“At the very least, the untold parallel story of the Republican primaries, which, for the 99% of you who had no way of knowing, have continued alongside the Democratic primaries, and received almost no coverage. Oddly enough, the Republican primaries would have made a more interesting story because although John McCain has been the “presumptive Republican nominee” since January, as late as last month, McCain barely eeked out 70% in the Pennsylvania primary, with 11% going to Mike Huckabee, who had officially dropped out in February, and 16% for Ron Paul. In Idaho, just last week, Ron Paul received 24% in the Republican primary – an astounding figure considering the public has been fed virtually no information indicating that McCain has any opponents at all! Huckabee has consistently managed to pick up 7-10% in each state, mopping up the core religious right wing remains of the dying Republican generation. But the Ron Paul phenomenon is fascinating to me, because the Republican primaries don’t net proportional delegate representation, as the democrats do. If they did, there would still be a race going on there. As it is, what does the Ron Paul phenomenon portend?

The Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in September may have a big surprise in the form of dissent from within. Only it won’t be liberal Democrats and anarchists in the streets; it will be millions of Republicans who have been trying to register their opposition to the War, to deficit spending, and to the “Imperial Presidency” (or, as Dick Cheney calls it, the “Unitary Executive” – a concept heretofore unknown in the United States). While there are many aspects to Dr. Paul’s libertarian platform that are anathema to my liberal sensibilities, I find it encouraging that so many Republicans are expressing – albeit with no voice afforded them by the media – a desire to return to a form of conservatism that is more rock-ribbed Eisenhower than reactionary Rove….”

More at the Smirking Chimp.