Could Ron Paul's voters hurt the Primary contest?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70674.html
In this article from the POLITICO,  the authors address how Ron Paul's supporters could probably hurt the primary/caucus process. This article unlike many addresses something that many people overlook. Ron Paul is known for attracting a series of independent voters along with the more moderate conservatives. This is not necessarily a good thing since these voters are more likely to vote democrat once comes the general election. We need to realize that maybe Ron Paul is better off running a s an independent. Him running as a Republican Candidate harms not only his campaign but the overall Republican party as a general. As a Republican it makes it a bit more difficult for him to acquirer sufficient democratic votes in order to really stand  chance. The Republican Party as a general will be hurt because they will loose a large amount of voters in the general election.