DOWS, Iowa - He has set himself apart from the rest of the Republican field as the candidate who believes the United States should shed its role as the world’s policeman and focus instead on its internal economic problems. Representative Ron Paul of Texas says he would cut a trillion dollars out of the federal budget his first year as president, in part by ending all foreign wars and foreign aid, including to Israel.
Many conservatives characterize Paul’s foreign policy stance as extremist, isolationist, and anti-Israel, calling it a weakness that caps his support. Nearly half of those polled by ABC News and the Washington Post said it is a major reason to reject him. But with less than two weeks to go before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, those views have not stopped - and may have helped - Paul in his emergence as a real threat to front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
