“Thin to the point of gauntness, polite to the point of daintiness,” Ron Paul (R-Texas), “a 71-year-old great-grandfather, a small-town doctor, a self-educated policy intellectual,” is standing out among the 2008 presidential candidates with his firm belief in the principles of the U.S. Constitution, according to this New York Times article.

Calling him “homespun” and “reminiscent of ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’” the article details Ron Paul’s opposition of the Iraq war, his habit of “communicating with his constituents through birthday cards,” and his unusual “combination of radical libertarianism and conservatism.”

Though he stands as a current underdog -- polls put him in the low single digits -- his lack of ego, and firm adherence to principle, is appealing to people on both the right and the left sides of the fence.

Though Paul reportedly “understands that his chances of winning the presidency are infinitesimally slim,” he is interested in spreading his message just the same.

“Politicians don’t amount to much,” Paul says, “but ideas do.”