true indicator of the feelings of the Republican Party of Virginia," said Tucker Watkins of Randolph in Charlotte County, a former 5th District GOP chairman.

And that Des Moines Register poll that shows Mike Huckabee surging into first place in Iowa shows Paul rising from 4 percent to 7 percent, tied with John McCain.