I mentioned earlier that the Chicago Tribune has relegated presidential candidate profiles to its Tempo section.

As I looked at the Tribune’s front page yesterday, I noticed that the profile of the day was of Dr. Ron Paul.

You may have noticed that I have written several stories about the Illinois aspects of his campaign.

Part of the reason is that I have two good sources in the campaign.

One is Scott Bludorn, the Northwest suburban man who ran for state rep. as a Libertarian against Sidney Mathias. Although he lost, the next election cycle Bludorn ran in the GOP primary election against him and gave him the scare of his political life.

Since then Bludorn has been active in the fight to save Arlington Heights’ International Plaza from the Tax Increment Financing condemnation efforts of the Arlington Heights village board. (The board wants to replace with largely ethnic businessmen with a big box store which will bring in, you guessed it, more sales tax revenue.) Bludorn filled me in on the Illinois State Republican Party shenanigans to keep Paul from placing second in the presidential straw poll at the State Fair in August.

The other is Chris Jenner, who is a school board member on the Cary Grade School Board. Jenner is an alternate delegate on the Ron Paul for President slate. He sent me pictures from the campaign headquarters’ opening and the huge Chicago rally in September.

And the only presidential campaign workers I have seen have been for Ron Paul. They were collecting signatures at the Crystal Lake Minuteman meeting at McHenry County College. They also were in the Elgin parade.

In any event, I was looking forward to seeing how the Tribune handled its story on Dr. Paul.

When I turned to the Tempo section, I saw a picture of a lonely guy.

Dr. Paul is sitting in a chair in the middle of a big, empty room.

How misleading of Dr. Paul’s Chicago appearances!

And those elsewhere.

How indicative of the media bias against this man whose whole public career has been dedicated to voting the way that he reads the United States Constitution.

Yes, he is known as “Dr. No.”

Can anyone reading the constitution conclude that the Founding Fathers intended congress and the president to do most of the things they do?

Sure, he is out of the mainstream of American and Republican politics.

But the disrespect, let alone outright deceitful representation of Dr. Paul as a “lonely guy,” is truly outrageous…even for a paper as liberal as the Chicago Tribune.

(You don’t agree with my characterization of the Tribune? As far back as the 1970’s, one of its Springfield reporters was on his way to the Socialist Convention in Milwaukee when I asked him why he was on the train to Chicago. Not that I ever noticed his politics in his reporting.)

I do notice the politics of the Tempo section editor in the selection of which picture of Dr. Paul to run.

Why not a photo of the largest Illinois Republican political rally of this presidential season?

Oh, I forgot.

The Tribune didn’t cover that rally.

Other candidates come in to gather checks and get full media coverage at press conferences. 1,500 people come out to see Dr. Paul and it doesn’t rate a mention.

At least in its cut line under the photo there’s a mention of this retired obstetrician’s raising “millions in one day on the internet.”

Actually, more than anyone else ever has–even John Dean–but that didn’t make the story. Just that the $4.2 million he raised on November 5th was more than the $3.1 million Mitt Romney raised on January 8th.

The article by Lisa Anderson is so much fairer than the photo.

Paul is described as “an unlikely Republican rock star” appealing to young people who “don’t trust government,” as he is quoted.

The article says there are more than 250 Students for Ron Paul chapters.

I found an 80-something who wanted to talk about Ron Paul at a Halloween party in Crystal Lake. Her Florida son had turned her on to Paul.

Paul, of course, is the only Republican candidate opposed to the war in Iraq.

“I make them feel good that you can be conservative and pro-truth and pro-American and pro-Constitution and not want to go to war for needless purposes,” the article quotes him.

And, he has a droll sense of humor.

The final quote of the article came on The Tonight Show:

“There’s probably a risk I could win.”