Political Stalking Horse?

Thought: Ron Paul is a Republican stalking horse designed to discredit libertarians and make them look like blithering nut cases, and thus remove them and small government advocates to the margins.

Discuss.

Update In response to Scott's worry in the comments that it was an undigested bit of beef -

Scott:

'Twas not a bit of undigested beef. Like Ebenezer, I too was visited by three ghosts:

The Ghost of Ron Paul Newsletters Past

The Ghost of Ron Paul Truther and Stormfront supported Present

The Ghost of America's Future - Ron Paul wasn't the president nor did he show up having much of an effect so it was a short visit indeed.