Politics

Ron Paul Rules The Intertubes

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Via the Reason Foundation's Lisa Snell comes this list on the home page of Technorati: Rep. Ron Paul inspires more patriotic denizens of the web to do blog searches than Paris Hilton, YouTube, or, uh, anything else in the universe. It's part of the ongoing D-story of the 2008 campaign: the libertarian/nerd convergence of support for Ron Paul.

We're probably not talking about hundreds of thousands of people finding out about Paul and growing a national movement. His campaign brags to reporters about Paul's status in online polls, crediting it to his many votes against internet regulation, but there's no sign of it translating to real world Obama-style momentum. (Obama can put out a call for rally volunteers on Facebook and get 200 fresh-scrubbed co-eds bouncing out of bed to help set up microphones.) It's just enough to piss off the online polling outfits. Pajamas Media might be ready to bounce Paul from its poll again after some fishy traffic from a single IP address.

We regret that Congressman Paul, a good and decent American with loyal motives and deeply held convictions, seems to have garnered among his supporters a small group for whom unethical conduct appears to be permissible if it gets him elected. We are certain he would disapprove of it.

Still, this behavior must stop immediately, as well as the rude and abusive messages we are receiving from these supporters. If they do not, Pajamas Media will have no choice but to remove Mr. Paul permanently from our poll. The choice is now in the hands of Mr. Paul's supporters.

You see, the Paul surges are making the PJ polls—which currently show Mike Gravel beating Obama and Tommy Thompson whomping the GOP field—look illegitimate.