The phenomenon that is the “Ron Paul Revolution” is sweeping across America and pundits and voters alike are, to put it mildly, surprised. The sweet, ornery grandfatherly fi gure has captured the imaginations of millions, who for one reason or another have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the Texan presidential hopeful’s campaign.
I cannot in good conscience go any further without disclosing to readers that I too have been infected. Like most of his supporters, I had no idea about the man or his politics when Republican candidate race began, but over the course of the year I have developed very strong feelings for him—bordering on a man crush.
While he’s well behind the frontrunners in the polls, his grassroots backers are practically rabid about him. What is it about the man that makes his supporters so passionate? Ron Paul would like us to believe that it’s his libertarian message that compels individuals to rally behind him, but I am not so sure. Are we seriously to believe that students across American university campuses have suddenly developed a burning desire to return to the gold standard and abolish income tax, as Paul is advocating?
Probably not. Still,this hasn’t stopped crowds, upwards of two thousand mostly young individuals, from showering Paul with applause when he gives speeches on their campuses. This rock star treatment appears to be a result of Paul’s baffl ing popularity on the Internet, which is itself a unique phenomena. It’s Paul’s good character, more than any element of the political ideology, that draws such a diverse group into his fl ock.
Paul is often criticized by his detractors as out of place as a Republican presidential candidate because he appears to take leftist stances on subjects like the Iraq war and the Patriot Act (he opposed them both). But an objective evaluation clearly makes him out to be the ideal conservative candidate for his party. Paul’s libertarian values run entirely in line with the empty rhetoric espoused by most modern Republican politicians, earning him the distinction of being the only candidate to actually stand by his principles.
Having never voted for a tax increase or an unbalanced budget, he has a uniquely consistent voting record against runaway government spending. As a practicing OBGYN, Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies during his career and has been married to his wife for 50 years, making him an unwavering advocate of prolife and pro-family values. Paul also served in the military as a fl ight surgeon during the Vietnam War, which is politically relevant because Americans desire a commander-in-chief who’s had military service. How then can anyone question his suitability as a Republican candidate, especially when the current GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani is a thrice-married man who is pro-choice and has been photographed cross-dressing, when the mood strikes him?
Paul’s perfect conservatism hardly explains why I, a self-professed liberal, would even consider supporting him. Undoubtedly his statements about the Iraq war and his stand against America’s out of control imperialist foreign policy play a part in seducing lefties like me who traditionally support the Democratic Party, but feel that the current lineup is pitifully inadequate.
In the end, my personal support is directed towards the man himself, not his eccentric domestic policies. My generation has only ever known the state as a giant caretaker of its citizens, and as a student only moderately educated in modern political theory, I must confess I don’t quite have a full grasp of what it means to have truly limited government. But it really doesn’t sound like a good idea.
That hardly seems to matter if you’ve got a man like Ron Paul captaining your ship. At the root of it all, it is not the issues that drive his supporters but rather widespread dissatisfaction with the present corrupt American political culture, and his seeming ability to cut through it all. This army of Paul supporters, comprising of true libertarians, religious conservatives, anti-war liberals, pot heads, and anarchists, all conceive of the Texas congressman as their messiah, the last best hope for genuine change. Dare to speak ill of Ron Paul, and you risk unleashing the fury of his foot soldiers, as countless political show hosts have already found out.
However, the curious discrepancy between Paul’s values and that of his supporters is so vast that, as much as I love him, it is at times comforting to know that he is only polling at six per cent. But recently Paul’s campaign has made signifi cant inroads in legitimizing itself with the mainstream media, and more importantly, raising money. More than $4.2 million was raised for Paul’s campaign in a single day on Nov. 5. This unprecedented feat was made even more extraordinary by the fact that this was a spontaneous show of support that commemorated a failed attempt by Guy Fawkes to blow up the British Parliament in 1608. Not exactly the kind of thing any other politician would attach himself to, but this is a revolution after all.
