Why Grassroots Works for Ron Paul

The word of the week is "grassroots." As everything continues to get better, faster and stronger, it leaves the majority looking at the do-it-yourself mentality as outdated. The only way to get a good job and make a good salary is to work hard in school, get good grades, graduate in four years from a university and get on the fast track at a Fortune 500 company, or so they say. We all know that while this path is helpful, it is not the only way. This realization, like all thought processes, can be applied to other fields as well – like, oh, let’s say politics.

In the last 50 years, the election process has become standardized, an act that should never occur. The great innovation and change that has become the accepted norm is apparent in every facet of life except politics. Congressional incumbency rates are among the top examples that depict how routine our electoral process has become, at least from a voter’s standpoint. Viewing the campaign, one can see that obtaining the office position is nearly impossible without an abundance of corporate donations and a rack of insults aimed at the nearest competitor.

Now, for the first time in a long while, people seem to care again. In the 2006 Congressional elections, Americans realized that the system of checks and balances put in place don’t work as well if the same party runs all three governmental branches. Republicans took advantage of the trust the public held in them, and voters responded by giving over 30 seats to the Democratic Party nominees. Americans proved they are looking to shake up our sedated political system.

This is why some Americans are now taking a serious look at Ron Paul.

Simply put, Ron Paul is all a politician should be. He is the most loyal to the Constitution of any Congressman, and as an OB/GYN, he clearly has experience helping and caring for his fellow citizens. His peers in Congress have called him a throwback to the ideals of the Founding Fathers. So why is he so radical? Simply because he is a throwback to the Founding Fathers!

Most people think they live in a conservative United States, one in which rich, white males control the government and minority groups struggling for liberty and equality are ignored. This is true to some degree, but in such a hypothetical conservative society, what do these Americans actually conserve? All that remains intact is their power to exercise their prejudices and self-worth. They have redefined the word "conservative" to fit newfangled views, hence the moniker "neo-conservative." Meanwhile, the original intentions of the conservative party – to hold the government to the ideals set forth in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights – get ignored and inadvertently dismissed as outdated.

Ron Paul has a nickname on Capitol Hill: "Dr. No." He acts as a defender to the Constitution, voting no on everything this document doesn’t give its consent to, even if he feels a "yes" vote would be the best choice. The restriction of executive branch powers and elimination of the federal income tax are all goals of his, and such goals represent the type of true conservatism this country hasn’t seen on a large scale for well over a century. In fact his views are so far placed on the fringes of conservatism that some find them liberal.

But why has Ron Paul been successful campaigning thus far? After all, his favorite topic is the Federal Reserve – a decidedly lackluster topic – and it is from the efforts of relative youngsters that have made his YouTube channel the most subscribed to among candidates. Though the viral marketing techniques taken on by his campaign have proven lucrative, the manner in which a product is presented only has limited effects. After all, using Van Halen for a Super Bowl commercial couldn’t sell Crystal Pepsi.

On Leno, he attributed his success “to the message,” declaring that he “…[has] shortcomings, but the message has no shortcomings.” His vision consists less of empty rhetoric and more of substance. The message asks that the ability to start an official war be returned only to Congress, it holds no malignance toward other candidates. And it includes unorthodox fundraising tactics, at least by today’s standards: small donations by individuals (in the last quarter, he received around $5 million dollars – more than John McCain). It is this stance that has encouraged people to engage in this grassroots campaign, which he has used to become the only candidate who has successfully branded him or herself without resorting to race, gender or religious appeals.

Despite all this, Ron Paul won’t win the GOP candidacy. He wouldn’t win the Democratic Party nomination if he were running in that party either. He is a libertarian, and libertarians don’t get to be president. Paul found that out in 1988. The truth of the matter is libertarians are too liberal to receive the Republican vote, too conservative to win over the Democrats and a third party candidate doesn’t earn significant electoral votes.

However, Ron Paul’s campaign sends us hope that someday, our culture can begin to bounce back from an ultra-bureaucratic process where a person whom we truly believe in to lead our country will someday be able to do so.