Fox News moderators shunted Ron Paul aside in Monday night’s South Carolina debate, and the aggressive crowd booed his response on whether or not assassinating Osama bin Laden was legal. Some commentators also thought Paul had a weak performance. That’s all right with Republicans, who are striving to portray Paul as an extremist who doesn’t represent the party. “South Carolina is a very strong military state,” said Gov. Nikki Haley, who has endorsed Romney. “Very strong military state, patriotic state, and so I don’t think that that part of his message resonates in South Carolina.” South Carolina GOP chairman Chad Connelly said Paul had campaigned less in the state than others. “I don’t know if he decided to play here less or anything. I’ve kind of been the one saying, ‘Please, come on in, get in the state.’”
