I’m partial to this article for one particular reason, but lots of other good ones as well.  Matthew’s thoughts say a lot about Ron Paul’s campaign.
This article is from a young adult who is paying attention to what happens in and to our country.  Maybe we should pay attention back.  ~S


Listening to Ron Paul was like listening to Honesty strangle itself.
His thoughts came out in short, frenetic bursts that seemed more akin to a Ritalin junkie than a presidential elect. He was not a public speaker but what he spoke, at least, rang true, in the figurative sense. He, let it be said, also did not look Presidential. A strange, diminutive man who was more accustomed to delivering babies than mandates.

What Ron Paul did have, however, was respect. Maybe not from slimy media pundits, or even from his equally slimy Republican opponents, and not retained from a PR firm… but from the American public that gave it freely, albeit in small doses.

This respect stemmed from a lifelong promise to uphold the Constitution, one he did actually keep. That meant small government, no wars unless they’re declared, and above all the belief that people can take care of themselves. It’s for these unshakable beliefs Paul was outted by mainstream media, and it’s for these beliefs Paul had such a loyal following.

The question that always came to my mind at these debates, when Paul was skipped over, or ridiculed by other candidates, was why? He was the only candidate up there with a 100% clean record, and that has never changed positions (parties is another matter). He was different.
I thought about this for a long time and came to this conclusion. In a world of naivety, hypocrisy, and contradiction, what would rationality look like? Wouldn’t it look strange or different? Un-accustomed to the social norms of thumb-waving and plastered smiles? Maybe the fault is with the system around us, not little grey men.

It also strikes me with a great amount of irony that the only man who ever made sense in Washington was the man who wanted to fire half of Washington. Ron Paul would have done just that, first with the IRS.
And second with the social programs, like Welfare and Social Security.
All this in an attempt to return integrity to the American people, who he believed could look after themselves better than any Department.

For these reasons Ron Paul’s defeat was inevitable. However, there may still be a victory, one attained in the attempt rather than the accomplishment. Paul’s run showed that there are people out there who still believe in small government, and that’s nice… kind of like how it’s nice to know there are people out there who don’t own guillotines.

His popularity is best represented by the 12 million dollars he raised in a single day from donations on his website, no other candidate could boast of such a performance. Also the estimated 200 billion Ron Paul stickers stuck across the United States is no small production either. The man was quite popular for being such an unknown.

And while those pieces of flare may just be litter now and the money gone to waste, it speaks to a resiliency in the American people that gives me hope in 2012, because while Ron Paul probably won’t run then, there is a certain amount of relief in that his voters are out there, spearheading liberty, one adhesive at a time.

© 2008 Matthew Ruckman