Not in lockstep! Too extreme!!

To which I say: thank God.

Even GOP conservative Ron Paul draws Tea Party opposition DallasNews dot com)

Quick quotes:

Not In Lockstep

It is hard to know where Paul fits into the Tea Party landscape. Paul supporters say he launched the movement in 2007 when he raised $6 million in a one-day, Web-based fundraiser on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. His call for limited government and ending the Federal Reserve also resonates loudly in the Tea Party movement.

"Dr. Paul is proud to play a small role in getting this phenomenon going," said his campaign spokesman, Jesse Benton.

That phenomenon has also propelled Paul's protégés – including his son Rand, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky, and former Paul campaign volunteer Debra Medina, who is surging in the Texas GOP primary race for governor.

But the movement has clearly moved beyond Paul's dedicated core of supporters, a fact the congressman has seemingly acknowledged. He plans to attend a Tea Party-sponsored candidate forum in Katy this month, but he has distanced himself from the Tea Parties in recent interviews because of the antagonistic tone of some rallies.

(...)

John Gay, Paul's third opponent, said he has attended several Tea Parties and related meetings. Both Wall, a machine supervisor, and Graney, a former small-business owner, have helped organize local rallies.

Tea Party associations aside, many of the challengers' criticisms echo concerns of Paul's past opponents: that he is too focused on his national ambitions; that his views are too extreme; that he doesn't support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; that he votes "no" on everything, including federal aid for his district after Hurricane Ike.

"The word I keep hearing is 'ineffective,' " said Gay, a school business administrator. "This district is not really being represented as it could be."

(...)

And Paul – who understands a thing or two about grass-roots politics – took a more defensive stance last month in a letter to his supporters. Paul wrote that his opponents had "turned their attack dogs loose on me" and cautioned that the anti-Washington sentiment could take him out as well.

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Just noticed this related DP post: http://dailypaul.com/node/124496