As a life-long Republican, the talk of the party not being interested in fringe support frightens me. I understand that along with a recent (think 12 years) centralization of power to the far-right, comes a certain amount of fear of any group that might usurp that power or alter the power hold of that group.

That being said, the purpose of "the party' is not to convene only like-minded individuals. There is in fact a particular advantage to having a group that believes firmly in a set of basic tenets, but disagrees on peripheral issues. This is advantageous because it casts the widest net of inclusion, which in turn means votes... and LETS BE REAL what "the PARTY'' needs next November is nothing more than votes.

Allowing discourse among the party--which has for so long been a cool machine of efficiency--to stagnate by deciding "who is more republican" will bring no positive result. If you really believe that Ron Paul is having a REAL deleterious effect on the party then back the candidate who is the most "republican" and get the word out on him. What we can't afford is to fight with one another while the other party unites.