The One Thing White Supremacists And Hippie Peaceniks Can Agree On: Ron Paul

White power people really, really like Ron Paul. Although the libertarian Texan congressman’s presidential campaign has barely made a dent in Republican polls, the folks at Stormfront and similar white supremacist message boards think he’s the candidate who best represents their interests. The American Nazi Party’s candidate for president has even been complaining that American neo-Nazis have abandoned him in favor of the feisty Texan. This may sound a bit odd, as libertarianism and fascism are about as diametrically opposed as two political ideologies can be. It probably has to do with Paul’s distain for the IRS, the CIA, and the war in Iraq, all of which are unpopular among white power groups as well. The borderline racist comments that Paul has made on his blog over the years probably helps too. This is not to say that he’s a white supremacist himself (in fact, he has written anti-racist articles before); he’s just never seen fit to publicly acknowledge or repudiate the strong support he receives from racist groups. Even more strangely, this icon of the far right has recently been drawing some support from persons on the far left who admire his desire for a quick withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, unlike the slow pullout favored by most Democrats. It seems that at least for people on the political fringes, Ron Paul can in fact be all things to all people.