We’ve had a bit of a lively exchange this morning between two of our own — Tim Carney and Phil Klein — over Ron Paul and whether he does or should matter in this year’s election. Tim, invoking the infamous and fatal words of King Henry II, says that Paul should matter more in the GOP field because he just came within a hair’s breadth of winning the straw poll, and he has been vindicated in his lonely opposition (on the Republican side, anyway) to many policies of the Bush administration. Never mind the fact that Paul lacks message discipline and often comes across as a crank.

Phil says that Paul doesn’t and shouldn’t matter because his views are too far outside the GOP mainstream — particularly on national defense.