Ron Paul is a terrible leader and subscribes to George Washington's demonstrably flawed isolationist international policy stance.
I happen to think the Founders were exactly right in their warnings that foreign entanglements would get us in trouble. In fact, they were almost prophetic. If you read the 9/11 Commission Report and the writings of ex-CIA bin Laden expert Michael Scheuer, among others, you'll see how US foreign policy is to blame for 9/11 and the (greatly exaggerated) terrorist threat in general. Our support of Israel's brutal collective punishment of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians; our propping up of Muslim puppet dictators; our sanctions that have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people just to punish a refractory ruler like Saddam; all these things multiply our enemies. And even if they didn't cause people to hate us, it's still morally wrong and hypocritical for us to do them.
Sure, many who are in favor of these policies will often try to intimidate their opponents by saying the latter are "blaming America" -- truly a cheap shot. But America is about principles and ideas, not what the government does. I happen to love what this country was meant to stand for very, very much, and that's exactly why I
hate much of what the US government does.
On the other hand, "isolationist" isn't really the right word. "Non-interventionist" is a better one. RP has no problem with defending the country if attacked, and I believe he supported the invasion of Afghanistan to go after bin Laden (as did I). But fighting wars of choice is not only gravely immoral, it extraordinarily expensive in both human and financial terms.
As for Ron Paul being a terrible leader...well, I'll admit that he's not the best speaker. But he's shown balls of steel by getting up in front of debate audiences and making a case about foreign policy that he knows is going to be unpopular among the Fox News fans who make up the majority of today's GOP. That says a lot for his courage -- an essential part of leadership. He tells people painful truths that make many people bristle, rather than beautiful lies that make people flush with pride. Lastly, his intellect is unquestionable. His credentials speak for themselves.
That being said, the man has a picture-perfect domestic policy stance. I want those perspectives to drive the rest of the field to the right. Rudy McRomney and friends would be wise to become true conservatives again.
Agreed about RP's domestic policy, but I don't think it will rub off on the statists you mention. They're only in this game because they want power for its own sake. With one of them as president, expect more domestic surveillance, more wiretapping, more email interception, and in the case of Rudy and Mitt especially, more gun control.