October 27, 2007

Why Is Ron Paul's Campaign Paying Alex Jones? UPDATE: A 'Partial Refund'?

The question of what Ron Paul represents has burned through the blogosphere this week, followed shortly afterwards by a revelation about an apparently unsolicited donation from a white supremacist. Today brings a much more revealing look at the Paul campaign, as Hot Air and MVRWC have discovered a payment from Team Paul to Alex Jones -- the 9/11 Truther leader -- for $1300 in "services". Allahpundit notes:

Assuming it’s the same Alex Jones, which seems a safe bet, pray tell what might that payment have been for? The likeliest explanation is that it’s some sort of service fee, either Jones doing something on behalf of the campaign or allowing the campaign to do something using his property. Either way, I’m mighty curious to know what special service might have been provided such that Paul’s people couldn’t have gone elsewhere and gotten the same deal from someone who isn’t a degenerate conspiracy theorist.

This goes much closer to the heart of Paul's direction. While anyone can contribute to a political campaign, the choice of where the money goes is directly and completely relevant to an analysis of the candidate. If Paul chooses to help fund a 9/11 Truther, voters can reasonably conclude that Paul has sympathy for the paranoid conspiracy theorists.

The Paul campaign really has to explain their support of Alex Jones, more so than they need to explain the David Black contribution. So far, they haven't explained either one.

UPDATE: Paul's campaign says it's a refund of a campaign contribution. However, Jones donated $2,300, and the payment is for $1,300. Why only refund a portion of the contribution? Why would a candidate send back money except to distance one's self from a contributor, and why would a partial refund do that? That makes even less sense than some of Jones' conspiracy mongering -- and Paul continues to appear on Jones' radio show, as David Freddoso notes.

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