I am against the Iraq war, I am against any war in Iran too, this morning as I got off the tram there was a demonstration in front of the American Embassy against Bush, it was a Zionist demonstration calling for him to leave Israel alone and not force the division of Jerusalem... can you believe that I actually am closer the Bush than anti-Bush position here? Just because I share a few positions in common with some politicians on some occasions doesn't mean I support them.

That wikipedia article you mention has a warning at the top of it, that it is written as an advertisement. There is no mention in the article about his newsletters (and you should look at the new republic's expose of them) nor is there any mention of criticism. This is telling considering what a polarizing force RP is.

I don't know very much about the American history, but Paul's position on Lincoln and the civil war is that Lincoln fucked up cuz he should have purchased all the slaves from the south and set them free, this seems much divorced from the reality of the south wanting to secede.

RP believes that 95% of blacks are semi criminal or criminal, he believes that gays should go back into the closet, he is anti-abortion. I'm not going to source all of these claims (though I could) because I am at work, and I shouldn't have to do your research for you.

In the end it doesn't matter what your position is because you wont be voting in this particular election, but I do think that as a progressive, alarm bells should be ringing in your ears since he has been loudly condemned for a whole swathe of anti-progressive positions.