Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul is getting the cold shoulder from RedState.com. *

Photo: Associated Press/Nick Wass * A leading conservative blog says it's heard more than enough from Ron Paul supporters, thank you.

RedState.com announced Tuesday that all but veteran users are henceforth prohibited from posting messages supporting the long-shot Republican presidential candidate, whose fans have emerged as an usually vocal and motivated presence on internet forums.

"Effective immediately, new users may not shill for Ron Paul in any way shape, form or fashion," wrote Leon Wolf, one of RedState's bloggers. "Not in comments, not in diaries, nada."

"If your account is less than six months old, you can talk about something else, you can participate in the other threads and be your zany libertarian self all you want, but you cannot pimp Ron Paul," he added. "Those with accounts more than six months old may proceed as normal."

Erick Erickson, RedState's CEO and editor-in-chief, told Wired News that the decision was sparked by a flood of repetitive pro-Paul messages on forum threads by 20 to 30 Paul supporters, along with some off-color comments. New users are still welcome to join the site and post comments relevant to ongoing discussions, and even to express support for Paul, said Erickson. But he said he'd delete the accounts of those who pepper the discussions with repeated plugs for the candidate.

"These people are not part of the Republican coalition. It's somewhat naive to think that these people will stay in the race with Republicans when Ron Paul is no longer in the race," said Erickson.

"RedState is a private entity and they are free to do as they wish," said Paul spokesman Jesse Benton in an e-mail. "Our campaign is not involved in their decision or the work of independent individuals who use their service. It is ironic, however, that an outlet that bills itself as a clearinghouse of conservative ideas would eschew supporters of the one true conservative in the race."

With more than 300,000 unique visitors a month and 1.5 million monthly page views, Redstate has a smaller readership than its leading Democratic-leaning counterparts. But it's nevertheless influential in the conservative world, making the Paul ban a controversial move.

"The problem for me is that it's much more than a conservative blog – it's an icon of the blogosphere," worried David All, a Republican internet-strategy consultant in Washington, D.C.

"This doesn't hurt Paul's credibility as much as it does Redstate's," wrote blogger Ed Morrissey on his blog Captain's Quarters. "While Paul's supporters tend towards the annoying and repetitive, they have less impact because we can easily engage them and counter their arguments. Banning them simply for their support for a candidate seems more like an admission that RedState lacks that ability."

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