The Place Where Optimism Flourishes Most

The ronulans drew attention this weekend when they swarmed the town clerk of Sutton, New Hampshire. Her crime? On the night of the primary, her office reported that Ron Paul received no votes. He actually received 31, as the corrected numbers showed the next day.

This is luck at its worst. Screw up Rudy Giuliani's vote total. Or John McCain's. Or John Edwards's. Or Bill Richardson's.

But never, ever get anything wrong when it comes to Paul and his voting tally. If you do, fans who shouted from the rooftops through the primary season will track you down and chew you out.

"Most of the these people are not rational," Call said.

People have deeply invested themselves in candidates this year. Look how much trouble the Reason people have had at turning away from Ron Paul. Look at how vociferous the Fredheads are. I don't know if it is because of the extra-long election season or perhaps because we haven't had a chance to fight like this in a while, but followers of the Republican contest for president are every bit as given to excess as sports fanatics.

Ron Paul's supporters are the worst probably because they were already prone to flights of fancy. But as any of the moron-cobloggers will tell you, it doesn't get you anywhere to get in an argument with any committed voter at this point. Politics is personal and an insult to a candidate is an insult to his supporters.

We just need to remember that after we've actually selected a candidate, we're all on the same side when it comes to beating the Democrats. Except for the ronulans. They can crawl back under the rock they came from.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:01 PM

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