Poll: How Did You Find Ron Paul?

[marhlfld]

I don't know if this has been done or not, but I was curious, where did everyone find Ron Paul?

Saw Him on Debates

Saw Him on News

Saw Him on Youtube

A Friend told me

[Sola_Fide]

I came over from the CP. I was supporting Howard Phillips.

[Czolgosz]

Voted GWBush (yes, I know - no scorn necessary from anybody), followed up w/ a nod to Badnarik. RP was the next logical choice when he came on the scene at the presidential level.


And I'm sure this thread exists elsewhere...seems like it'd be a popular question. :D

[knarf]

A friends told me to google Ron Paul in May of 2007

[SilentBull]

Article on InfoWars. I hadn't visited it for a long time and was bored one day. Went to the site and saw an article about a guy running for president that was being treated unfairly. Saw a video, and the rest is history.

[eduardo89]

One of my best friends told me about him and posted a YouTube video of him in a debate.

[Sematary]

I honestly don't remember how I learned about Ron Paul. I was a fan of his for many years - long before his last presidential bid. I followed him in Congress. I kept hoping he would run for prez someday. In fact, I made a point of emailing is Congressional office to that effect.

[pcosmar]

Heard his name mentioned on forums (gun boards) while searching for my lost rights.
Researched him,, read from his library. Got hooked.

[anaconda]

Alex Jones' Prisonplanet site in 2007. I was quite surprised that anyone with his platform actually got himself elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

[PreDeadMan]

I can't remember if it was the presidential debates or his appearance on bill maher lol but it was one of those that made me really look into him.

[fisharmor]

Heard his name mentioned on forums (gun boards) while searching for my lost rights.
Researched him,, read from his library. Got hooked.

Hey, that's exactly how I found him!
Someone was talking about him on thehighroad.org in early 2007.

[kah13176]

I saw his book, "The Revolution", in a bookstore. It looked interesting. I bought it and read it.

[pcosmar]

Hey, that's exactly how I found him!
Someone was talking about him on thehighroad.org in early 2007.

Did you get purged in the Night of Long Knives too?

[MovingPictures2112]

I heard about him when I first registered for a neoconservative discussion board back in my neocon days and most people were bashing him, so to go along with the crowd, I bashed him too. But the more I read about him, the more I started to like him, and eventually I came over to the side of freedom.

[enoch150]

Paul posted "Not Yours to Give" on his Congressional web site back in 1998. I found him when worldnetdaily linked to the article. I was shocked that a congressman would post anything like that and made a point to remember the name, but didn't hear anything else about him until Jan or Feb 2007 when I saw on Fox that he formed an exploratory committee.

[donnay]

Other...

I was a resident of Texas, and I heard about him, and followed his ideas since the Reagan Campaign in the late 70's early 80's. I have been an avid supporter since!!

No One But Paul!!!

[Lothario]

Youtube search for Ayn Rand videos - came across the one where RP was asked about Atlas Shrugged. The rest is history.

[wgadget]

Excellent poll question.

[V3n]

A family member sent me a video of him at a debate. I thought it was awesome and shared it with everyone. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to like him, but that message came back to me loud and clear - it just made me more determined!

Everything he was saying was stuff I'd been saying for years, and I never knew there was actually a 'politician' who felt the same way.

[JacobG18]

this forum

[Tina]

This video and another one that I can't find now.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFW0siFFOCA

[Napolitanic Wars]

Other. He was on a DVD called The Truth and Lies of 9/11 where he talked about voting against the PATRIOT ACT. I was happy to see he was in Freedom to Fascism.

[FreedomProsperityPeace]

Heard his name mentioned on forums (gun boards) while searching for my lost rights.
Researched him,, read from his library. Got hooked.Yep, he was being discussed on another forum. That's the same way I came to libertarianism. I think that's how I found RPF too, someone posted a link.

[playboymommy]

In a music forum for Tori Amos, in the politics and history section. Someone started a thread entitled, "If you want LIBERTY back" and they praised the good doctor.
I Googled Ron Paul and stayed up until 4 am watching him on youtube. I was a good little neo-con ready to vote for McCain up until that point. :D

[John F Kennedy III]

From listening to Alex Jones.

[_b_]

I can't remember when I first heard of him, since I'm from Texas his name was always a little familiar. I generally agreed with what he had to say, but wasn't awake enough to realize why.

When I started to wake up, first with Ayn Rand, I eventually found my way to Mises.org. I finally had found a group of economists that made sense and as I became more and more Austrian I become more and more a supporter of Dr. Paul.

Then I came here and found you guys!:eek: :D

[Steve-in-NY]

Some internet articles comments and didn't believe he could have such an amazing vote record... Then saw him mentined on gun owners of Americas site. Then some googling. Then I brought it up to a friend and he was like yeah that guys awesome.
Then came not so much Google as much as straight researching.
Then I was sold and here I am.

[heavenlyboy34]

I totally forget now that it's been so long. :eek: I'm pretty sure it was from alt media, so I voted for that. It was in my endeavors to learn more about him that led me to RPFs. :cool::toady:

[Working Poor]

I found out about while reading an article by Lee Iaccoca

[Cutlerzzz]

I voted for all of the options, but the answer for me would be a message board.

[CasualApathy]

I was frequenting the Infowars website a lot in early 2007, that's where I first heard about Ron Paul, he gave an interview on the show. It only took me about a month to find ronpaulforums after that, the first ever forum and still pretty much the only one I visit. :)

[Sean]

I found him when I read National Review long time ago maybe the 90s. They had an article about him where they called him Dr. No. They also had an anonymous source complain about his no votes and saying it wasn't too bad as long as he was the only one voting that way. I thought to myself we need more Representatives like r. No.

[r3volution]

i was trying to find info on a federal operation that i was tangled up in , but every time i abbreviated federal with fed in google all these dam Ron Paul videos kept coming up . i finally got so pissed and curious i watched 1 , then i was hooked :)

[tribute_13]

Other- My high school Chemistry teacher used to listen to me rant in class about the government and she told me Ron Paul was the candidate for me.

[StilesBC]

Mish.

[sorianofan]

Alex Jones' Prisonplanet site in 2007. I was quite surprised that anyone with his platform actually got himself elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
My story is just like this one. I remember Alex Jones interviewing Ron Paul and Badnrik, and I would think how lucky Alex Jones was to get actual politician to talk to him. Now Alex Jones actually gets really famous people to talk to him without tricking them.

I didn't know too much about Ron, but the fact that someone with the nuts to go on AJ was running for prez was enough for me to jump on board. I remember Ron kicking the idea around early in '07 and was like "OMG, they actually allowed RP to announce on TV!"

[steph3n]

In late 2006 or early 2007, the intertubez told me about him.

edited: Wow I had my years wrong.

[Sentient Void]

Friend, youtube, and debate were my answers.

The very first place I heard about Ron Paul, where i said 'Who's that?' - was to a friend of mine online back in late 2007.

She was a stripper, BTW. haha

And thus began my tumbling down the rabbit hole from a Rudy Giuliani for President neocon imperialist, to a Ron Paul Constitutionalist, to a wide-spectrum 'libertarian', to a minarchist, and finally an ancap. This over the span of about 1 year from watching many videos, debating a lot online, and reading *A LOT* of books, articles, papers, and forum-creeping.

[Cdn_for_liberty]

Watched the first interview Fox News had with Daniel Hannan and he said that he like Ron Paul.

[pcosmar]

She was a stripper, BTW. haha


:D
Good for her.
I hope you tipped well.

[specsaregood]

What is really going to blow your mind after we win this election is when you ponder, "Was it you that found Ron Paul or did Ron Paul find you?"

[marhlfld]

I don't get it, I was trying to post to another persons post and it put this at the last page. Grrr...

[Uriah]

I first saw him in the film Zeitgeist. I didn't know how great he was then. But I did a little something called 'research' very early in the 2008 presidential race. I looked at every candidate and he stood out just like Kucinich, Gravel, and Nader in their own way.

[marhlfld]

Wow, amazing number of ways people found out about him. Some were looking, some not, some were already into the political system, some not. I found him thru Alex Jones in 2007. I started watching youtube videos of him and I just went bonkers. I couldn't hardly believe he was for real. I'm finding it tough to get people to even watch a youtube of him. I live in the NW and we don't vote primaries until late Spring, so most are asleep and wait until the News tell them to remember to vote and here's the guy you need to vote for. Like their coming out of hibernation or something. Makes me sick. I'm working on it though. By the way, I hardly see a Obama bumpersticker at all now.

[Uriah]

What is really going to blow your mind after we win this election is when you ponder, "Was it you that found Ron Paul or did Ron Paul find you?"


Love it. Mind=blown.

[fj45lvr]

c-span aired a campaign speech running up to the 1988 election....

[MaxPower]

The first I can recall being made aware of his existence was sometime around the fall of 2007, when I saw the words "Who is Ron Paul?" spray-painted on the rear window of a vehicle in front of me in traffic. Now, I was amused, but at the time I shrugged it off, supposing it was some kind of play on "John Paul" or somesuch, and didn't really look into things any further. I believe I also saw the "Who is Ron Paul?" line pop up in one or two other places, however, such that, although I still didn't really have any idea who he was, there was a mild curiosity brewing in the back of my mind. The next exposure I can recall was seeing a local newspaper article about the Ron Paul presidential campaign, which noted that he was known for his principles and integrity and had generated a passionate and diverse group of followers, many of whom considered him to have "cured their apathy." This was strong enough to pique my interest, but upon looking him up on the internet, I found some of his positions weird and off-putting at first blush (I was relatively apolitical at the time, but thinking about solidifying my views in time to cast an informed vote in the 2008 presidential election).
In early 2008, my aunt, who was Barack Obama's number-one fundraiser in the state of Virginia, lobbied me to vote for Obama in the primaries, and I was strongly considering it at the time; he was the other candidate, along with Dr. Paul, to have caught my eye at the time, and as I say, some of Ron Paul's positions still looked troubling to me at this stage. I got down to brass tacks and began investigating these candidates' respective positions while working to "fill out" my own political philosophy, and by the end of February had rejected Obama, started down the road to radical libertarianism, and settled on Ron Paul as my candidate of choice.

[AlexAmore]

This was way back before Ron Paul was in the first election but I was in my early teens living with mom. I was researching about the Constitution because I was following what the government was doing after 9/11 trampling on our rights and the BS wars and all the lies. I came across folks like Alex Jones and Michael Badnarik and his Constitution class. Of course I was informing and teaching my mom at all times about everything I was learning. She always took passive interest but never actively researched anything. One day out of the freaking blue my mom goes "Check out this guy, you might be interested in him" and she left Ron Paul's congressional home page up. She saw him on TV if I remember correctly.

Was a long time before he ran and he sort of left my mind.

[youngbuck]

Saw an Alex Jones documentary circa 2004, obviously long before he ever ran for president. I was quite enthralled when I learned there was some founding father material actually in office!

[messana]

I first saw him in the film Zeitgeist.

Same here. I remember checking their site for more information and it went something like "The only guy running in the '08 election who's against the Fed and all the scary stuff in the movie is Ron Paul - but unfortunately he's pro-life so don't bother voting for him."

[emazur]

He was mentioned often in the Advocates for Self Government newsletter which I subscribed to (and still do):
http://www.theadvocates.org/

[bunklocoempire]

Daily Show = Alternative News (?)

Then watched for him, saw him on Colbert, then a debate.

Internet did the rest, especially this forum.


Bunkloco

[Rocket_pilot]

By reading his books.

[Kludge]

John Stossel 20/20 segment shown in Economics class -> realized I was one of those
Ayn Rand research paper (read her books & a couple biographies) -> realized I was really one of those
Ayn Rand research -> research on libertarianism -> notice John Stossel mention -> realized I was actually one of those
Youtube video on Ron Paul at debate -> realized I was definitely one of those
Ron Paul doesn't have a chance in Hell -> Youtube debate with a moon-bat who convinced me Ron Paul could win in '08 with tiny, irrelevant straw polls -> end up here

[acptulsa]

Other.


I found the right person to ask, and said, 'Who the hell are the Libertarians running this year? Because there's no way I'm voting for that ex-CIA thug Bush and I can't tell the difference between him and Dukakis.'

[CaptainAmerica]

In august of 2007 I read through everyones voting records, except John Mccain.John McCain was a clear example to me of what I didn't want to vote for. I have always hated the United Nations,and I wanted the U.S. sovereignty back, as well as the U.S. Constitution to be defended. I didn't expect to find what I found though, Ron Paul's voting record is pretty much lined up with everything I was looking for and agreed with. He voted against nafta,cafta, wanted us out of United Nations, and he voted pro-life, voted state rights, advocated gun rights to the point of us having the freedom to own fully automatic weapons. When I first heard Ron Paul speak, I knew he was like Thomas Jefferson in his ideals,and Jeffersonian principles are really what drew me in. I still remember reading the voting records haha,can't believe one man out of all the entire congress is honest as he is and intelligent as well as willing to defend the constitution,it gave me hope and reassurance that I must try to defend the U.S. Republic for posterity.

[jkob]

Back during the 2008 election I noticed his web presence.

[ronpaulfollower999]

Other--- looked up the Republican candidates on Wikipedia in 2007.

[Eric21ND]

Freedom to Fascism documentary.

[Elwar]

In the late 90s when I was talking to another friend who is a Libertarian he said that there is one Congressman who is a libertarian.

He said that Ron Paul was on C-SPAN and they were taking calls from Democrats and Republicans and one caller called and said that they needed a Libertarian line. Ron Paul agreed and said "you should have a libertarian line".

[brandon]

I believe I was watching a youtube video of the May '07 debate a couple weeks after it went down.I can't remember what exactly led me to watching the video. It could have been the bodybuilding forums. Or maybe google news. I don't remember. I hated all Republicans at the time, and identified more with independents/democrats. I was instantly hooked after hearing him take on mr 9/11.

[Revolution9]

You don't have metal detector as an option.

HTH
Rev9

[hazek]

After watching Zeitgeist 1, the money part really freaked me out and I wanted to learn more about it. So I started researching and eventually I saw a few clips of Ron on yourtube.

[Wesker1982]

I first saw him in one of the debates. Thought he was crazy thanks to the media. The 2+2 politics forum changed my mind (Borodog,pvn,Nielsio). Ron Paul changed my life.

[Fermli]

youtube search in March 2011 for housing bubble and/or economic crisis, found Peter Schiff was Right video... found Ron Paul videos.

<--also a 2+2 regular =)

[hazek]

<--also a 2+2 regular =)

+1 ;)

[marhlfld]

Looking a the poll results seems to indicate that Youtube is the best format to awaken people. No one said a 1 hr. video collage of Ron Paul caught them, maybe one or two. People can't seem to focus on a simple hour of info. But they'll watch 3 hours of 5 min youtube videos. I forgot to put in a choice for recieved Ron Paul campaign material or brochure.

[nf7mate]

I Googled Ron Paul after I first heard him mentioned on "The American View" radio show, when co-host Michael Peroutka (2004 CP presidential candidate who eventually formally endorsed Ron Paul for president in 2008) said there was only one Republican running that has any respect for the constitution...Ron Paul.