The Politics of Audit the Fed

Why now Republicans? After 30 years of ignoring Ron Paul, you suddenly pass Audit the Fed. Four years ago he was, “Crazy Uncle Ron” “kook” “idiot” “dangerous”. Now this?
There are two main reasons that I can think of as to why the Republicans would suddenly be touting this legislation.

1. The Ron Paul Crowd: Like it or not, we have a strong showing in Tampa. The Republicans don’t want Romney to be embarrassed at “his” endorsing convention. Romney realizes he needs the Ron Paul supporters to help push his cart over the finish line, and he realizes that they are not carrying his water right now. This is largely due to a lack of trust in Romney's platform. I don't see Ron Paul supporters moving this regard.

2. Yes, to stick it to Democrats. This bill not only passed, it was a landslide. It required a 2/3rds majority to suspend the rules and pass (it got 70%). A Democrat caucus that couldn't get a budget passed, all of a sudden is seeing a major bill being passed with large bi-partisan support (89 Democrats). So absolutely there was political motivation to stick it to the Democrats in an election year, that can't be denied.

With that said, like everything else in politics, the Democrats have made this political as well. Senate Majority Leader Reid, despite his past history of supporting a full audit of the fed, has stated that he opposes the legislation and will block it from being voted on in the Senate. This is after he submitted the legislation numerous times.

“I have sponsored legislation every year that would call for an audit of the Federal Reserve system. I offer that amendment every year, every year it gets nowhere.” - Harry Reid, Senate Floor 1995

I don’t understand the argument, “We want to reign in big banks, but we don’t want to have oversight of the people creating their wealth.” If you can’t see the conflict of interest that exists at the Federal Reserve, then I’m not sure you understand the argument for tougher bank regulations.