In the City Paper

RON PAUL! RON PAUL! THEY WROTE ABOUT RON PAUL!

Actually, it was Charlie Dietch.

And as far as I can tell, it seeks to answer the question: Who is this "Ron Paul guy, what are people saying about him - good and bad?"

While I'm not a Paul supporter (if I were, would that make me a "Paulist"? Just checking.), the article paints a balanced portrait - using sketches from supporters and detractors alike.

Maria the OPJ gets in a few digs:

Earlier this year, for example, South Sider Maria Lupinacci authored a post titled "Ron Paul Sucks" on the blog she co-writes, "2 Political Junkies" (2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com).

"Yeah, yeah, Republican candidate and darling of the Libertarian wing Ron Paul is good on Iraq," Luppinaci's post concedes. "But I just want to remind anyone who cares about women's reproduction freedom that he is anti-choice . . . I expect more from 'freedom-loving, keep-the-government-off-of-me' Libertarians. But, too often I find that the same Libertarian males who kick and scream over the thought of the government taking one thin dime of their money have no problem whatsoever with the thought of that very same government crawling up into a woman's womb." Lupinacci also questioned the wisdom of trusting issues like gay rights and even product safety to the states, and concluded:

"I say: Fuck Him."

You can find that blog post here, by the way. Dietch gives the Congressman a chance to respond as this follows right after:

Paul accepts such criticism as his due.

"There's a big difference in paying a lot of lip service to supporting the Constitution and actually going out and supporting it with your vote," says Paul. "The Constitution stands for something and I will support it. I'm not going to go out there with my vote and go along just to get along."

On the otherside of the aisle, there's my buddy Mark Rauterkus:

"He's definitely the best candidate out there right now for this country," says Mark Rauterkus of the South Side, a vice chair of the local Libertarian Party and a fixture on local ballots. "I think he's a libertarian through and through, and I am certainly supporting him."

Though there may be a question as to how libertarian Paul is. This is further down the page:

Some libertarians, meanwhile, say Paul isn't libertarian enough, or that on hot-button issues -- abortion, gay marriage and immigration -- Paul is nothing but a Republican in reformer's clothing.

Paul's stand on immigration, for example, strikes some as odd, given libertarian support for a free-market economy. Paul's belief that gay marriage and abortion should be determined by the states, meanwhile, doesn't satisfy libertarians who think the government has no place interfering with people's medical decisions or in bedrooms. [emphasis in original]

In the course of the article, we hear from Bill Steigerwald:

"I like him because he's the most anti-Bush Republican running. He's bashing the Republicans more than the Democrats are. He's showing that he's a Republican in party registration only."

And Bill Green:

"Local GOP consultant Bill Green attended Paul's Cranberry appearance in early August. He likened the experience of walking through the Sheraton parking lot as "going to see Jerry Garcia . . . I don't know that it will amount to much more than a few feel-good affirmation rallies, but he's obviously touching a chord.

"His supporters seem to be a collection of people who can't find any other place to go," says Green. "Certain things he says appeal to certain people, and they sometimes belong in very different groups . . . A lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds are going to say, 'Hey, he's talking to me. Somebody is finally talking to me.'

"Checking out the cars, I noticed license plates from about a dozen different states, they caravanned in just to see him," Green adds. "They're true believers. They are the same 'super patriots' that Pat Buchanan attracted."

Good article - check it aht.

While you're there, go read this piece on by Chris Potter on a political cartoon exhibit opening on the 14th at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery on Liberty Avenue dahn-tahn.

American Caricature is a form of intervention, where international cartoonists get U.S. viewers into a room and hold up a mirror to them. The show features 76 works by 37 artists from a dozen countries (including the U.S.). Not surprisingly, most of the work comments on Iraq and the war on terror -- although, sadly, the show lacks any Middle Eastern perspectives. "It's a weakness of the show," Huck admits. But no matter what their nationality, Huck says, contributors felt, "This is long overdue.

Can't wait.