After all this time, Pajamas Media accepts it

[JohnnyWrath]

RON PAUL. The phenomenon of Ron Paul is frankly somewhat bewildering. Paul is also in the running for that distant third in Iowa. You would hope he would be if for no other reason than that he has apparently raised some $20 million in the last quarter of 2007, more than any other Republican, putting him, at least for the moment, in the Clinton and Obama class as a fundraiser. Paul polled for most of the year as a virtual asterisk, only to start rising towards the high single digits in Iowa and New Hampshire. Are his fiercely libertarian and anti-military interventionist supporters merely a small but exceptionally energetic and financially generous bunch? Or are they “off the grid,” not responsive to traditional polling? Paul might be third in Iowa. He might even be third in New Hampshire.

SOURCE (http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/iowa_scenarios.php)

[xexkxex]

The dam is about to break :D

[Micahyah]

yeah, they don't want to be embarrassed.

I bet we'll see a lot more of this today and early tomorrow.

"We told you for months Ron Paul was a few internet spammers, but now that the real primaries are starting, we have to cover our behind as Paul's real support shakes up the entire field."

[Pharoah]

Welcome to the desert of the real.

[ReallyNow]

I've firmly believed that the closer we got to the caucus and primary there would be much more chatter about Ron Paul placing much better than expected and you would see an uptick in the polls. This is to marginalize what will happen, mostly. If no one talks about Paul coming in 3rd in Iowa and he does it, it will be huge news. If they note it beforehand due to his "small, ardent support going out to caucus" they'll be much more able to downplay it as a ho-hum, he still didn't win event.

[Dave Pedersen]

The prevailing spin will be

"a re-examination of the primary process is warranted given the impact of an obviously small group supporting a candidate who has virtually no chance of prevailing against the likes of a Hillary or Obama. Ron Paul is obviously less able to win in the general election yet gains the nomination contrary to the best interests of the party.

The party must evaluate how best to conduct its primaries in the future so that whoever gains the nomination is also the best candidate to move forward into the general election."