Who is Ron Paul?
For so long, Ronald Ernest Paul, the eleven-term Congressman from Texas, has been cast in the role of the misfit, the eccentric and the unelectable; securely kept within the fringes of the Republican Party. He was the supposed cautionary tale used to bring idealistic non-mainstream candidates back into the party line, a warning for those who refuse to toe the established protocols. He was shunned by the mainstream media for his dogmatic libertarian views. And there he was destined to remain, to paraphrase Johnny Castle, kept in the corner, and out of harm’s way.
Nevertheless, Paul soldiered on, and aided by his small army of vocal and enthusiastic supporters, he stuck to his guns and never wavered from his convictions. Paul is a constitutionalist, and makes no apologies about it. He believes in small governments, non-expansionist foreign policy, gold-backed currency, personal liberty and abolishing federal income taxes. He holds the most conservative voting record in Congress, and he is also the biggest advocate for the dismantling of the Federal Reserves.
As luck would have it, there was a shift in the national political paradigm in early 2009. The Koch Brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP), initiated the Tea Party Movement, and through a concatenation of events, Ron Paul was co-opted as the spiritual godfather of the movement. The social media strategy advocated by the AFP suddenly thrust Paul into the spotlight, and lodged him squarely into the mainstream web consciousness.
His ideas took hold within the nascent Tea Party Movement, and its cadres began spreading his message. By the time Paul announced his entry into the GOP nomination race on May 13, 2011, he has long left the fringes of the Republican political spectrum, and instead, turning into one of the major figures in the 2012 presidential race.
But the party hierarchy and the mass media still appear to have trouble reconciling the old Paul with his sudden shift in fortunes and new-found popularity with the masses, especially with the highly prized ‘first-time voter’ demographic.
He has since made huge strides, and elevated himself into a top-tier candidate, sitting, deservedly, with the other A list candidates such as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. However, there have been growing concerns over his fast eroding influence within the Tea Party Movement, and some fear that the drop-off rates, coupled with the reduced focus from the blogging communities, may damage his chances.
You can hold the Ron Paul stuff...
Official Paul website - ronpaul2012.com
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