Jonathan Bernstein makes an interesting point about the commentary surrounding the Ron Paul racist newsletter flap:

Just don’t tell me, as Kain and Fredersdorf do, that publishing ugly newsletters is bad, but not as bad as various policies that the president or the other Republican candidates support. That’s the wrong standard; it’s the standard by which to judge an actual candidate for president. Supporting Paul isn’t about that. You don’t have to convince anyone that he’d be a good president; you don’t have to believe it yourself. Basically, if you believe he’s the right protest candidate to change what ails the GOP, I think you have the wrong guy; if you’re just using him for a particular issue position, then there’s no need to even pretend that he’d make a good president or to hesitate at all in rejecting whatever baggage comes with him.

I’d be curious to know what sort of response people will have to this line of thinking, especially people who view Ron Paul either as a) a protest candidate or b) someone who would make a good President.