DES MOINES, Iowa – Supporters of other candidates puzzled that Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., is leading in some polls in Iowa, are worried that if he pulls off a victory, it will discredit the caucuses, a big source of pride and revenue for the state.
In a previous post, I discussed the confluence of factors that have made Paul a genuine contender in the state. But talk to people backing other candidates, and you’ll hear him described as “extreme” and “too nutty.” They fear his foreign policy and oppose his stance on the legalization of drugs. And they worry how Republicans in other parts of the country, as well as the media, would view the state if Paul pulled it off.
“I just hope Iowa doesn’t come out to the nation as going for Ron Paul,” Eleanor Becker, exclaimed after a Newt Gingrich town hall meeting at a Coca Cola bottling plant in Atlantic, Iowa.
When I asked Gary Nelson, a Gingrich backer at the same event, what he thought about Ron Paul, his face twisted, and without saying anything, he gave me the “thumbs down” sign. Asked to elaborate, he said Paul was “too radical,” and blasted Paul’s views on same-sex marriage, drug legalization and national security.
“I can’t understand why he gets as much support as he does,” Nelson said. “It just floors me…What worries me is if Ron Paul does get our state, it nullifies our state as being important as far as I’m concerned.”
He continued, “If we elect somebody like Ron Paul, people won’t come next time. I wouldn’t blame the media if they didn’t show up if we elect Ron Paul.”
The Des Moines Register poll released last night found Paul within two points of Mitt Romney, essentially a statistical tie. But in the last two days of polling, he slipped to third place, six points behind Romney and three points behind a surging Rick Santorum.
If Paul ends up underperforming in the caucuses on Tuesday, don’t be surprised if one of the factors is voters rallying around Santorum and Romney, in part, out of fear that a Paul victory would make the caucuses irrelevant.
