Recently, I argued that Mittens Romney could solve a lot of his problems with the Republican base, and the white working class, by choosing as his running mate the ludicrously-well-qualified Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, thus at one stroke making patriotic immigration reform the key issue and advancing a spokesman uniquely qualified to defend it.

Needless to say, I have no expectation that the painfully-unimaginative Romney might actually do such a thing, or for that matter anything else that departs from ambient orthodoxy (although maybe his affirmative action history gives hope).

Significantly, however, the Left is intensely aware of Kobach. He's repeatedly been targeted by the Southern Poverty Law Center ($PLC to VDARE.com). A Treason Lobbyist called Amy Novick just included him in her list of Immigration's 10 Worst State & Local Politicians (Huffington Post, June 2 2012). And on Monday, HuffPo reacted instantly to a local Kansas radio show interview Kobach had just given: Kris Kobach Attacks Obama Administration Over Voter ID And Immigration Law, by John Celock, June 4, 2012.

Everything Kobach said was entirely reasonable ("I believe the Obama Justice Department uses the law and laws like the Voting Rights Act unevenly...They punish their political enemies. They don’t go after their allies like the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party is a radical left organization") and in fact has appeared on VDARE.com (same thing, really).  

But the 928 commenters (when I wrote this) in the thread are almost all HuffPoing hysterically.

The reason for this is simple: paranoids have enemies. The Left knows the immigration issue is dynamite. They are terrified that some strong leader will rise to power on it.

The big problem for Kobach: his friends are not paranoids—they are card-carrying members of the Stupid Party. The Left gets it, but they don't.