Tea Partiers Attack... Ron Paul?

Texas congressman draws three primary challengers
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 9, 2010 7:38 AM CST
Tea Partiers Attack... Ron Paul?
Ron Paul takes part in a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ron Paul is facing a whopping three primary challengers this year, all from the so-called Tea Party movement many credit him with starting. Two say they were inspired to run by the anti-tax protests, and have helped organize local rallies, while a third has attended several of the protests. But their criticisms of Paul sound a lot like the standard complaints Republicans have lodged in the past, the Dallas Morning News reports.

They complain, for example, that Paul’s views are too extreme, that he opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that he votes “no” on everything, including some federal spending in his district. “The word I keep hearing is ‘ineffective,’” says one opponent. “The criticism is, to say the least, ironic,” points out David Weigel in the Washington Independent. None of Paul's positions run afoul of the Tea Party’s stated libertarian-esque goals. “But some of it does cut against the priorities of national security conservatives and partisan Republicans.” (More Ron Paul stories.)

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