Is there a Ron Paul Revolution?

Well, based on Gallop poll numbers(or any other random sampling polling) or the horse race that is fund raising, there's is no revolution. However the internet is another matter. As this ABC News article points out, there is definitely a "Ron Paul Effect" metastasizing over the internet. Once again, for example, Pajamas Media is threatening to remove Paul from the straw poll, attributing his success in the online poll to the same "viral marketing" mastery refered to by ABC. After the GOP debate, Paul handily won the MSNBC, ABC News, and CSPAN online polls, and placed high in the Drudge Poll. Currently, on technorati.com, Paul is the most searched term, beating out Paris Hilton and American Idol. Paul's myspace.com social network dwarfs the other republican candidates.

Heady stuff for a 72 year old libertarin republican who self-admittedly knows little about the internet. Certainly, Paul's own website looks to be circa 1993, certainly not on the cutting edge of web 2.0 technology. At this point, Paul's campaign seems ill-equipped to translate internet enthusiasm into tangible campaign dollars or into a tangible grass-roots infrastructure to challenge the campaign cash of "Rudy McRomney."

Is the "Ron Paul Effect" less about Ron Paul and more about the fact that libertarianism is alive and well in America, especially on the most libertarian of constructs, the internet?

One could argue now with the congessional republicans teetering on open revolt with Bush on iraq, the conditions are ripe for Paul's campaign to ignite, especially since "Rudy McRomney" foolishly have inextricably tied themselves to Bush on Iraq. Reference Tim Russert last night on NBC

If Ron Paul's campaign fails to make a dent in the republican polls, or Richardson on the democratic side for that matter, is it perhaps time to give up the ghost that either major party can serve as a vehicle for the obvious libertarian sentiment that still is alive and well.

and it's made of people trying to buck the status quo...myself included. How numerous are we. I do not know.

The better question is how many people would warm up to Ron Paul if they knew who he was and thought (were told by the MSM...IOW) that he could be taken seriously. That's the real question.

If one of the front runners who already had media attention and name recognition in hand were to simply dump there platform and take Paul's verbatim, what would happen to them at the polls?

How would an Anti-War Rudy or an Abolish-the-IRS-and-cut-spending Hillary or Edwards or Obama do?? hmmmm

Ron Paul clearly has one heck of a core group of passionate and committed on-line supporters. You can see it in the ABC poll and the MS-NBC Politico poll. The GOP Bloggers actually removed Ron Paul’s name from their mothly straw poll, because (apparently) he was showing (in their opinion) undue support. Check out the comments here. Pretty amusing.

I have seen the effect myself in a small way. I have posted a few YouTube videos, mostly in support of my favorite hopeful (Chuck Hagel) and to illustrate some blog posts. I posted Ron Paul’s speech during the house debate on Iraq as one of four to support an argument in a blog post, and it was picked up and linked by the RP supporters. With no effort on my part, it quickly became the most viewed, most commented, and most most linked of my videos.

Ron Paul supporters are clearly coordinating on line and gaming the discussion boards, comments and on-line polls. Nevertheless, it requires a committed and passionate following to pull that off as effectively as they have. The enthusiasm for a second tier candidate like Paul can only be this visible when placed against as backdrop of limited enthusiasm for the other candidates. The interesting question is this: Why is the same level of commitment and passion not in evidence from the supporters of other Republican candidates?

BTW - way cool graphic.

"The maxim of civil government being reversed in that of religion, where it's true form is, 'divided we stand, united we fall." - Thomas Jefferson

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Paul and the Internet

#3749 On Fri, 2007 05 11 19:45 nonluddite said,

"Ron Paul supporters are clearly coordinating on line and gaming the discussion boards, comments and on-line polls. Nevertheless, it requires a committed and passionate following to pull that off as effectively as they have. The enthusiasm for a second tier candidate like Paul can only be this visible when placed against as backdrop of limited enthusiasm for the other candidates."

Unfortunately for Ron Paul, it sounds like the 2004 Howard Dean campaign...with less Internet money. He seriously needs to hire some Internet friendly consultants!

The American Civil Liberties Union—Protecting the Bill of Rights…except for Amendments 2, 9, and 10!--nonluddite

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