Big Week in Iowa

Jeff Zeleny casts an eye on the GOP antics in Iowa this week. The town of Tiffin is full of the biggies, all waiting to debate on Thursday...which I will miss. The circus may be free but it is not for me.
Although, of course, I am working to get Ron Paul to the White House...it's just that I am not the typical GOP person, and this is not about me supporting the GOP. As Zeleny notes in his article (7 August, New York Times, "Republican Jockey as a Big Week Begins in Iowa"), Dr Paul has 'wide appeal among voters with a libertarian strain...' He then notes the candidate's 'deep support of his core followers', who have been 'encouraged to send the party a message.'
The GOP cannot be unaware of the fact that many of the candidate here are hard core Republicans, too hard core, and cannot win any votes outside of that base. Not that Paul is soft on the major issues - he is anti-immigration, pro-America, and, unlike his GOP contenders, did military time - as an officer in the medical corps.
On the other hand, Paul is more centrist on other issues, such as gay marriage, which he is not out promoting, but has always considered something that ought to be allowed. A non-issue really. And of course the hemp issue seems to put him in the left, or in the Greens - as so many Democrats are MIA on this one, mistaking it for a 'dope' issue - they ought to read. But Paul is an environmentalist, opposed to nuclear power. But against abortion. Some call him a centrist.
Whatever the label, he has the widest base of support of any of the GOPers. So I am not going to watch Bachmann tell me that the White House 'fears my candidacy more than any other' - no, Michele, it probably supports yours as yours has the narrowest support base of any, and you have the least experience of any. Your main issue was gay rights, or the denial thereof.
So it should be interesting, and hopefully we will be hearing more about Dr Paul in the press as the debate turns to real issues. Such as, the economy.