I supported Ron Paul in the Ohio Primary, and attended meetings of other supporters. I never heard anyone justify his candidacy on a mere appeal to authority, such as you suggest. Everyone with whom I had contact was prepared to argue for his stands based upon reasoned arguments. I do not know where you are from, or what is the basis for your comment. You may have simply been offended by an obnoxious individual supporter. No one is immune from that.
While I may not agree with Dr. Paul or any other man on every issue, I have never heard him or read of his having gone off on a tangent.
His supporters were really obnoxious. Ron Paul won practically every poll taken but remained in low digits in every primary. Obviously they were slamming the polls!