Now that Kucinich has withdrawn from the race, there is no excuse for anyone who wants to end this war not to vote for Ron Paul.

Let it be known that I am a peace and social justice organizer working in far-left Eugene Oregon. I consider my political affiliation to be more Anarchist that Leftist, and I am completely puzzled by the vitriol that Ron Paul inspires in peace-loving hippy types. All I have to do is mention the name and I get mobbed by angry quakers.

What is so offensive about saying that unborn people have rights, as well as their desparate mothers with unintended pregnancies? What is so offensive about having a religious belief about the creation of the world which contradicts current scientific wisdom? What is so offensive about having friends who are racists, if you explicitly state that you don't sanction or condone their ideas? Didn't Jesus hang out with robbers and thugs? I know I wouldn't want people reading what some of my friends and family have said about black people.

More importantly, why is anyone on the Left concerned with these issues during a presidential race? Anointing the president is primarily about foreign policy and the military. When millions are dead and millions more lives hang in the balance, why are we eschewing a candidate who is for ending the war and is convincing more and more hard-to-reach conservatives everyday that peace is a good idea?

I think that Ron Paul is the best candidate left in the race who has a chance to impact the discussion about foreign policy in the national media and especially in the Republican party.

Furthermore, I think that it would be nothing short of small-minded for the peace movement to neglect this unprecedented opportunity to extend our membership and recruit new people who six months ago, and six months from now would be unreachable. Join a Ron Paul meetup, go to their events, and invite them to the local peace activist rallies and meetings that you have going on. I'm sure they'd be delighted to get further involved in helping to end the war.