Describe how you became a supporter

[Second_Tier_My_Ass]

I think if we find out what has made us all decide to support Ron Paul, then it will help us to see what needs to be done to continue branching out to other people. Feel free to share your own personal stories of how you woke up to this revolution.



For me personally, my first taste of distrust in our government came during my freshman year of high school in my English class. We were supposed to write in-class short stories. I wrote about a futuristic society in which the government was nearly nonexistent. People were intelligent enough to look after themselves. Our professor was supposed to read all the stories anonymously. But after she read mine, she singled me out and told me, in front of the entire class, that we need the government to help us and that we will never be able to live our lives without getting help from it. I could almost smell the bullshit. I didn't believe her for a second. From that point on, I knew there was something very wrong with the way our government worked. Fast-forward to Ron Paul's campaign. The first time I heard him speak was an accident. I clicked the wrong video link and it brought up a clip of one of his earliest debates. I almost closed the window, but his message instantly resonated with me. It gave me that same feeling as during my English class several years earlier - a feeling of self-discovery. I could feel the ignorance falling away as the true nature of reality became obvious to me. It was beautiful. Within a month after that, I had joined all the Ron Paul forums, donates several times, joined the local meetup group, and began spreading the message.

[Ozwest]

I have always had a strong scepticism of government. The first time I heard the name Ron Paul, was on the Alex Jones radio show.

[Tim724]

We read Mises and Hayek in an economics class at Towson University (Baltimore).

The course was "Comparative Economic Systems" and compared capitalism vs socialism. The professor was really passionate about free markets.

That class changed my life. It took a few years for my belief in free markets (precipitated by that class) to snowball until I was a full-blown libertarian.

I got interested in the LP, Harry Browne, and then LewRockwell.com -- where I learned about Dr Paul.

[garkoblogo]

I have known of Dr Paul for a couple of years as he was one of the few in Washington who was not in the pockets of the pharma-psych industrial complex and his recent legislation proposal against mandatory mental health screening programs such as Teen Screen was highly demonstrative of that. I have been a Citizen's Commission on Human Rights (http://cchr.org) supporter for 20 years.
I was also seeing the rapid demise of Constitutional rights and was teaching a class on the Constitution around the same time as I was finding out about Dr Paul.
But the thing that really got me super dedicated and taking action was Aaron Russo's film. I was Aaron's volunteer coordinator here in Los Angeles and it was actually Aaron who was most instrumental in getting Dr Paul to run for prez.
Aaron is no longer with us but we will preserve his legacy.
Aaron Russo (http://www.itsmynet.info/GARKO.blog/?p=437)
Aaron Russo 2 (http://www.itsmynet.info/GARKO.blog/?p=434)

[erowe1]

The first thing I heard about Ron Paul was his "bring them home" line. At that point I immediately wrote him off as a leftist interloper in the GOP. Then one day I heard a caller call in to the Rush Limbaugh show and ask him why he hadn't endorsed Paul yet. I thought the guy must be crazy. But then he talked about how Paul was the most conservative candidate, and Limbaugh treated the guy politely and seemed to take him seriously, just explaining that he wasn't endorsing anyone. That experience compelled me to take a second look at Paul, and I verified that, as you already know, as a matter of fact, RP is by far the most conservative candidate in the race and also the most conservative guy to seek the GOP nomination in a long long time. I was instantly hooked and haven't looked back since.
The Limbaugh audience is a field that is ripe for the harvest. Paul is the only candidate out there who stands for the same things they do. I know, I'm one.

[Paulitician]

I merely spent time looking at a lot of videos on YouTube. I particularly liked 1 on 1 interviews that gave him a chance to really speak, because it was only then that I realized how absolutely brilliant he was in his reasoning, and how honest and open he was. I learned a lot from him, and I felt liberated from this political system that for whatever reason I always believed was extremely corrupt and futile to participate in. I still feel that way, but I'm willing to give it a chance this time around. If things don't change after this, I'll just abandon it. I don't believe we'll have another chance like this... and I'm only 18.

EDIT: great handle by the way! :D

[Tidewise]

I voted for him in my first voting experience when I was 18 back in 1988.

[libertarianguy]

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[saku39]

I became aware of Ron Paul early 2007 or so. This guy on a martial arts website kept posting threads about the federal reserve with videos of Ron Paul. I dismissed it at the time, thinking incorrectly, "Why would anyone want to get rid of the federal reserve? They help the economy. This guy is just a crazy old man."

In late May, I saw a Ron Paul compilation video of the 2nd republican debate on Youtube that had a large number of hits. I thought: "Republicans? Crap. They are worse than the democrats-- And that's hard to do. But why is a video about the republican debate getting so many hits? Most debates are boring as hell. Why are people watching?"

Curious, I clicked it.

It was a breath of fresh air compared to what I've ever seen of politicians previously. At the time, I didn't agree with half of what he was saying, but he seemed honest and he was saying things I've NEVER heard anyone else say, which made him that much more intriguing.

His exchange with Rudy automatically made me a fan.

After Rudy responded to his remarks, I was shocked. Why was the audience clapping for Rudy? Have they not paid attention to the past few years? Did they not hear what Dr Paul said? He spoke truth and they were applauding the wrong guy. The after debate coverage helped seal the deal. Again, during his interview with Hannity, he spoke the truth, but Hannity dismissed it and kept arguing a illogical viewpoint. Watching Hannity try to attack him and watching Fox News try to smear him, was even more proof for me that I was going to vote for this guy no matter what-- Just to spite FOX.

During this period, I was going to vote for him because I mistrust and dislike all politicans and lobbyists. I've worked at government offices before. Because of my experience, I believe that bureaucrats and lobbyists are in control in Washington and I believe that most politicians just game the system. I felt that sending this guy to the presidency will screw up everything these people have going.

I watched more youtube videos that covered the debates and discovered either the lack of coverage or the smear tactics used on him. It made me even more sure I was right, as all the right people hated his guts. Fox News/News Corp specifically seemed to really go out of their way to try and attack him.

I was suprised at all the youtube videos random people made. Who were all these people posting this stuff? Where did they come from?

I saw interviews with him, news footage, and previous debate coverage. I got to see how he responds to questions and how most MSM tries to marginalize him. After about 30 or so videos, I had more questions than answers. The biggest being, why are some of them going out of their way to either smear him or act like he doesn't exist? And then it hit me--

Wow, they are completely terrified of this man.

But why?

. . . I believe that all news is partisan, it's just a matter of degree and what side they're on. Whether it be reporters or media moguls, consiously or unconsiously, they will try to influence people to further their agenda-- Just as Brit Hume would like to see "conservative republicans" in charge as opposed to Dan Rather wanting "liberal democrats." I get my news from a variety of sources: CNN, FOX, CBS, PBS, BBC and the internet. I try to get as many viewpoints as possible because I don't trust one network or person. . .

Regardless of his political views, certain media talking heads are irritated and scared of him because he does not do political theater like they desire and are used to. He represents REAL change totally contrary to their beliefs and none of them can influence him in any way. The best they can do is influence their viewers/readers to not support him.

With that in mind, over June, July and August; I studied Dr Paul. Articles and posts at Lew Rockwell, mises.org, Daily Paul, and later ronpaulforums.com and ronpaullibrary.org made me change my previous thinking completely.

At first I was in complete shock that someone would even suggest abolishing the IRS, the Federal Reserve, the Dept of Education, Dept of Commerce, NAFTA, NATO, Dept of Energy, FEMA, Homeland Security, etc. But the more I read and the more I studied, the more it made sense. I know way more about economics now than I ever did previously. I also know more about history and foreign policy know then I ever did previously. Every article and book I read only supported whatever he was saying about Foreign policy and Monetary policy.

I don't agree with Dr Paul completely, but it doesn't matter-- because the things I do agree on, there is NOBODY else saying anything close and there is NOBODY else that has the record he does. This guy is righteous.

Originally, I had only planned to support Ron Paul because I hoped that through my support, a broken system I despized would hiccup even more and hopefully be replaced with something better. But now, after months of study I support him because I understand what he stands for and from a logical standpoint it makes complete sense.

So, with all that said: Ron Paul is my candidate. He is my man because:

***He is the only one that has a consistent viewpoint.
***His viewpoint is backed up by historical precedance and logical arguments.
***He doesn't change his positions to suit him in whatever political climate is currently popular.
***He has a 20 year voting record that proves if he says he's going to vote one way, he WILL vote one way and one way only.
***He has better ideas.
***He speaks truth.

[Wendi]

I'm not sure if my story is really what you're looking for. It's more like, Dr. Paul came to represent the ideals that I have believed in for a long, long time. I was born & raised in a neocon wanna-be right-winger patriot type family. Love God, love your country, flag-waving patriotic yadi yadi.

Thing about being neocon is that you're always told you are the true conservative yadi yadi. There's a lot of talk about all the "right" things but the actions that actually take place don't match what's being said. I'd started to see some of the hypocrisy when I was about sixteen or seventeen but didn't really know there were other options.

I believed (still do) strongly in the ideals of individual liberty, limited gov't interference, etc. I thought that's what the Republican party believed in 'cause that's what they say they want... but by the time of the 2000 election I knew they were the lesser of two evils to hope for.

I got involved with the whole *movement* of freedom... long before I affiliated with any candidate or even party. Step by step... largely "through the back door," learning about the overall movement and big-picture issues from involvement with a couple of very specific special-interest type issues (check my signature if you're really interested).

I knew who Ron Paul was... knew he was a supporter of the movement towards true freedom in this nation... Did I mention I lived in Freeport, ten miles from Clute, for fifteen years?

So, spring of '07 rolls around and Dr. Paul is running for president and I'm thrilled and searching the 'net trying to figure out how to get involved.

And now, here I am :D

Edited to add:

The two main points that cause me to support Dr. Paul are his solid record of basing decisions on the constitution and support of gun ownership and other constitutionally guaranteed individual liberties.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

again.. I was in the New Jersey Libertarian Party's forum. There was a poll up about Ron Paul and so I looked him up. I was against the idea of supporting him, at first anyway ;)

[a_european]

I saw Rachels (LadyJade) videos. Then some weeks later i saw the debate between Dr. Paul and Giuliani. That was it, an addict ever since.

[bunklocoempire]

Sadly/luckily I first heard of Ron Paul on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. My best television source for news about my Country are two comedy shows and The Jim Lehrer News Hour. A sorry state of affairs.