Can Ron Paul Beat Mitt Romney Now That Newt Gingrich Is Bowing Out?
Ron Paul is the final Mitt Romney alternative in the GOP presidential primary now that Newt Gingrich is bowing out of the race, a fact that has wide-ranging implications for the GOP's chances of winning the White House in 2012. Reuters

Despite revelations by Anonymous hacking collective that white supremacists were backing the US, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, the Texas congressman has seen a surge in the polls.

Paul scored a surprise second position at the national Republican polls by Reuters/Ipsos, following Mitt Romney. The Texas Congressman got 21 percent of votes, while Romney was at the 29 percent. He improved his ratings by five points, comparing to the early January survey by the same team.

Paul did not win any of the states polled so far, but has gained support across the voters' spectrum.

While the polls' results confirms that Republican voters are yet undecided on their presidential candidate, it also shows Paul's reputation is untouched by recent accusations of having links with American white supremacist's organisations.

Last week, the Anonymous hacker collective attacked and defaced the website of American Third Position (A3P), an American nationalist party, claiming it had connections with Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

"We found a disturbingly high number of members who are also involved in campaigning for Ron Paul," a statement said, adding that Paul had regularly met with many party members and even engaged in conference calls with its board of directors.

Members of A3P organised Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's meetings and campaigns, according emails hacked by the collective.

Anonymous also claims that Paul received financial support from other white power groups, such as the online hate forum Stormfront, founded by Don Black, a white supremacist.

In its statement, Anonymous said it put extra effort into hacking A3P webmaster Jamie Kelso, a key figure in organising Paul's meetings and conferences.

Kelso, a former Scientologist and account owner of other German Nazi forums, became an active supporter of Paul in 2007. He was reportedly attracted to Paul because he believed the Republican's followers would be receptive to his white supremacist views. He described Paul as "implicitly white" and started to actively organise Paul's events.

"Let's appreciate this big (Paul) audience that's overwhelmingly white," Kelso said in an interview with the Southern Poverty Law Center. "This is our audience, this is our public. These are our people. If we can't persuade these people of the rightness of our cause, then we're finished," he said.

Excerpts from the email hacked by Anonymous show Kelso's commitment to Paul's policies.

In 2009 he wrote to a supporter: "My own opinion is that the White revolution has already begun, and that the good White folks like Quinn [a member of A3P] that fills these Ron Paul crowds and marching armies ARE the start of the revolution."