The political world — certainly the right-leaning side — will be picking through the results of the special congressional race down in Georgia for a long-time. In a heavily Republican district, overwhelming favorite former state Sen. Jim Whitehead fell to Paul Broun, a doctor with a Ron Paul-like libertarian streak.

This is the spin The Nation gave the race:

While the Georgia appears to be a more cautious constitutionalist than the maverick Texas congressman who is making a longshot bid for the party’s presidential nomination in 2008, Broun borrowed one of the most popular of Paul’s principles, promising that if elected he would assess any new legislation by first asking: “Is it constitutional and a proper function of government?”

No one was going to confuse Broun with a liberal, but he did display a Paul-like libertarian streak, suggesting that the federal government ought to stay away away from issues gay marriage and legalizing marijuana — matters that the candidate suggested are best handled at the state level.

“I believe in the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which clearly says that all powers not specifically given to the federal government, or prohibited by the Constitution to the states, are reserved to the states and the people,” Broun said. “I am not a person who believes that our lives should be controlled by politicians in Washington. I do not believe that the states are merely administrative units of the federal government, to do its bidding.”

That is a messy and dangerous message for those who want to pretend that kicking every issue up to the federal level will help bring better solutions. The Whitehead campaign manfestly thought that message was nuts was it opted to sit on its hands while Broun beat the bushes for votes.

Amazing what happens when you give people an actual choice.