As many of you know, I used to be active in the Republican Party but when they talked about small government and liberty, their actions told a different story. Today, Republican leaders have grown the American government to an unprecedented size and are stripping us of our civil liberties at a frightening pace. While they still talk about small limited government, there isn’t a sliver of evidence that the current Republican leadership has any intention of reducing the size of government. I gave up on them and vowed to never support another small government phony.

But I still cared deeply about personal freedom. I cared about the future of America and the world. The political animal inside of me didn’t die. So I looked for a new political home. I knew there were hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of others just like me. Most of us stayed home on election day 2006 and the Democrats took back the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. The change of congressional power made little difference. After the 2006 election, congressional approval reached an all-time low of 14%. 

Until very recently, I planned to sit out 2008 as well.

Several months ago, I first heard about this long shot running for President, Ron Paul. But I didn’t think much of him. I’ve heard too many hollow promises before.

  • Then I heard his principled positions during the debates.
  • Then I heard he raised 5 million dollars in the 3rd quarter.
  • Then I heard he has refused his congressional pension plan on principle. Refusing one of most generous pension plans in the world, worth millions.
  • Then I learned that over the past 30 years he has voted for human freedom and liberty, never flip-flopping.
  • Then I heard lobbyists don’t even bother knocking on his door, because they know he isn’t for sale. 
  • Then I heard he is the top choice of US Military personnel. The troops have raised more money for him than any other candidate.

But I was still on the fence.

Then, last week, as Christine and I were watching Ron Paul on YouTube, I said to her, “This guy is the perfect candidate. I’ve never seen a guy this good. But I don’t want to get excited. He can’t win.”

She looked at me with the look. A look that says, quit talking like a fool - I thought you were smarter than that. And then she said, “Why not? Get excited. What an opportunity. Finally a guy we can vote for.” 

So with that kick in the ass, I jumped off the apathy fence and landed in Ron Paul Country.

The next day I went to Ronpaul2008.com and donated $100.00.

Two days later, I called Marianne Stebbins, his Minnesota campaign chair and volunteered to be a precinct captain.

A few days later I went to the Ron Paul Campaign headquarters and got a few bumper stickers and a lawn sign. That’s where I bumped into a Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter. He noticed that I was an outsider, that I had just stopped in off the street with my family and asked for campaign material. When he asked me why I was interested in Ron Paul I said, “For me it’s simple, he is the only honest ethical man running for president. Not only that, I like most of his ideas. Did you know George W Bush has outspent LBJ? Hillary won’t be any better. If you asked me three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be standing here saying this, but it’s true, Ron Paul has cured my apathy. For me Ron Paul is the only candidate worth voting for.”

The day before, at work, I walked back to the shipping dock to talk to the guys about Ron Paul. When I mentioned him, they already knew about him. They agreed that he had a great message, but everyone said, “He can’t win.”

Thinking about that, I paused a minute, and said this, “If we keep telling each other this, we’ll never elect a decent candidate. If we don’t believe an honest man can win, someone with good ideas, we’ll never get an intelligent honest president. We’ll keep getting the same corrupt power hungry clones. We have to believe we deserve better than Bush, Giuliani, Romney, and Hillary Clinton. Do you like any of these candidates? I can’t believe anybody likes these guys. But for some reason we believe they are the only ones who can win. But it isn’t true. We get to decide who wins, not the media. Ron Paul is the best candidate for president I have seen in my lifetime. This is the guy we’ve been looking for. Don’t let the opportunity slip away because you don’t believe he can win. He can win, but it is up to us to believe it. The pundits said Jesse Ventura couldn’t win and he did win. It was guys like you that elected him. Ron Paul is ten times the man Jesse Ventura is. Don’t let this opportunity slip away.”

I don’t know if my little speech changed any minds. These guys are seriously jaded. And you know what? I don’t blame them.

Jesse Ventura was a major disappointment, but he showed us what was possible if you can turn out the young, the disaffected, and the apathetic.

A guy at work who has never voted in his life is on fire for Ron Paul. If the 30-40% of Americans who do not vote, voted, it would turn the political world on its head.

I have a brother in northern Minnesota who I would describe as liberal (in the American sense of the word). He’s into organic farming, alternative medicine, eastern philosophy, anti-corporatism, and a myriad of environmental and health related issues. When I talked to his wife this weekend (he was in the middle of BF North Dakota helping to ease a housing shortage) she said my brother had been researching Dr. Paul and he didn’t care if Dr. Paul was a Republican, he was seriously considering supporting him because something has to be done, the government has gotten completely out of control, and they’ve got to start listening to us. If my brother is supporting him, something big is happening.

So right now I’m telling everyone about a grass roots effort to get people to give Ron Paul a $100.00 donation on November 5th 2007. The goal is to get 100,000 people to donate $100.00 at ronpaul2008.com on November 5th. The result will be 10 million dollars in a single day, which would be an unprecedented event in the history of political fund raising. If we pull this off, the mainstream media could no longer ignore us. The best way to send a message right now is to vote with your dollars. Christine and I will donate $100.00 each on November 5th.  You can register at this website to pledge your support for this event. But don’t feel you must register to participate. I haven’t registered, and I know a dozen people who have not registered that will be participating. The important thing to remember is to give what you can on the 5th of November. I will post a reminder on 11-5-07.

Dr. Paul will be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight 10-30-07. It is a great opportunity to see him.

I want my regular readers to know that this blog will not become a ”Ron Paul site.” But I may post occasional stories about my involvement in his campaign.

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