What we learn from Ron Paul

 

There are probably plenty of voters in America who are still not paying enough attention to the presidential campaigns to even know who Ron Paul is.

He is one of the Republican presidential candidates, and one of the few who are marginalized by elite media while they focus all their attention on the frontrunners. But they’re noticing Paul more when he has a day like this, which he did last month. Now, it’s happened again.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, raised an astounding $6 million and change Sunday, his campaign said…

Paul’s campaign spokesman late Sunday announced the campaign had eclipsed the $5.7 million that John Kerry raised the day after he locked up the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – arguably the largest single-day fundraising haul in U.S. political history.

It came from a “money bomb” on the internet, fueled by Paul’s overwhelming young, zealous, internet savvy supporters. Music promoter Trevor Lyman organized it, though he and other supporters aren’t politically experienced and don’t like the money-driven nature of politics.

“The democratic process should be based on candidates’ ideas, but we had to go within the system,” he said. “We have to use the money to get people to pay attention to what [Paul] actually stands for.”

What does Paul stand for? Libertarian ideals that appeals to independents, disenfranchised party regulars, and a lot of young people, who the Paul campaign are sending out to canvass Iowa over the Christmas break. They want to ask questions the media polls aren’t asking.

That’s partly because they attempt to query folks who have voted Republican, and Benton asserted that Paul’s base draws heavily from those who have shied away from the party or were not previously politically active.

For instance, he said 24,940 new donors contributed during the Dec. 16 haul.

I see two main messages in all this. One, young adults who otherwise weren’t involved are suddenly becoming interested in this election, and in the political process of propelling a candidate and a cause forward. And Two: that use of the internet to coalesce support and generate awareness, activism and funds has become more powerful than ever before.

Voters who feel frustrated by Big Media (or as some Ron Paul supporters call them, ‘Old Media’) determining what’s important should mobilize the way these young people are, by way of all the technology available now. Online communities, social networking, email blasts, ‘money bombs’, ‘action items’, ‘alternative media’ awareness campaigns can all rally people to a cause and a candidate. ‘Power to the people’ has become more than a slogan. It’s a movement whose time has come.