Today seems to be the day that a lot of Republicans have become concerned about Ron Paul. Several negative articles about Paul have appeared in the last 24 hours, and more are sure to come.

A number of Republican insiders in Iowa are particularly concerned about Paul, especially since Paul now leads the Iowa race, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, with 21.7 percent to Mitt Romney’s 20.3 percent and Newt Gingrich’s 15.7 percent.  Many Iowa Republicans are concerned that a Paul victory in the January 3 caucuses would discredit Iowa and reduce its influence in future GOP presidential races.  (It’s a worry they’ve had for quite a while; see this report from the Ames straw poll back in August.)