When did you join the Ron Paul movement?

[Matthew Zak]

Poll questions

[Todd]

I knew about Ron for sometime...since about 99'...but I was apathetic. I went to meetup in July of 07' and have been here ever since.

[Fr3shjive]

I kept seeing Ron Paul on people's cars and on different forums that I visit around the time of the 2008 presidential election and eventually I decided to see what he was all about. I probably listened to a couple of his interviews and completely agreed with pretty much everything he said and from there just became a huge supporter.

So all of you "nuts" that cover their car in Ron Paul stickers and put signs on their lawns; it worked cause you get me hooked.

[Anti Federalist]

Was a fairly typical right wing republican until 1993.

Waco was the eye opener for me.

It became clear during that whole crime that government really was at war with us.

By the time the 1994 "revolution" passed by as a betrayal, it was clear that system was rigged.

[Perry]

Very early in 2007 probably just after he announced on C-span. I remember viewing these forums when there were just a couple hundred people here.

[Elwar]

I was in the LP and supported Harry Browne. I thought that Ron Paul would make a great LP presidential candidate but I felt that it was better to have at least one libertarian in Congress.

[Austin]

I came on board in early 2007, which option should I choose?

[jmdrake]

Was a fairly typical right wing republican until 1993.

Waco was the eye opener for me.

It became clear during that whole crime that government really was at war with us.

By the time the 1994 "revolution" passed by as a betrayal, it was clear that system was rigged.

That's interesting. I was a typical left wing democrat until 9/11 and Katrina convinced me of the same thing. It's funny that a democrat woke up a republican to the fact that the whole system is corrupt and a republican woke up a democrat. I wonder if there's something to that?

[Aratus]

I came on board in early 2007, which option should I choose?

you'd be between 1988 and 2007!!!
i'm here after super~tuesday in 2008!

[akforme]

I heard him in the first debate in early 07 and kinda watched thru the summer but it was about November when I finally realized what he'd been saying

[brandon]

Registered as Libertarian on my 18th birthday.... 2002. I didn't fully grasp the philosophy until after I discovered RP after the first debate.

[brandon]

Very early in 2007 probably just after he announced on C-span. I remember viewing these forums when there were just a couple hundred people here.

Same. I lurked these forums since June 2007. Everything was much more exciting back then.

[Perry]

That's interesting. I was a typical left wing democrat until 9/11 and Katrina convinced me of the same thing. It's funny that a democrat woke up a republican to the fact that the whole system is corrupt and a republican woke up a democrat. I wonder if there's something to that?

I also was awakened by 911. Up until that point I was actually a fairly conservative Republican and one of my interests was terrorism. I had done much reading on many of the terrorist groups from hezbollah Abu Sayyaf.
When I discovered Ron Paul the knowledge I had acquired just started falling into place.

[Anti Federalist]

That's interesting. I was a typical left wing democrat until 9/11 and Katrina convinced me of the same thing. It's funny that a democrat woke up a republican to the fact that the whole system is corrupt and a republican woke up a democrat. I wonder if there's something to that?

Could be...

Might it be as simple as "My guys are out of power, so I'm keeping a close eye on this other schmuck"?

[Vessol]

Well I'm still a fairly young man at 19, I heard about Ron Paul during the 2008 election in late 2007.

[Son of Detroit]

I remember I just turned 14... So Early 2007.

[CharlesTX]

My uncle who was running on the Republican ticket in Wyoming turned me on to Ron Paul. Needless to say my uncle didn't win the seat.

[Michigan11]

I had a college professor who taught austrian, i didn't understand how to deal with that info, just figure voting for repubs, was it... then around the winter of 05-06', I was on the internet screwing around, and found some info on RP and then I kept seeing a similarity in what RP was saying and what my professor said back in 93-94'..

In 07' started seeing info on RP running and then maybe sept or oct. I donated for the first time to any politician, I still remember the statue of liberty donation widget, and I felt gooood doing it. Then I found this forum and learned about the meetups around the same time I think... Changed my life big time.

[Brian4Liberty]

Poll questions

You have overlap in 2007.

You really don't have a category for those who discovered Ron Paul after 88, but before the GOP Presidential run.

As for me, sometime in the 90's. When did he start his Texas Straight Talk column? I also saw him speak at a Gold and Precious Metals Conference.

[torchbearer]

I first learned about Ron Paul in 1996.
I asked a fellow libertarian if we had anybody in congress. they pointed me to ron.
everyone in the libertarian party new about ron paul unless they weren't very active.
he was always our hope.

[Vessol]

To those whom have known of Ron Paul for such a long time, what is your feeling of the huge uprising in his popularity in recent times?

[erowe1]

What choice is someone who joined in 2007 supposed to pick?

[freedoms-light]

I got on board in spring of 2007 when Alex Jones was promoting him.
I do recall hearing of a ob/gyn doctor in congress during the 1980's who was staunchly pro-life.
Must have been the good doctor...

[ChaosControl]

I think January of 07

[bunklocoempire]

When did you join the Ron Paul movement?

...you mean the liberty movement? :)

A few hours and a day of research after Rons first appearance on the Daily Show.

Ron was, and still is, a rare voice calling for courage, not a voice pushing fear. What a breath of fresh air! Thanks Ron! :)






Bunkloco

[rancher89]

I was a left leaning apathetic voter who read my boyfriend's back copies of Reason, realized the folly of my ways, and jumped at the chance to support RP in the summer of '07.

[Matthew Zak]

I know there's some overlap. If you fall in the overlap time, it doesn't really matter. I just wanted a general "feel" for when people caught on to RP. As expected, a majority of people on these forums joined since his 2007 presidential run, but I was surprised that it's almost February and we haven't picked up a single new supporter in 2010. We REALLY need to get moving on that, in my opinion.

[olehounddog]

My join date. The first day I woke up I found this place.
I googled Ron Paul:D

[Peace&Freedom]

1988, when he first ran, though I had heard of him in circa 1980 (the first time I heard his name referenced was in an issue of the Chalcedon Report, of all places). I had voted Libertarian from 1980 (Ed Clark) but didn't become consistent with it until Paul came along.

[BuddyRey]

I first saw him being mentioned on Prisonplanet sometime in early 2007, but didn't think much of it at the time since I was a brainwashed Dem. But from the first Republican debates in the spring of that year, I was hooked.

[thasre]

I got associated with the Ron Paul movement specifically in 2007, which is how I answered, but I've identified as a libertarian for quite some time prior to that.

[LittleLightShining]

Fall of 07.

[ForLiberty-RonPaul]

November 5th, 2007 10:03pm CST

I remember thinking, "Holy Crap"

[sratiug]

I saw Ron Paul on that talk show talking about legalizing drugs where he told the fat guy he needed the government to put him on diet. Then I saw Harry Browne on tv during his first run for president I think and bought his book.

[orafi]

Saw the first debate... As soon as he opened his lips, man, I was sold. Fucking harmonious resonance out of those lips, man.

[satchelmcqueen]

early 2007

[xd9fan]

Katrina 2005

I first owned a gun in 2003......which lead me to thinking of liberty.....which lead me to Ron paul and away from the GOP.

[Dieseler]

I'm a newcomer, must have been right after I saw this pic on the net.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul-baby-tractor.jpg
I knew at that moment that there was something to this old fellow and I began my search for information on his campaign from that point.
It was tough giving my heart towards what I knew was right with almost certainty that we would lose but the time spent during and after the campaign has truly been the most educational time of my life.
Thanks Dr. Paul.
Matter of fact, Thank you all.

[TCE]

I went from a pretty good Socialist, to a "Democrat" (anti-war and didn't like Bush, so I figured I must be), to a libertarian-leaning Ron Paul supporter, to a full-on libertarian. 2009 was the year the latter came into play.

[QueenB4Liberty]

June 2008, Ironically working for a fund-raising company where we were raising money for Obama.

[QueenB4Liberty]

I'm a newcomer, must have been right after I saw this pic on the net.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul-baby-tractor.jpg
I knew at that moment that there was something to this old fellow and I began my search for information on his campaign from that point.
It was tough giving my heart towards what I knew was right with almost certainty that we would lose but the time spent during and after the campaign has truly been the most educational time of my life.
Thanks Dr. Paul.
Matter of fact, Thank you all.

I love this picture! :o

[Dieseler]

I love this picture! :o

I always say,
When you're down South, show them the tractor! ;)

[Anti Federalist]

I'm a newcomer, must have been right after I saw this pic on the net.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul-baby-tractor.jpg
I knew at that moment that there was something to this old fellow and I began my search for information on his campaign from that point.
It was tough giving my heart towards what I knew was right with almost certainty that we would lose but the time spent during and after the campaign has truly been the most educational time of my life.
Thanks Dr. Paul.
Matter of fact, Thank you all.

Man-hugs to ya' brother.

;)

[Dieseler]

Man-hugs to ya' brother.

;)

Means a lot to me man, a lot.
Thanks.

[fletcher]

2007 has two choices.

[cpike]

Heard about him first probably late 2007, early 2008. Some guy was going around playing CounterStrike:Source with the name RonPaul2008. Looked into him, thought 'eh he's against the war, not my guy, thought he was a bit crazy. Didn't pay much attention to him, of course I was watching a lot of fox news at the time. Listened to Glenn Beck on the radio he recommended reading Wood's Meltdown sometime after the election and I threw away my vote on McCain. All of a sudden I warmed up to Ron, ended up switching my position on the wars and foreign interventionism after reading The Revolution. I guess the official date I threw my support behind Ron wasn't until May 3rd, 2009 when I decided to officially renounce the republican party as I knew it and sent the following off to a friend to vent my anger. Not sure if I still agree with all of it then, I've become even more liberty minded since then, but it was my official tipping point.


I know you're probably busy with finals, but I was wondering if you could critique and/or proofread this essay I wrote today, wondering what you think about it. I've been thinking and reading up a lot on what's going on in the world right now, and this is kind of a rant. I initially thought you where kind of nuts supporting Ron Paul and not voting for McCain, but I now realize how stupid I was anyways here it is:

I Am Not a Republican

I was one of the last to jump off the George W. Bush wagon with the Auto Bailout. It was a slap in the face for him to violate the constitution by using his unconstitutional executive authority to use a line-item veto on the TARP.
This gave the illusion of authority for Secretary Paulson to give money to the Auto Industry so they could avoid bankruptcy. Paulson also violated the constitution, and with it, he along with President Bush had violated their oaths of office, impeachment would be in order. For President Bush it would be another charge following his patriot act, which was passed after September 11. I was one of the last to wake up and oppose the President and I will not make that mistake again.

Now before you Democrats start celebrating that another has left for you, think again. You are just as guilty, if not more so in your violations. BOTH parties are flagrant violators of the Constitution of the United States of America and I will never give money again to the general fund of either.
Arlen Specter correctly left the Republican Party, but he was wrong for his reasons. Senator Specter should have never been in the Republican Party. When he first registered to vote, he registered as a Democrat and should have never switched to the Republican Party. He was never a conservative, never really a moderate. Senator Specter is just another progressive to use the Federal government to enrich himself, and violated the sacred trust granted to him by his constituents in Pennsylvania.

I am ashamed of my vote for John McCain; it pains me to say it, for what he did for this country in Vietnam should never be forgotten, but I made the wrong choice in November. John McCain is a progressive who thinks we can bend the constitution to adapt to our time. If we can bend the constitution for a utopia, any form of government provided health care, social security, progressive income taxes, executive orders, and many more, we can bend it to suppress. We can declare Christianity or Islam a threat to public security and ban it for the public good. The constitution says that CONGRESS can make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, and says nothing of the president or the states. As far out as I hope it is, there is nothing to say they could not embrace that one part of the constitution and have an executive order ban religion. They could bend it to put in place once again confiscatory taxes, and even take the taxes fully of ALL Americans and either keep, or distribute however, they see fit.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a progressive; Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are progressives. Herbert Hoover was a progressive, Teddy Roosevelt was a Progressive, George W. Bush, and John McCain are progressives. Apparently, upon their founding of the National Council for a New America, Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and more are disappointingly progressives, these are people, for which, I USED to respect. What does that sound like to you? National Council for a New America, we do NOT need a new America. The OLD one was great. President Obama has said we need to Remake America. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO POLITICAL PARTIES!

I have come to the realization that the Republican Party does not stand for what I thought it did. I feel cheated, scammed, and betrayed. Thankfully, being twenty-one, I have limited my number of wasted votes for Republican candidates. There are SOME in the party who stand for what the Republican Party presents itself as, Small government, individual liberty, and private property rights. Only a small minority does not care about the parties’ success and who has more power to prepare THEIR big-government agenda.

The Democrats support welfare for those who do not take individual responsibility. The Republicans support welfare for corporations. The Democrats support corporate welfare too, but only when it furthers their agenda of control of business. I do not want ANYONE to receive ANY SORT of welfare. Businesses can fail, and the unfortunate can seek help from charities, which knows a heck of a lot better how to help them than some bureaucrat sitting in an office building. Keep taxes low, and people will have the ability to actually support some great causes, and actually help those in need. Government does nothing but enslave the poor. Ben Franklin said the only way to support the poor is to make them uncomfortably in their poverty. Of course, the progressives will reject this as they see the brilliant founding fathers as old and out dated, not understanding what time we live in.

These "un-enlightened" forefathers saw what we would be facing today. George Washington saw what political parties would do. He saw the tearing apart and dividing our country it would provide. He was so passionate about this that he nearly resigned in the middle of his first term over the bickering of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. What they fought over was the idea of a central bank. Jefferson saw the economic turmoil that would come from a central Bank tinkering in the financial system. Few deny today that the problems we are in now are due to the bubble that formed in the housing industry. Surprisingly I have heard few loud voices, with the exception of Dr. Paul criticizing the true cause of the problem.

If the Federal Reserve did not artificially, lower interest rates there would have been no money to spike the price of homes in the first place. Now we had a Bi-partisan law passed in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which can only cause another spike by increasing previously nonexistent money into the financial sector. This may or may not result in another housing bubble, but one can be assured that this will cause some bubble down the road. Had the fed lowered the rate as people were saving more money we would have no problem with a bubble. Instead they tricked people into thinking there was more money available than there really was, causing a collapse in the system. The intervention of ARTIFICIALLY LOWERING interest rates caused the crisis. THIS IS NOT FREE MARKET WHEN THEY CHANGE THE SYSTEM FROM ITS INTENT, GEORGE BUSH DID NOT SUPPORT A FREE MARKET ECONOMY. Moreover, neither does Barack Obama or John McCain. The problem is we are being lead on both sides by people who does not understand government, and how it works best.

George Washington once equated government with fire, necessary but dangerous. A hundred years ago, the progressive movement started a fire in the dry Californian forests. The fire is now raging out of control and appears impossible to stop. The only solution today is for brave Americans to step into the raging fire. They will be attacked from all sides, but they know what they have to do to avoid further disaster. They may have to make some sacrifices and let some parts burn away. In the end, it will be able to restore itself to its former beauty and gracefulness. They will be attacked and savaged, but in the end will be regarded as hero’s. I am tempted to go into the fire now, but Jefferson warned about inexperience in office.

At twenty-one there will be time ahead of me as I grow in my understanding of the world, I just hope the generation prior to me does not completely ruin it in the meantime. I am ensured of being attacked; accused of naiveté or “un-enlightened”, but that does not change what I believe as right and true. People have the right to live life as God provided, government should not change that, and to attempt defies the laws of man.

I hope people can see that true freedom is a good thing and not something to be condemned. People have the natural right to spend money as they see fit, though it is their duty to help those in need voluntarily. Failing to help them, could subject them to the wrath of God. Humans have the right to live where they want and how they want, as long as it does not limit anothers' right to the same. Governments’ sole duty should be to protect the people, not subject them. Only then can we live in peace, where you cannot blame others, but only yourself. Peace is something I think we can all agree is the only true utopia here on earth.


I'm still growing, but now really working hard on getting the people around me over to the libertarian mindset.

[Knightskye]

Around August, 2007. I remember it was a bit before my first semester at college started.

I had a computer class, and in the last week of September I remember they had the fundraiser trying to raise $500,000. So I had Ron Paul's website open but minimized and I'd keep checking it, and it just kept going up. Good memories.

[Dreamofunity]

After one of the debates that I randomly saw on youtube. Probably mid-late 2007. I was fairly apolitical before, don't even know why I watched the debate, and yet now all I do on the internet is politically orientated.

[Matthew Zak]

I suppose I should scribe my confession into this topic:

In 2007 while I was on a "The Government is Lying to us" kick, during one of the debates, I saw this little old man say something like, "I believe in no secrecy in government!" and my ears perked. I didn't catch his name, but next chance I had I went online and found his face, and with it, his name. Google brought me to a powerful video showing a bunch of Ron Paul supporters marching through a hallway shouting his name with the passion for freedom I had only just begun to acknowledge within myself. A brushfire of freedom had been ignited.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Started following him around 2000, Started working for him full time (volunteer) Jan 15th 2007 - before he announced - built a bunch of the early infrastructure.

-t

[purplechoe]

"I'm Ron Paul. I'm a Congressman from Texas, serving in my tenth term. I am THE champion of the Constitution."

[0zzy]

when he announced and it was posted on digg.com

[Pauls' Revere]

I came on board in early 2007, which option should I choose?

same here.

Turned independent in 1991 when Ross Perot ran...after that became apathetic because of the wankers in office or who where running for office. Got onboard the Ron Paul express in 2007 and still onboard.

[Mach]

I wish I could find the guy way back in Feb '07 that said people should look up this one politician, Ron Paul, in a comments section somewhere on the internet and said how RP wasn't like other politicians and said what a great guy he was..... I was like (in my brain)... oh shit... gimme a break... same ol' ol'.... a good politician?... but... I went ahead and looked up "Ron Paul" and I clicked it, after I watched the video I thought nooo, he's hiding something, what's his real record, I dug in bigtime and never found anything bad, Feb '07.... Ron Paul Rocks!

I never heard stuff like this before that day, I was woke up.

Spread this video around, it is a great basic Ron Paul tutorial. Listen to them predict the future (present day).

Congressman Ron Paul: The Korelin Economics Report (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5221456295960798255&ei=kq9iS4fdM6DKqQKC9dG0CA&q=Congressman+Ron+Paul%3A+The+Korelin+Economics+Re port#)