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That "young lion" managed to lose the 1964 election in a 24 point landlside and the utter lack of coattails he possessed managed to give LBJ the airtight majority he needed to push through the entire Great Society.

Yeah but he set the seeds for Reagan as people realized he was right. Same thing that Paul is doing. He may not win the nomination, but I bet the GOP will be more libertarian as a result.

You should appreciate that Paul is running. He's bringing in new and younger voters into the GOP. The GOP is a dying party, the base has completely shrunk to religious conservatives and those who support the war.

Yeah but he set the seeds for Reagan as people realized he was right.

The average American did not think Goldwater was right. Richard Nixon did not trounce the Democrats by running as a Goldwater disciple. And after Goldwater smacked Ronald Reagan across the face with his non-endorsement, Reagan won with his own brand of conservatism, having completely outgrown Goldwater's petulant childishness.

Same thing that Paul is doing.

I agree that Paul is a crank that successful Republicans will not look to as a role model.

He may not win the nomination, but I bet the GOP will be more libertarian as a result.

He will definitely not even be in the running for the nomination and the GOP will not become more libertarian, since key libertarian issues like legalizing hard drugs and betraying US troops are not gaining much currency.

You should appreciate that Paul is running.

I appreciate the comic relief, certainly.

He's bringing in new and younger voters into the GOP.

No, he's getting fringe types who normally vote Green, Democrat, New Alliance and Socialist to switch registration for the primaries with the express purpose of undermining the GOP's resolve to deafeat terrorism. None of these people will still be "Republicans" after Paul's candidacy finishes going down in flames.

The GOP is a dying party

LOL! The GOP has more registered members as a percentage of the US population now than it has since before the days of FDR.

the base has completely shrunk to religious conservatives and those who support the war

So the base is the 55ish percent of Americans who consider themselves conservatives? Or the 70% of Americans who consider themselves religious? Or the presumably high percentage of Americans who would rather win a war than lose it?

I'm not sure if we need a few thousand neo-Nazis, goldbugs and 9/11 Truthers in the mix, to be honest.