Republic vs. Democracy; can we be both?

I enjoyed your post here. Not many people, including "conservative" columnists etc. understand this. I was wondering what your opinion is on Ron Paul. Does he understand this.
Carol in NC

Congressman Paul got my attention many years ago; I actually got quite excited for a time over his rhetoric. However, Ron was, and still is, a card carrying member of the Libertarian Party. Yes, there are multiple factions of Libertarians. Some varieties beleive in a Sovereignty base, while some do not. And while Paul might be of the ones which give credance to "nature and natures' God," I found him to be far to liberal on his belief of Man being the determinant of what is inalienable.
On the other hand, whatever he might be able to accomplish in office would certainly be less damaging than that of Clinton of even McCain.
I am more in line with the Constitution Party if you are asking me for an endorsement. While I am not a great endorser of putting the Christian Church in charge of our government, our founders believed strongly that religious precepts must control, and inhibit, government actions/morality. I too believe "rights" are inalienable and NOT controllable by government.