Ron Paul certainly distanced himself from the other GOP candidates at the debate on the issue of foreign policy, didn’t he? He made himself seem like a head-in-the-sand, isolationist and his historical ignorance was amazing. Not only that but his simpleton approach to foreign policy was nothing short of breath taking. Well, Rep. Allen West similarly thought that Paul’s gabled ideas were dangerous and stated directly that Paul is “not the kind of guy you need to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.”

Florida Representative Allen West, a former Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army who served in Iraq, was attending a Tea Party event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida late last week and made a few comments about Paul’s rambling at the Ames debate.

West told attendees that the threats to the USA are far more dangerous than Ron Paul’s simpleminded claims tended to make them seem.

Beside Paul’s absurd stance on Iran, his claim that we never had any kind of war with Russia was just as stupid. Let me just say two words to you Doctor Paul: Cold War. Of course we had a war with the U.S.S.R. Not a hot war, of course, but a Cold War for sure. Are you so ignorant of that history, Doctor Paul?

Now, Paul came is second at the Ames Straw Poll. This is, however, a meaningless fact. Paul has spent the last few years with a singular focus of buying polls all across the country. Whenever there is a straw poll at an event, whenever an Internet poll is begun, his acolytes bomb the results with his purchased supporters efforts. The Ames poll is no different.

Ron Paul will never have more than a small percentage of support in the GOP electorate. He appeals to only one segment of the GOP polity. He appeals to the monetary policy wonks. That is it. He is anathema to the security Republicans and the family values voters. Worse, he’d never get a single independent vote.

Well, he might get the Jew-hater’s vote, too. So, he has that going for him. Which is nice.

Ron Paul’s multiple attempts to pretend to run for president — and he’s never really been serious about it — is a distraction and a shame. I say he’s never been serious because he’s never made much of an attempt to do anything other than buy polls by sending his fans out to them and appear at debates. He’s never really campaigned anywhere for the office. He’s never built a real organization built to influence state party organizations. He’s never really created a Paul organization across the nation that is interested in the electoral process. All he’s ever created is a gaggle of disaffected, libertarians that are desperate to find someone behind which to rally their ideas.

Ron Paul is not now and has never been a serious candidate for the presidency and his ramblings about foreign policy made that more evident than ever.