We've gotten more than 100 e-mails and a few phone calls today from Ron Paul supporters critical of our story on Mike Huckabee and his supposed support for rewriting the Civil War-era 14th Amendment: In the story, Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist tells The Washington Times that Huckabee "looked me right in the eye" and expressed support for legislation to exclude the children of illegals from the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to any child born in the United States. Mr. Paul's supporters say their candidate clearly staked out that territory earlier and more forcefully (see the campaign Web site's position paper here), and they're citing the story as another news organization ignoring or downplaying their candidate. Stephen Dinan, the reporter who wrote the story, says there was no slight intended, he was just focusing on the major candidates -- something he makes clear in the first sentence:

Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate -- a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced.

Deciding whether a contender should be considered a "major" candidate or not is subjective, of course, but Mr. Paul finished fifth in Iowa, behind Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain. That status quo could change tonight, or down the road. But until he wins, or places, or shows, in a primary, it's difficult to make the case that Mr. Paul can be called a "major" candidate. Stephen also notes that The Washington Times is one of the few news organizations to report on Mr. Paul's position on the 14th Amendment, as he did here (read all the way to the end), in an Aug. 9 blog post. -- David Eldridge, managing editor, WashingtonTimes.comUPDATE: Today, Mike Huckabee issued a statement on his Web site denying that he supports rewriting the 14th:

I do not support an amendment to the constitution that would prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens. I have no intention of supporting a constitutional amendment to deny birthright citizenship.

-- DE \

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