Okay, let's all amplify our relaxed states, shall we?
I think it's fair to say that Paul has some well-documented baggage in this area. No need to rehash it here. Paul supporters will fervently deny that he had anything to do with the newsletters, while detractors will just as fervently claim that they're a roadmap to his inner psyche. Neither is exactly accurate, and frankly we're never going to know unless he in fact does become President and calls for establishing apartheid or some shit.
The Civil War is something that is quite open to interpretation, and states' rights was a large factor in it. And it's hardly a fringe view to consider Lincoln a tyrant. Even supporters of the man (such as myself) will admit that he broke a lot of rules in the name of the greater good. Suspension of habeas corpus, for example. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a tyrant, but then I am perhaps more circumspect than some.
Ron Paul has some ideas that appeal to the Left (ending foreign adventurism, reducing the military budget, anti-globalism) but on even a cursory inspection, this isn't because he's a liberal or even a moderate. He's an isolationist paleoconservative in the Pat Buchanan/Ross Perot mold. His answer to the challenges America faces in a multi-lateral, globalized world would essentially be to pull up the drawbridge and fix our own shit. Which is going to resonate with a lot of people who wonder why we're sending billions in foreign aid overseas at a time when they can't find work, the national infrastructure is crumbling, and the government is seemingly broke.
Problem is, autarchy didn't work in the 19th century, and it sure as hell doesn't work in the 21st. We need the rest of the world. We need them to buy our shit, we need them to make shit for us, and most importantly we need them to bankroll our government until we get some kind of handle on our budgetary woes.