I can't speak for "many Republicans," but Ron Paul speaks the truth that dare not speak its name to much of the Republican leadership.
To my mind, Ron Paul is a man of great wisdom and enormous courage. Unlike almost all of his Republican colleagues, he knows how the world works beyond the realms of self-serving illusions, fantasies and wishful thinking.
As an individual, he appears to take others seriously, listen in good faith to what they say and care deeply about their concerns.
Moreover, he strikes me as a person who has a firm grip on reality and has no illusions about the true strength and salvation of the American promise to herself and the world-at-large.
I think the founders would be proud of him. I know I am!
Which is why, no doubt, his colleagues will soon marginalize him and he will fade from the scene.
If there is one thing the American leadership class wants no part of these days it's anything that has to do with the founding fathers and the true strength and meaning of the American promise in the world.