Libertarian Ron Paul is dilemma for Republicans
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks about how the GOP establishment should handle Presidential candidate Ron Paul.
By Deborah Charles
(Reuters) - The Republican Party is faced with a dilemma: how to handle a popular, unorthodox presidential candidate who wants to do away with the Federal Reserve and end U.S. military presence overseas.
Ron Paul's libertarian philosophy is resonating with voters and senior Republicans say the party needs to show respect for him and grant some concessions to make sure he does not run as a third party candidate, and take his supporters along with him.
With a tough battle ahead to prevent Democratic President Barack Obama's re-election in November, Republican politicians and strategists say Texas Congressman Paul - who has spouted his anti-establishment views for decades without much success - must now be listened to, at least in part. . .
"I think he will be a force in the convention that the nominee has to go to and ask 'What do you need not to be a problem?'" said Cal Jillson, a political analyst at the Southern Methodist Univeristy in Texas.
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