The Texas Congressman continues his straw poll success (Photo obtained via Creative Commons license).

Paul's win is the latest in a slew of straw poll victories for the Texas Congressman, who is consistently chided by his own party and the mainstream media as a second-tier candidate for president.

So how does Paul -- who is given little more than a snowball's chance of winning the GOP nomination by political experts and pollsters -- do it?

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Pundits have a hard time categorizing Paul, the Texas congressman who’s as much (maybe more) libertarian as he is Republican.

As was pointed out in this space last month, try to imagine a Republican presidential candidate these days who would not support a constitutional ban on abortion, who would cut defense spending by nearly a billion dollars, or who would end all US aid to Israel. Hard, isn’t it?

A Pew Center study from August highlighted Paul's poor media coverage.

From POLITICO:

The Pew analysis rounded up hundreds of stories across 52 outlets and found President Barack Obama had 221 stories written about him from the beginning of the year through Aug. 14. Obama was followed by presumptive GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney (120), Newt Gingrich (112) and Michele Bachmann (108). Under Pew’s index, Paul had 27 stories written about him through Ames, less than Rick Perry’s 33 articles, even though the Texas governor announced his candidacy less than a week ago.

Among the political ideas that put Paul at odds with the greater GOP are his unconventional views on U.S. foreign policy.

From ABC News:

His calls for ending all foreign wars and shutting hundreds of military bases across the globe have drawn howls from his GOP rivals, who have labeled the moves irresponsible and naïve.

His campaign pledge of cutting all foreign aid and withdrawing U.S. participation in the World Trade Organization and the United Nations has been at odds with even the most conservative members of his own party.
 

With more than 3,600 votes, the Illinois straw poll is among the largest held this year, according to the Associated Press. An Illinois voter could cast a ballot in the straw poll by donating $5 to the state's Republican party contingent.

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