PDA

View Full Version : What was your reaction to Ron Paul the first time?




archangel689
04-19-2010, 11:56 PM
I was first exposed to Ron during the the recent presidential race. I had followed some previous presidential races and just generally been sickened by the back and forth thing every year. None of these folks really encompassed what I thought a president should be. Everything that they spewed just sounded like bullshit to me, bullshit to fool folks into voting for them so they could accomplish their motives. Just say I have a gift for spotting a bullshit artist from 100 miles away.

Then I saw this older man on the TV talking with a some real fervor as opposed to fake, scripted dialog, or pretending to be passionate about something and had practiced it before hand (OBAMA, GUILIANI, ETC). Nope. I saw a real desire and passion for something coming through the tv. I started listening and thought--"this guy actually kind of looks like a president--and what he's saying doesn't sound like bullshit......can this be real?"

Philhelm
04-20-2010, 12:00 AM
My first reaction? I think I had an erection.

low preference guy
04-20-2010, 12:08 AM
i read his positions. i was shocked that i found someone who agreed with me. about a year later i found out he was running for president. i was ecstatic.

BuddyRey
04-20-2010, 12:18 AM
First reaction: absolute euphoria and an instantaneous feeling of being "validated" with the knowledge that I wasn't crazy and that there was actually a politician who thought like I did.

Second reaction: confusion and anger over the fact that every other jackhole on that stage was laughing at him, when he made more sense than the rest of them combined.

Third reaction: resolute determination to make sure other people found out about him, and to wipe the smug, self-satisfied grins off of those neocon bozos' faces by helping Ron Paul become a household name.

Dreamofunity
04-20-2010, 12:26 AM
I was very lost at the time in a metaphorical sense; randomly stubbling upon Ron's message brought clearity and sanity to my life allowing for positive change that was needed to take place.

JCF
04-20-2010, 12:35 AM
Was on a forum full of neo-cons, Paul was bashed quite frequently and every once in awhile a lone libertarian or independent would defend him. For months I knew the name but never bothered to look him up, it came to the point where I actually googled :

"Why is ron paul so crazy"

Blah blah blah saw some youtube videos of the guy at the debates and I really liked him, I was kind of shocked and happy to see someone with some integrity. I was actually a fan of Rudy Giuliani before Paul :confused:, I forget why... And yes I have changed how I go about getting and using information...

Just keep spreading the message, more and more I see people becoming more libertarian. Especially on the very forum I'm on, at least 3-4 people have started to give Paul and his kind some credibility, along with a couple "left wingers"...

StateofTrance
04-20-2010, 12:37 AM
"Why is ron paul so crazy"

:D

sevin
04-20-2010, 12:41 AM
My reaction the first time I heard him speak:

YouTube - Family Guy - Stewie - Say WHAAAAT!? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad3Hzsy1-20)

dr. hfn
04-20-2010, 12:46 AM
it blew my mind

Taco John
04-20-2010, 01:00 AM
I finally felt like I had a voice in politics.

Ekrub
04-20-2010, 01:03 AM
I finally felt like I had a voice in politics.

^^^ This

hugolp
04-20-2010, 01:11 AM
I did not understand where the guy was coming from, and started researching like crazy about him, specially because of his oposition to the war. I could not understand how such a honest guy could defend something as bad as the free market... lol

invisible
04-20-2010, 01:15 AM
I didn't really have a reaction the first time. It was the first election I was old enough to vote in, I just checked the "Libertarian" spot on the ballot and had no clue who the guy was. By the second time, I very much so knew who he was, and was absolutely thrilled to be able to vote for him again in the primaries!

Kýrie eléison
04-20-2010, 01:31 AM
Probably revulsion. But I was in a neocon state of mind. I remember watching the Fox News debate he was in live, and thinking he was crazy.

Oh yeah, and at the time of that debate, I was 15.

I thank God that I finally woke up last year.

Mini-Me
04-20-2010, 01:37 AM
I read someone's blog about him in May 2007, and it was a pretty neutral blog post from someone who was intrigued but hadn't yet made up his mind. I basically thought, "Hey, he reminds me of Gandalf! Hrmm...he's apparently honest and principled, but he's a bit eccentric. I'll have to look into economics a bit to demonstrate him wrong about the gold standard and a few other things, since if there's any politician who would honestly consider someone else's viewpoint, he has to be on the short list."

Long story short, the more I looked into most of our points of disagreement, the more I realized I was usually wrong about them. :o

hugolp
04-20-2010, 01:59 AM
Long story short, the more I looked into most of our points of disagreement, the more I realized I was usually wrong about them. :o

You are not alone there. That happens a lot with Ron Paul.

fj45lvr
04-20-2010, 02:00 AM
he was giving a speech in 1987 on C-span and informing folks how the d's and r's where two sides of the same coin and both digging us under....

I liked him because he is a true RADICAL (what we need more than ever)...but in reality he is sane and the establishment are the radical thieves.

sevin
04-20-2010, 02:05 AM
I thank God that I finally woke up last year.

YouTube - Welcopme to the real world.... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PreAABChTyQ)

Nate SY
04-20-2010, 02:16 AM
I was in a Politics class, we were having a debate and it was me and a friend against the rest of our class. Towards the end the teacher remarked "You sound more like Ron Paul than anyone else." I'll admit I had the "This bastard just compared me to a common politician" reaction, but ended up looking him up and deciding it was far more of a compliment, regardless of how he meant it. I don't think he had any clue what he had just unleashed on our school.

ClayTrainor
04-20-2010, 02:48 AM
The first time I ever recall being exposed to Ron was when I was sitting inside Plato's cave one day, casually watching Blitzer on CNN and there was a brief interview of him. I was usually bored by "news" channels like CNN, but there was something about Rons mixture of honesty, humility, and sincerity that really made an impression on me. I didn't even really grasp his positions or the issues, I just felt an usual sense of trust when I was used to being fed unfiltered bullshit. I didn't even learn his name from that appearance and I don't think I was exposed to him again for months after that.

The next time I saw him was in one of the first republican debates, which i probably flipped to during a Family Guy commercial or something. There was that man again, making so much sense. He wasn't the best speaker and he didn't have any real good "talking points", but he spoke with such profound understanding and consistency. I began to a compelling need to learn more about where this guy was coming from.

jbuttell
04-20-2010, 03:20 AM
I think it was around mid 2007, the first time i had heard of him... Probably a clip from one of the debates. He voiced his opposition to the iraq war. I figured he was just a typical contrarian, like so many of the dems... So i didnt think very highly of him at first. Later that year, after seeing ron paul signs everywhere (was kinda getting tired of it) i finally looked him up... Been hooked ever since.

MyLibertyStuff
04-20-2010, 03:38 AM
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

eok321
04-20-2010, 03:48 AM
Being from ireland i only had a passing interest in US politics and like most Irish probably leaned more democrat. (didnt like hillary or obama so would have preferred Edwards had i not came across Ron). I couldn't understand how people could be so stupid to put Bush in the WH twice.

Anyway..then this happened and Bam somebody actually making sense:eek:

YouTube - Congressman Ron Paul at the First GOP Presidential Debate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hfa7vT02lA)

RforRevolution
04-20-2010, 07:52 AM
My first reaction, like many people, was to dismiss him because of the letter (R) next to his name. In fact, I saw him on one of my friends on facebook and thought he was crazy for supporting an (R). It took me a few months to even stumble onto one of his videos and it was through another forum. The topic on this particular forum was the hypocrisy of the law regarding steroid use and why they should be legalized. Someone posted a video of him and that was it. I sent it to all my friends, changed my party affiliation, bought some t-shirts, bought some yard signs, went to a few meet-ups, campaigned on one of the biggest intersections by me right before super Tuesday, bought a ton of books and have been enthralled ever since.

garyallen59
04-20-2010, 07:55 AM
At the time I didn't care about politics I just voted democrat because my family did, so I had no real ties to their positions. My family said they were better for the country and I liked Bill Clinton. Then when primary season started up I saw all the Ron Paul signs and sign wavers everywhere and just assumed immediately that clearly this guy is the front-runner and proceeded with my life deciding I'd better find someone else to vote for because apparently Ron Paul's gonna win. I kept seeing the Ron Paul signs and they started to annoy me. Then one day I was at church and some people were discussing who to vote for and the associate pastor said that Ron Paul seemed like a good choice but he hadn't really looked into him. So when I got home I looked him up, and immediately fell in love with everything he stood for especially seeing his voting record was perfectly in line with his positions. Well, needless to say I then realized that the visual support on the street wasn't representative of his actual support. And in the end I became one of the annoying sign wavers, and convinced nearly all of my family and church family to support him for the primary. And now many of my family and church family fight daily for freedom and individual liberty, and we owe a big part of that to Ron Paul's candidacy.

wgadget
04-20-2010, 08:00 AM
Great thread.

I saw him in the May 2007 debate first time...I thought, "OMG...Who IS this guy? He's got balls. He sounds like he's telling the truth," which led into a new appreciation for the Internet and its researching capabilities.

RyanRSheets
04-20-2010, 08:00 AM
http://9001chan.org/b/525/monkey-reaction-face.jpg

pcosmar
04-20-2010, 08:22 AM
I heard of him before I ever heard him. The name came up in a few places when I was researching my lost rights. I looked into it, and found that he had a long history of Constitutional positions.
He was also just looking into the Presidential run at that time.
The first time I heard him speak it simply confirmed what I had read, and reinforced my decision to support him.
:cool:

osan
04-20-2010, 11:16 AM
First reaction?

Smart as hell.

Clued-in to my way of thinking.

Forthright.

Honest.

Therefore, doomed to fail.

I hope I am dead wrong on that last part.

silverhandorder
04-20-2010, 11:18 AM
I was 17 looking to understand how elections work, excited to be able to vote for president. Ron Paul sounded sane compared to the others. I was also already primed because the game forums I visit was fawning over him already.

rnestam
04-20-2010, 11:59 AM
Must have been a replay of speech "neo-conned" airing on c-span...around 2006-07, I thought to myself "wow, who is this Democrat and why haven't I ever heard of him?..." I was floored when it showed his name with the (r) Texas after it...I had little understanding about, well, just about everything at the time. Only thing I was sure of was that "all Republicans were evil"....Man was I way off base. Living proof Liberals can be converted easily, The most left leaning people I know all donated in last years bombs and will be this year as well...The power of Youtube is Mighty!

kahless
04-20-2010, 01:51 PM
In my younger days, I think it was back in 1988, I was channel surfing and caught Ron Paul getting all hot about something on the Mort Downey show. His presentation did not come off well with me and thought if I vote for him one day it will be an indicator that I will need to have my head examined.

It was not until the last primary race after researching candidates with views similiar to mine and discovered a wealth of information about Ron Paul on the internet. I could not believe we finally have a guy in the Republican primary that looks to be the real thing. (more so than Buchanan who I had supported in previous races).

Despite my first impression I do believe I am of sound mind and body. :)

Brett
04-20-2010, 01:53 PM
I supported McCain during the GE out of dislike of Obama. Afterwards I decided to read a book by each politician in the Republican Primary to get ready for 2012 (a year I could actually vote).

I read Huckabee's book and thought "meh he's okay".
I read Ron's book and didn't finish reading the rest of my list. I think I reread it like 3 times and did all the research on him I could. My first thought was to find out why this man didn't win the election in a landslide.

AggieforPaul
04-20-2010, 01:57 PM
I first saw him in the debate with Rudy, and I bought rudy's straw man about blaming America for 9/11 at first. But then I got online the next day and researched Ron Paul's claims that we are hated for our foreign policy, not our freedoms or our money, and the evidence was inescapable.

fisharmor
04-20-2010, 02:22 PM
I had heard about him in 2007 through a gun forum, where others were saying that he was just about the strongest on gun rights.
Then I hit his congressional website and started reading the Texas Straight Talk columns.

My first reaction at that point: "Holy shit, who is this guy? Not only are these not sound bites, but he knows what he's talking about and is going out of his way to teach me."

fatjohn
04-20-2010, 03:34 PM
My dad told something at breakfast about an american that grossed 4,2 million in one day for a presidential campaign. After having a conversation about how crazy american elections are, everybody at the table agreeing, I looked him up because i'm kind of a numbers nut. I was flabbergasted about the sherade american debates were and I kinda felt sorry for that Paul guy. And then he talked about the war. And I realized, ... he was awesome.

Don't Tread on Mike
04-20-2010, 04:47 PM
I went straight to youtube and started watching all his videos. But I have to thank Jeremy for introducing me to him. RP4LIFE

KramerDSP
04-20-2010, 05:05 PM
Must have been a replay of speech "neo-conned" airing on c-span...around 2006-07, I thought to myself "wow, who is this Democrat and why haven't I ever heard of him?..." I was floored when it showed his name with the (r) Texas after it...I had little understanding about, well, just about everything at the time. Only thing I was sure of was that "all Republicans were evil"....Man was I way off base. Living proof Liberals can be converted easily, The most left leaning people I know all donated in last years bombs and will be this year as well...The power of Youtube is Mighty!

Almost identical for me. I grew up in a democratic household, but my parents weren't very interested in politics. All I know is that my mom doesn't think highly of Reagan at all, even to this day.

I myself was very gung-ho about the Iraq war following 9-11. The first day of my internship was at Kendall Green in Gallaudet University, and I remember all the commotion and then telling my boss, who had come in late, about what happened. My boss said "Shit. My brother-in-law works on the 104 th floor". No further words were spoken, and he went into his office. I walked outside (the place is located on the top of a hill) and saw the smoke plume coming out of the Pentagon. I think I was glued to FoxNews for a good two weeks following the attacks.

I also know that by 2004, I was thinking "this is all bullshit". Pretty soon after that, I was hoping the Democrats would do their thing in 2006, but nothing changed. In the spring of 2007, I remembered watching the first GOP debate purely out of curiosity and thinking to myself "who IS this guy?" when I saw Paul talk for the first time, before moving onto whatever I was doing. Shortly afterwards (or before), I saw Maher call him his hero. That led to me finally researching Ron Paul, and the rest is history.

Later on, I learned that my grandfather was a conscientious objector due to his religion and did not participate in the war because of those beliefs. I also remember my grandfather being glued to the Iran-Contra hearings during our summer vacation when I was just becoming a teenager. My mom admitted that if my grandfather was still alive, he would most likely be a "HUGE" Ron Paul fan like myself. Just thought that was interesting. Are politics inherited ? :)

Anti Federalist
04-20-2010, 05:17 PM
he was giving a speech in 1987 on C-span and informing folks how the d's and r's where two sides of the same coin and both digging us under....

I liked him because he is a true RADICAL (what we need more than ever)...but in reality he is sane and the establishment are the radical thieves.

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

I heard of him back in '87 or '88 as well, while running for president.

Was sympathetic to to the LP and Paul's candidacy but was till in the lesser of two evils mode at that time.

I also recall that Morton Downey Jr. show appearance.

I lost touch with what he was doing in the interim between then and regaining the house seat in '97.

By that time my thinking on government and it's relationship with the governed had been turned on it's head.

Followed his career through interviews, mostly on the Alex Jones show, and web news.

Sent the transcript of his "Neoconned" far and wide, and thought that speech was the single best summation of everything that was wrong with the Bush regime and the nation general.

The rest, from 2007 on, is history.

SevenEyedJeff
04-20-2010, 05:19 PM
My reaction was, where have you been all my life? (wasn't old enough back in '88 to understand politics ;))

t0rnado
04-20-2010, 05:23 PM
I was astounded at the fact that they would allow a libertarian to speak during the debates. At first, I didn't watch them because I knew that Republicans were pieces of shit, but I saw clips of Ron Paul and now I only think 99.99% of Republicans are pieces of shit.

akforme
04-20-2010, 05:40 PM
I saw him on Bill Maher the first time and they talked about the civil war, I thought he was a bit strange. Then I heard him on the GOP debate and I actually stopped watching when Rudy jumped him just because I couldn't stomach watching anymore. In another debate he mentioned the federal reserve and ever since I was a kid my dad had said they run things but he never expanded. I decided to do a bit of research and I was hooked.

TN_VOL
04-20-2010, 05:46 PM
Boy that guy is never going to catch on.

charrob
04-20-2010, 05:59 PM
he was a breath of fresh air.

low preference guy
04-20-2010, 06:09 PM
I saw him on Bill Maher the first time and they talked about the civil war, I thought he was a bit strange. Then I heard him on the GOP debate and I actually stopped watching when Rudy jumped him just because I couldn't stomach watching anymore. In another debate he mentioned the federal reserve and ever since I was a kid my dad had said they run things but he never expanded. I decided to do a bit of research and I was hooked.

What does your dad think about Ron Paul?

JCF
04-20-2010, 06:18 PM
At the time I didn't care about politics I just voted democrat because my family did, so I had no real ties to their positions. My family said they were better for the country and I liked Bill Clinton. Then when primary season started up I saw all the Ron Paul signs and sign wavers everywhere and just assumed immediately that clearly this guy is the front-runner and proceeded with my life deciding I'd better find someone else to vote for because apparently Ron Paul's gonna win. I kept seeing the Ron Paul signs and they started to annoy me. Then one day I was at church and some people were discussing who to vote for and the associate pastor said that Ron Paul seemed like a good choice but he hadn't really looked into him. So when I got home I looked him up, and immediately fell in love with everything he stood for especially seeing his voting record was perfectly in line with his positions. Well, needless to say I then realized that the visual support on the street wasn't representative of his actual support. And in the end I became one of the annoying sign wavers, and convinced nearly all of my family and church family to support him for the primary. And now many of my family and church family fight daily for freedom and individual liberty, and we owe a big part of that to Ron Paul's candidacy.

Sounds like my family. Unfortunately I really didn't get into RP until shortly after the elections, and family members of mine are like your average American... They simply don't care about politics until "it matters". I've mentioned his name and they seem genuinely interested in him but they just don't bother to look him up.


I don't want them to just take my word for it, I want them to actually take the time to look him up for their own sake. That's something I never really did (not just with RP but with most "political" issues) until I became more libertarian.

jclay2
04-20-2010, 06:29 PM
My dad introduced him to me at a time when I was fed up with Republicans and Democrats. After watching a youtube video with my dad, I spent the next 8 hours devouring youtube videos of RP. I think I finally went to bed at around 5 in the morning. That was definitely the day I turned into a radical. :D

satchelmcqueen
04-20-2010, 07:11 PM
i was amazed he was speaking for real in real words and sentences and not reading or spouting out some sound bite. he was very honest and said things ive never heard another in a debate ever have the guts to say. he was REAL! i was amazed and then instantly a ron paul supporter. he changed my life.

legion
04-20-2010, 07:22 PM
I don't know when the first time I heard of Ron Paul. When I saw him in the first debate I cried. I never imagined in a million years they would just open the stage to a libertarian like that. I wonder if the people that made that call regret it now. They opened Pandora's Box.

CasualApathy
04-20-2010, 07:25 PM
The first time I heard Ron Paul speak was watching his hour long interview at Google:

YouTube - Candidates@Google: Ron Paul (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg)

It is still my favorite interview with Ron Paul and it inspired me to come here looking for others who saw the same thing I did, that this wise and humble man had been fighting for me all along, even before I myself had realised just how important that fight truly is. I remember that as the moment when I decided that I needed to stand by his side in any way that I possibly could.

bchavez
04-20-2010, 08:09 PM
When the financial crisis hit, I was looking around the Internet for information about the financial crisis trying to understand what it all means.

I stumbled across Peter Schiff on the "Peter Schiff was Right" on youtube. That first video got me searching for more videos about Peter Schiff, one video after another. I was completely dumbfounded in his ability to explain and forecast in precise detail how things were going to play out after just living through it. I couldn't understand why this guy didn't work for our Government to help sort everything out, after all, he accurately forecasted everything.

I heard Ron Paul's name before, but I had this preconceived notion that Ron Paul was crazy, primarily from the media. When I saw people promoting him, I would think, wow, this person promoting Ron Paul must be crazy too...

At some point, I was looking at Ron Paul videos on youtube just to get an idea. Paul had some forecasts about an economic crisis too that were also correct. I started to like his message. They made sense and everything started to become more clear. Then at one point, a video mentioned, Peter Schiff was Ron Paul's economic advisor. Soon as I made that connection (it was like OH F*CK, _THAT_ Peter Schiff!), Ron Paul became my instant hero.

Digging deeper, I found Austrian Economics connecting both Ron Paul and Peter Schiff. I found real answers and reasons why the economic crisis happened. I found Big Government at the source of all our problems. The explanations made so much sense. I found Libertarianism and then I found the Constitution. I've been reading / listening to media at Mises ever since. At some point, I couldn't get enough, I wanted more so I became an avid listener to Wall St Unspun, and a client of EuroPac.

It was finally clear why Peter Schiff and Ron Paul didn't get respect. I understood why the mainstream hated them. I understood why a lot of people didn't like them.

I started seeing past all the "revisionist" history I've learned in school.

Now I'm able to debate hard core Democrats and socialists friends on Facebook with some pretty good success. :D

payme_rick
04-20-2010, 08:18 PM
It was in the 90s... when he was running for congress... I don't even know if I was in Jr. High yet... he was actually going door to door in my neighborhood... I was home alone watching Saved by the Bell reruns and didn't answer the door... so I guess my first reaction to Ron Paul was "stop knocking, I wanna hear Lisa reject Screech!"...

little did I know then that I'd be here now...

Athan
04-20-2010, 08:36 PM
My first reaction? I think I had an erection.

Hah, well I think I shat a brick.

Anyway it was before the Nov 5 money bomb and I was already a paleo-conservative but hated the FUCK out of Bush and the neo-con order. Anyway there was a magazine called "Weird Magazine" in my area and they had a small ad promoting Ron Paul. I was telling myself "What the fuck? These crazy nuts like him? This guy must be a fucking cool mofo if these Bush haters promote him." Anyway days passed and I saw on the internet the results of the first money bomb and was surprised the same guy raised that much cash. I checked him up on the internet and just was dumbstruck how fucking awesome he was in the debates. The guy was saying the SAME things that I read in my American Revolution books, the same idealism in the cartoon Liberty's Kids, and sounded a lot like my historical heroes George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. What really stuck out with me was his explanation of our economic system. I used to be some average news junkie and couldn't really put all the pieces together regarding social deterioration, corruption, history, money, and politics. After his explanation of the Fed and sound money, EVERYTHING fell into place and I have been so blown away in my life by a single man.

Critics can say what they will, but Ron Paul is a living legend on par with the folks of the American Revolution.

TheBlackPeterSchiff
04-20-2010, 08:38 PM
First thing I though?


Sean Hannity doesnt like this guy, and he's a republican???

Legend1104
04-20-2010, 09:51 PM
"This guy is an idiot!" Then I woke up.

SovereignMN
04-20-2010, 10:02 PM
I heard his name mentioned in various columns a few times but never heard him speak until the first Republican debate in 2007 when Guiliani attacked him. Fell in love with him immediately.

ProBlue33
04-20-2010, 11:46 PM
In the fall of 2006 I began to wake up to the deceptions that I had believed most of my life, most of all wars based on 9/11 that I thought were justified. In 2007 I was one of the people that goggled Ron Paul. The first time I saw him give a speech I thought this is the most logical politicians I have ever heard. His ideas were fresh and new to me, such as close all American bases and bring all the troops home, an amazing idea whose time had come.
I remember hearing about blowback and how Israel can look after itself.
Fait money system and personal liberties.

Anyways I was surprised there was a (R) type politician that thought they way he did. Also his voting record he never voted with the masses but out of principle.

nc4rp
04-21-2010, 07:39 AM
he makes sense AND hes a republican???????/ whoa

JamesButabi
04-21-2010, 08:02 AM
Someone I respected as a forum poster posted a 2008 debate video of him. I was in awe that an actual politician was on the stage talking about the things he did. I was totally apathetic and didn't think it possible for a realist to make it through our clusterfuck of a system to the big stage. I realized right then and there that I needed to support this man for making the effort he was.

qh4dotcom
04-21-2010, 08:11 AM
When the financial crisis hit, I was looking around the Internet for information about the financial crisis trying to understand what it all means.

I stumbled across Peter Schiff on the "Peter Schiff was Right" on youtube. That first video got me searching for more videos about Peter Schiff, one video after another. I was completely dumbfounded in his ability to explain and forecast in precise detail how things were going to play out after just living through it. I couldn't understand why this guy didn't work for our Government to help sort everything out, after all, he accurately forecasted everything.

I heard Ron Paul's name before, but I had this preconceived notion that Ron Paul was crazy, primarily from the media. When I saw people promoting him, I would think, wow, this person promoting Ron Paul must be crazy too...

At some point, I was looking at Ron Paul videos on youtube just to get an idea. Paul had some forecasts about an economic crisis too that were also correct. I started to like his message. They made sense and everything started to become more clear. Then at one point, a video mentioned, Peter Schiff was Ron Paul's economic advisor. Soon as I made that connection (it was like OH F*CK, _THAT_ Peter Schiff!), Ron Paul became my instant hero.

Digging deeper, I found Austrian Economics connecting both Ron Paul and Peter Schiff. I found real answers and reasons why the economic crisis happened. I found Big Government at the source of all our problems. The explanations made so much sense. I found Libertarianism and then I found the Constitution. I've been reading / listening to media at Mises ever since. At some point, I couldn't get enough, I wanted more so I became an avid listener to Wall St Unspun, and a client of EuroPac.

It was finally clear why Peter Schiff and Ron Paul didn't get respect. I understood why the mainstream hated them. I understood why a lot of people didn't like them.

I started seeing past all the "revisionist" history I've learned in school.

Now I'm able to debate hard core Democrats and socialists friends on Facebook with some pretty good success. :D

Wow

Spider-Man
04-21-2010, 08:45 AM
I first saw RP's website before the campaigns really kicked off. I was kind of scouting out for someone to get behind early. I had at one time in high school considered myself a libertarian and kind of liked Harry Browne in 2000.

So, anyway, I wrote him off and thought, "Well, this guy will never get anywhere."

Then, I saw the first Republican debate, and I was really impressed, but I still thought, "This guy will never get anywhere." At that point, war was my "single issue," so Ron Paul was the only Republican on stage that was attractive.

Then, I was driving around town for some reason or another in Birmingham, Alabama, and I saw this awesome "Ron Paul Revolution" banner haphazardly tied between a telephone poll and something else at a major intersection. It was at that very moment that I got behind Ron Paul 100%.

The first thing I did when I got home that day was Google Ron Paul to find out who was putting the signs up and how I could get in on it.

pacelli
04-21-2010, 08:57 AM
During his exchange with ghouliani during that one debate, I heard him say some things that I had never heard before. His response about blowback and the history of US foreign policy made sense.

As Fritz Perls said, it was an, "aha!" moment for me.

freshjiva
04-21-2010, 10:00 AM
I've been a neo-con since 2000. Huge Bush/Cheney fan for both terms. Sean Hannity and Mark Levin were my heroes.

At first, I reacted to Ron with hostility. "This guy is a kook, get him off the stage!"
Throughout the 2008 Presidential race, I supported Huckabee.

I didn't really open up to Ron Paul until I took a money & banking class in my senior year at DePaul University. My professor was a heavy critic of the Federal Reserve. Up till then, like most Americans, I didn't really have an opinion of the Fed until I learned about the instruments of monetary policy and how banking works.

This led me to Ron Paul and his idea of free markets.

Thus began my re-education. It took me TWO YEARS to acclimate myself to Ron Paul's liberty message. But hey, better late than never.

Matthew Zak
04-21-2010, 10:19 AM
Before I had any idea who Ron Paul was, I was still a fan of Bill O and fox. I recall watching an interview with Ron Paul before I had any idea who he was. All I took from the interview at the time was that Bill had just interviewed a "Crazy" "Kook" "Nut" old guy who had "no idea" what he was talking about. It was only a few months later when I saw Ron Paul (I didn't recognize him yet) say that he believes in "no secrecy in government" when my ears perked. With one statement he extracted a little bit of my apathy, and I was on the hook ever since. It wasn't until I saw a replay of that old interview that I realized I was celebrating Bill's "ownage" of a crazy old loon, and that crazy old loon wound up as my hero. I felt terrible, and lucky at the same time.

Most people have yet to wake up, though...

johnrocks
04-21-2010, 10:30 AM
I can't recall not loving the man and his views dating back since I got involved in politics 30 years ago, I would not even bothered to vote in 08 had he not been running.

itshappening
04-21-2010, 12:22 PM
I've been a neo-con since 2000. Huge Bush/Cheney fan for both terms. Sean Hannity and Mark Levin were my heroes.

At first, I reacted to Ron with hostility. "This guy is a kook, get him off the stage!"
Throughout the 2008 Presidential race, I supported Huckabee.

I didn't really open up to Ron Paul until I took a money & banking class in my senior year at DePaul University. My professor was a heavy critic of the Federal Reserve. Up till then, like most Americans, I didn't really have an opinion of the Fed until I learned about the instruments of monetary policy and how banking works.

This led me to Ron Paul and his idea of free markets.

Thus began my re-education. It took me TWO YEARS to acclimate myself to Ron Paul's liberty message. But hey, better late than never.

that's a hell of a story. it sounds like an AA meeting

Hannity really is odious.

itshappening
04-21-2010, 12:31 PM
I was a Ron Paul fan for years before the presidential debates due his frequent appearances on Alex Jones. I always thought when he was on how smart he was and when I heard he was running for president I laughed as I knew he would liven up the debates if nothing else. I had no idea what would happen next or how much coverage his message would get

He is truly a remarkable man and I think his son is just as smart and will prove to be a fitting legacy to his father.

sounds like i'm writing an obituary but I believe there is much more to come!

anaconda
04-21-2010, 01:02 PM
I heard about Ron Paul in early 2007 from Alex Jones. I was astonished that someone with such a platform was able to get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Was almost surreal. When I realized he had been in the Congress for several terms I was even more intrigued. I immediately contributed to his campaign in around May 2007 and began to follow the campaign and sent emails to friends regarding his uniqueness and why registering Republican for the primary and voting for him would be a good thing.

Romulus
04-21-2010, 01:34 PM
during the primary someone put down an R that I liked.. I asked who he was supporting. I went to his website and found out that I agree with_every_single_issue that Ron Paul has listed. From there I went on a research frenzy, and I was changed from a Neocon to free man in a matter of weeks. Yes, it happened. I was old in my Neocon ways, but I can admit I was wrong.. This alone gives me hope that all is not lost and that we should never turn our back on people we disagree with.

Mini-Me
04-21-2010, 02:18 PM
during the primary someone put down an R that I liked.. I asked who he was supporting. I went to his website and found out that I agree with_every_single_issue that Ron Paul has listed. From there I went on a research frenzy, and I was changed from a Neocon to free man in a matter of weeks. Yes, it happened. I was old in my Neocon ways, but I can admit I was wrong.. This alone gives me hope that all is not lost and that we should never turn our back on people we disagree with.

Indeed. Although there are exceptions, I think the most important thing we can take away from this thread is that most of us were not "born and raised" liberty lovers. Instead, most of us started out as liberals or neocon supporters (heck, I've already been both throughout my short life ;)). All it takes is a willingness to listen and a bit of education. :)

nayjevin
04-21-2010, 03:03 PM
I knew libertarians 'got it' and I didn't really know if the green party or the other ones did or not, cause politics was corrupt, hopeless, and boring.

But I would watch c-span or put the news shows on mute and make fun of the bobbing heads from time to time.

Then I turned on a debate and saw grandpa truth. Googled, found this forum. A good man had a chance, and he changed my life.

Good man, good people. It's the people with the wool out of their eyes. From hippies to gangstas to revolutionary war re-enacters. It's fun.

EN81
04-21-2010, 03:21 PM
"Oh my, another crusty old conservative, how fun..."

Then a few minutes later, I was on YouTube watching "Don't Tread On Me" and "A New Hope" with ever widening eyes, feeling more inspired by the second. :)

Truth-Bringer
04-21-2010, 04:00 PM
What was your reaction to Ron Paul the first time?

My reaction was "could it be possible?" But I really didn't get excited until I started researching his voting records and his actions. When I saw that HIS ACTIONS MATCHED HIS WORDS...that's when I get excited about seeing him elected.

nauru
04-21-2010, 04:20 PM
I first noticed Ron Paul when I stumbled upon a clip of him dismantling Rudy Giuliani in the republican primary debates during a discussion on terrorism ("They don't attack us because of our freedom; they attack us because we are over there.").

I'm not American and had never lived in the US at the time. I had never seriously looked at the Republican party as much more than an oddity because I figured it was basically filled with -- to be blunt -- reactionaries who display serious deficiencies in critical thinking skills. GW Bush, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, etc.

After watching Ron Paul speak, and reading his positions and voting record I got a lot more interested in US politics, US history, and the US constitution. I had generally been pro individual freedom anyway, but had not previously been aware that there were federal politicians in office who share those views, let alone a major grassroots pro-liberty movement in the United States and around the world.

I looked up libertarian in the dictionary.
And I showed a couple of clips to some friends on both the right and left wing. All were impressed with Ron Paul and broadly agreed with his positions, and couldn't understand how he was a Republican (they had the same preconceived assumptions about the Republican party as I had).

Akus
04-21-2010, 04:30 PM
What was your reaction to Ron Paul the first time?I know that most RPF posters don't care for Neil Boortz, but it is because if him I learned of Ron Paul. And because Libertarians were so fond of him, I decided to support him, too, as Libertarian support for a candidate is my litmus test.

Akus
04-21-2010, 04:31 PM
I'm not American and had never lived in the US at the time.Is your name where you're from?

ChaosControl
04-21-2010, 04:51 PM
I can't remember. I just know I started following him and his campaign back in early '07.
I cannot remember when I decided to support him or when I first heard of him.

I remember prior to knowing about him supporting some other candidates, but I just don't know when I first heard his name. I don't know if my positions change after hearing him talk about them or if I supported him because he was the only guy to match my positions.

I do remember starting to drift towards Libertarian in '06 though because when voting I was considering voting for the LP guy in a senate race, but I still bought into the lesser evil thing then... So I guess my positions were already there.