Ron Paul finally being considered a serious contender?

Three items about Paul caught my eye this past week.

1. I found this video from CNN to be rather alarming/disturbing:



I think the reporters and commentators are asking fair questions. I think Paul is doing himself no good service by seeking "simply" to say he "didn't write," "didn't read" [at least "not all the time"], and "disavow[s]" the scurrilous remarks that were published in newsletters bearing his name. Gloria Borger comes close to asking the question I think Paul really needs to answer. When Paul says he didn't read the articles "all the time," Borger asks [about 4:43 into the video]: "Did you ever object when you read them?" --And Paul evades the question. Similarly, at about 5:55 into the next video [below], Borger asks, ". . . [D]id you ever take a look at [the newsletter and see these kinds of comments] and say, 'Y'know what, this isn't what I stand for'?" And Paul says, simply, "Not all the time."

Very dissatisfying answers.

It seems to me, the key question has to do with Paul's leadership. Clearly, if he completely "disavows" the things published under his name, then the question has to do with how Paul would "do things differently" now, 20 years later. What has he learned as a result of these experiences? How, as president, would he seek to avoid having things done under his name that he would want to disavow?

Similarly, I would like to see him respond to and/or explain the charges later in the video [7:53] that "three years ago he went on Iranian TV to say that Israelis had set up concentration camps to indiscriminately kill Palestinians." 1) Did he say these things? 2) If he did, what is the evidence for his claims? And, 3) [Again, assuming he actually said these things,] Why would he say these things on Iranian TV to Iranians? What was his purpose? And how would he put his comments there together with his claims about being a friend to Israel?

Finally, perhaps he could expand on the comments, i.e., defend what he apparently has said were his own words, quoted beginning about 2:40 into the video.

I appreciate Kazvorpal's comments in How to Prove Ron Paul is a Racist Enemy of America, but, somehow, I don't think Paul helps his cause by "simply" "hoping it will go away.

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At the same time as this potential candidacy-destroying scandal makes its way into the nation's consciousness,

2. I think the rest of Borger's interview deserves airplay:



And, finally,

3. For a relatively full interview of Paul, I thought Jay Leno did a remarkably good job: