"George Dance encapsulates this developing story in a succinct, authoritative and accessible style. George's writing inspires confidence in its even-handed presentation of context and sources. 'Ron Paul and his rEVOLution' is a great starting point for anyone interested in the Ron Paul phenomenon." - Doug Burn, Editor, Libertarian Bulletin by George Dance
(libertarian)
Friday, March 28, 2008
When Texas Congressman Ron Paul declared for President a year ago, he hoped to raise a million dollars and campaign in four states. The results so far have exceeded his and everyone's expectations.
Many Americans, and most Canadians, still lack an introduction to Paul. Though he began his campaign last March, "as of early October, 72% of GOP voters told Gallup pollsters they didn't know enough about Paul to form an opinion." (1)
Yet by the first week of February, more than half a million Americans had voted for Paul and his message. (2)
That "message is basic: freedom and limited government. Repeal the welfare-warfare state. Get out of Iraq, now. Abolish the income tax. End the war on drugs. Put the dollar back on a more solid footing." (3) Paul himself puts it even more succinctly: "Our campaign is all about freedom, prosperity, and peace." (4)
A libertarian message, pure and uncompromised. Paul has served 10 terms in Congress as a Republican, often being re-elected with huge margins. (Texas Monthly once called him "the perfect Congressman." (5)) But he is also a long-time libertarian, who ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for President in 1988.
The mainstream media virtually ignores him. For example, the Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that "the week before Super Tuesday, the coverage that ended Feb. 3, Ron Paul was a significant or primary figure in zero [that's ZERO] percent of the stories that we analyzed" (6)
Where Paul has broken through is on the Internet, where he enjoys "rock star status" (7) with a large, enthusiastic army of fans. Called Paulunteers, Paulistas, or Paulestinians, Ronulans, Paulbots, or Paultards, Ron Paul's supporters are ubiquitous online. "Ron Paul frenzy seems to have sprung from the internet itself. Paul's libertarian message -- he is against big government, the war, and pretty much anything that costs taxpayers money -- has attracted a group of anti-establishment, tech-savvy supporters who have taken everyone by surprise." (8)
Paul's online supporters have created a remarkable spontaneous order: a truly grassroots campaign, which dubs itself the Ron Paul rEVOLution (with the E and L printed backwards to spell "LOVE") - that dwarfs the official one. Over 15,000 of them have become precinct leaders; tens of thousands more have helped in countless ways, from canvassing to writing letters to displaying signs to sponsoring a Ron Paul blimp. In some states, the rEVOLutionaries have run the entire campaign themselves.
Their efforts have gained Paul at least 45 delegates in caucuses: Though by Feb. 29 he had yet to top 8% in a primary, he had won up to 25% of the vote in caucus states, beating Mitt Romney in Louisiana and John McCain in Alaska, Montana, and Nevada.
The rEVOLutionaries have also raised millions for Paul's campaign. They collected a record $4 million online in a one-day "money bomb" on Nov. 5 -- then smashed that record with a Dec. 16 "bomb" which netted $6 million, the largest one-day fundraising haul in American political history.
Their support has allowed Paul to stay in the race as other, better-funded candidates have dropped out. He has vowed to continue the fight right to the convention in September.
Quite a few Canadians, like the National Post, are pulling for him. Says the Post: "Looking on the Republican race as Canadian outsiders, we're rooting him on -- if not to win (which he won't), then to at least grab his party's bloated, big-spending Bush-ite establishment by the lapels and slap it around a little.... Ron Paul won't be the next president, but the next president will have to take notice of what he has achieved by means of nothing more than patience, plain speaking and stubborn integrity." (9)
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For more information:
(1) Joel Stein, "The Ron Paul Revolution," TIME, Nov. 1, 2007. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1678661,00.html
(6) Daniel McCarthy, "Underreporting Ron Paul," THE DAILY DOSE, Feb. 13, 2008 http://people.ronpaul2008.com/campaign-updates/2008/02/13/underreporting-ron-paul/
(7) Jose Antonio Vargas, "Ron Paul breaks his own fundraising record," The Trail, WASHINGTON POST, Dec. 16, 2007. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/16/ron_paul_beats_own_fundraising.html
The views expressed
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Paul's online supporters have created a remarkable spontaneous order: a truly grassroots campaign, which dubs itself the Ron Paul rEVOLution (with the E and L printed backwards to spell "LOVE") - that dwarfs the official one. Over 15,000 of them have become precinct leaders; tens of thousands more have helped in countless ways, from canvassing to writing letters to displaying signs to sponsoring a Ron Paul blimp. In some states, the rEVOLutionaries have run the entire campaign themselves.