General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It's his position against the drug war that makes Ron Paul so volcanically controversial here on DU. [View all]onenote
(42,700 posts)"it's because Paul makes Democrats and specifically Obama look bad on the drug war that drives a great deal of the sheer vitriol against him"
Every one of the repug candidates has (deservedly) been on the receiving end of plenty of "sheer vitriol" here on DU. If you think Cain, Perry or Newt were handled with kid gloves here when they had their surges, or that Santorum is being killed with kindness, you are not paying attention. Paul gets treated badly because he has closely associated himself with vile racism and holds positions on a wide range of issues that are anathema to most DUers, such as his unapologetic opposition to the Civl Rights Act and to equal rights for women, and his anti-choice, anti-union and pro-gun stances. The fact that his libertarianism means that he sometimes stumbles into a position that aligns with progressive stances on something like drugs or the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan doesn't cause most DUers to oppose him any more or any less than they oppose the other repub candidates and your concern that somehow he is being singled out, while duly noted, is simply misplaced.