Please Share Your "Come To Ron Paul" Moment Here

[bgky4paul]

Pardon me if this has already been done, but I haven't seen it. I thought it would fun to trade stories about how we came to revere Dr. Paul and his message.

Okay, full disclosure time. Dr. Paul's son, Rand, has been my family's ophthamologist for several years. I never knew anything about his father at all. I just knew that I appreciated that fact that he always spoke to me as if I was an intelligent human being. Now and then, he would submit LTE's to the local paper, and I always agreed with his stances on the issues. Little did I know....

Cut to May or June of 2007. Mr. bg comes in and says, "Did you know that Dr. Paul's father is running for president?" I had not heard. In fact, I was so disenchanted with the political process and the mess of the current administration, I had yet to tune into the current presidential run. The few names I knew who were running did not inspire me, so I decided I would choose my candidate once the choices where whittled down a bit. I assumed that Dr. Paul was just another Republican also-ran who had nothing new to add to the discourse. Little did I know....

On the morning of October 4, I was vacationing and I did something that I almost never do. I tuned into "The View". The ladies were interviewing Jack Cafferty. I was only half-listening, but my ears perked up when Joy said something like, "What about Ron Paul? He's raised as much money as McCain!" Hey, that's my doctor's dad! What's this all about? Jack spoke supportively of Dr. Paul and ran down a few of his views. When I got back home that weekend, I went online and started to research. Within 24 hours I was a true believer and I knew I could never turn back. Much to my dismay, I had just missed the famed Nashville rally, which took place just a few miles from my hometown. Little did I know....

Okay, that's my story. Maybe if more of us share, the lurkers can see that we are a very normal cross-section of Americans, not a bunch of tin-foil-hat-wearing freaks. Not that there's anything wrong with that! :D

[Sematary]

I'm a political junkie and have been reading "Texas Straight Talk" for years. I don't remember who originally introduced it to me, but I was hooked. I've been waiting for this campaign for years and this candidate my entire life.

[Paul4Prez]

I voted for Ron Paul in 1988.

My parents voted for Ed Clark in 1980. I remember seeing one of his commercials.

David Bergland came to my university in 1984 to speak, and I voted for him in my first election.

I voted for Ron Paul in 1988 without ever having seen him on TV or heard him on the radio or ever meeting another supporter.

I started hearing about Ron Paul again around 2000, when people would write nasty things online about Congressmen, and then add "except for Ron Paul" afterward. I started seeing his columns on LewRockwell.com a few years ago, and then found Ron Paul's Congressional website.

I was hoping he would run in 2004. There was an online petition to draft him to run, but only 3,000 or so people found it.

How things have changed!

[Madison]

Fox News debate, the infamous exchange between Rudy and Ron. It was fate, because I never watch Fox News and I never watched presidential debates, but for an unknown reason I was watching the debate live on Fox News when the wisdom of Ron Paul was suddenly bestowed upon me, and my world forever changed.

[fj45lvr]

back in 1987 I was watching C-SPAN and they had the "road to the white house" and covered a speech by Dr. Paul during his presidential campaign....he explained at that time that there was little difference between the parties (both big spenders ignoring the Constitution).... He opened my eyes and I totally knew at that moment that I would vote for the man. His message has only been proven as nothing less than the TRUTH from what we see happening by ignoring the "rule of law" and feeding the 300 pound gorilla.

[piotr1]

A about a month ago i joined my first meetup, somehow, i got confused and ended up at a small Ron Paul fundraiser at a bar even though i thought i was going to a 9/11 Truth meeting.

Nevertheless i picked up a slim jim and a week later i stumbled upon youtube which got me hooked.

Now I spend all my free time supporting Ron Paul, but don't worry -- i don't mix. 8)

[Birdlady]

No one likes to hear it, but Alex Jones is how I found out about him.

[StumbleBum7]

i was youtubeing NORML videos for some reason one day, and i came across a interview he did with them, saw other links to other realated videos and watched and somehow i guess watched a debate one and loved him... im 19 so its my first time voting... but i can't believe thats how i came across him lol... Don't know if i would of heard of him without that!

[sylvania]

My husband is a huge Libertarian. I majored in economics, so it's not much of a slide from loving economics to loving libertarianism (and my libertarian, especially). The Libertarian National Convention was held in Portland, OR a year ago and he wanted to go hear the Free Staters speak. I said sure, I'll go. On a table at the convention there was some Ron Paul CDs. My husband said that he really liked Paul because Paul liked limited government. My husband said he was a pretty amazing man since he seemed to have struck some sort of peace with the Republicans in Texas. I didn't pay much attention other than listening and thinking, hmm, interesting.

Fast forward to June and my husband says one night, "I think I want to watch the debates." I said, "Whatever." I was busy scrapbooking at the time. I was pretty absorbed in picking paper and stickers and trimming photos when something Paul said penetrated and I stopped what I was doing to listen. I loved what he had to say. It was all the things I had been thinking.

I then became a bigger supporter than my husband. I dragged him out to a meetup event, had him shopping at Home Depot with me for paint and tarps, was begging him to photocopy flyers at his work after hours and had him out at 1:00 AM stapling up our hand-made signs while I drove the get-away car. I don't think he knew what he was doing when he brought me to Ron Paul. My husband created an activist monster. I am not the activist type at all, either. Prior to this I could have cared less about politics, other than knowing it was something my husband was interested in. I'm a quiet tax accountant type and it was not in my nature to push my beliefs onto others, but you warm up to it. Handing out info and striking up conversations becomes a lot easier after you've done it a few times.

We've participated in the fundraisers, the chip-ins and we even have this on my car (I gave it to my husband for one of his birthday presents - he asked for it specifically):

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd85/Sylvania11/Car%20Sign/HPIM1253-1.jpg

[son of liberty]

Rudy vs. Ron in the debate..........then youtube.

[Natalie]

I heard about Dr. Paul from my dad, who's a die-hard Libertarian. Then I moved into RPs congressional district, and voted for him in the local election last year. When I heard he was running for pres, I was one of those ppl who said "he has no chance," but I joined my local meetup anyway. Dr. Paul is doing much better than I thought he would, and he may very well be our next president. Go Ron!

[foofighter20x]

When I read this (http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2006/cr021506.htm) in April of '06.

[Marceline88]

Oddly it was the View that brought me to him too....well, more precisely it was Rosie O'Donnell's blog and a brief mention by a poster of a question to her about a discussion that was on the View in late May about Ron Paul. The poster of the question asked her something along the lines of, "The Republican Ron Paul at the debate the other night, aren't his views similar to yours?" Regarding the war. She said yes. This is the clip that the Rosie blog questioner was referencing.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6SfmXigHpE I would love to smack the blonde chick upside the head. I love Rosie....don't hate me...I happen to like brash, funny, fat, lesbians who are anti-war....sue me.

Curious, I Goggled Ron Paul....and then proceeded to spend an entire month of my free time watching every scrap of video with him, about him, or expounding on his views or similar views. I read every article and web-page I could find mentioning him. I was hooked, line and sinker. I then found this place and the rest is history.

I bought his book and went to one of his first rallies that was held in KC in June. I cheered, I stood, I stomped, I whistled......I felt rush of greatness and hope. I shook his hand and told the man God Bless You Sir. It was an honor. I wanted to be able to tell my daughter that I shook the Presidents hand.....I only regret I didn't bring her along, heh....I didn't know what a political rally would be like, so she stayed home with her dad. ;O) Next time.

He is the most honest, most logical, most correct, most consistent man ever to appear in politics in my lifetime. He made me realize what my country is supposed to be, what it can be with his principled leadership. He makes me proud to be an American again. I wont give up, I will stand by him and his message of Freedom until he is the leader of this great nation.

[JoshLowry]

YouTube compilation of the first debate on May 5th.

[Nate K]

i knew of him during the debate.. and after using my head i realized he was our only hope.

took a couple weeks but i'm an open minded person.

[amonasro]

I can't remember exactly when I started following him, I suppose sometime before he filed to run. Anyway I was researching medical marijuana and stumbled on his name. I watched a few Youtubes and I was hooked.

Anyone else go through the "obsessive" period where you digest everything you can about Ron Paul in a very short time? Videos, speeches, forums... I was glued to the computer for weeks.

[Nate K]

I can't remember exactly when I started following him, I suppose sometime before he filed to run. Anyway I was researching medical marijuana and stumbled on his name. I watched a few Youtubes and I was hooked.

Anyone else go through the "obsessive" period where you digest everything you can about Ron Paul in a very short time? Videos, speeches, forums... I was glued to the computer for weeks.

omg me too man, it's so weird. same with my bro. it's like you have the instinct to get more ppl to vote for him and that's the only thing in life that matters.

[sylvania]

I think everybody has been through that phase. You OD, you get to the point where you could give one of his speeches and sound just like him. It's pretty addictive.

[StumbleBum7]

lol yea i did that. converted afew friends/family. Got sign making stuff and all that lol slowed down abit, but im still bringing his name up whenever possible, and at least now i get some "I heard of him" or stuff like that its a good feeling but still far to go :) just wish i was in a earlier primary state

[nayjevin]

a very early debate -- was it south carolina?

i had been out of politics since i researched waco and got disillusioned. power corrupts, and it seemed i had no real way of changing the brick wall of big government.

then i kind of went on a streak of checking out cspan every once in a while and i saw 'presidential debates' and i thought 'what the hey, why not check out what the talking heads are spouting this time around.'

i saw ron paul and thought something along the lines of 'these candidates are getting good at sounding like they are honest,' but I didn't yet dream there was a politician i could trust.

then i went online and googled, found a youtube, read some comments. it sounded too good to be true...

so i went to ron paul library and it was on. i found out he had been featured on lew rockwell (which i hadn't spent much time on, but knew it was friendly to what i believed), and i started getting the picture that he had been fighting against bureaucrats in the house for years.

then i read his wikipedia page, and it was all over.

[ctb619]

I came across an issue of The New American magazine about ten years ago. There was something in there about Ron Paul, I liked what I saw, and I have been following his political career off and on since then. I was desperately hoping that he would jump in the race, not because I thought he could win or have any significant impact on the race, but just because I wanted there to be a candidate that I could feel good about supporting. The cynic in me didn't expect his candidacy to get much traction, but when he dominated the online poll after the first MSNBC debate, I felt that something special was happening. We still have a lot of work to do, but the momentum has been building since that debate, and it's only going to get bigger.

[max]

i was an RP fan when many of you were still suckin momma's milk...

1988...my first vote for president... after I read Atlas Shrugged...

I gave up on political action after The Establishment destroyed Pat Buchanan in 96....came back to life after Rudy insulted RP at the first debate....

[Severius]

I was reading BoingBoing (http://www.boingboing.net) about three months ago, and there was a post about how Ron Paul was the most popular candidate on the internet. Up until that time the only people I knew were running were Rudy, Hilary, Obama, and some guy named Mitt that I had never heard of. Read the post and started to research him. I started on his Wikipedia page (which pretty much sold me on him) and then I watched videos of him on YouTube. The really funny thing is, my sister and I were talking earlier that day about how we want our troops home not just from Iraq but everywhere else. My sister specifically mentioned how much she hated that we've been in South Korea for fifty years. The first RP video I found was one of him at a debate and he said that we should get our troops out of Korea. I got goosebumps and knew that there was no one else like him anywhere, and I'd do everything I could make sure he go elected. I've got most of my family sold on him, it's just my in-laws that are giving me a hard time :)

[Taco John]

Anyone else go through the "obsessive" period where you digest everything you can about Ron Paul in a very short time? Videos, speeches, forums... I was glued to the computer for weeks.



That describes my last six months. I've listened to every speech he's given, every interview, every television appearance at least two times, and more in many cases.

I discovered Dr. Paul through a political quiz I took in February. I was expecting the usual, where I'd match only about 80% with the top candidate that the formula spit out. I was floored when it spit out a 96% candidate named Ron Paul. I was skeptical, but I decided to look him up. I was very interested, but skeptical still. I knew I'd be voting for him regardless, because that's how I roll, but I wasn't a true believer. And then the Reagan debate came, and I listened to a MAN speaking the unpopular truth to power and I cheered. Electricity shot up my spine and I cheered. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't been excited about a politician EVER.

I knew then that whether this man could win or not, he was worthy of my every effort. I went online and donated right away to ensure that he was receiving encouragement, and to keep him in the running. And I'll keep donating all the way into October of next year regardless of what happens.

[Edward]

I Googled "Ron Paul" after the June 5th debate.

[Eryxis]

I have no idea when I found out about RP other than Late Aug/ Early Sept. I was using the Firefox Plug-in Stumble Upon! and I kept coming across articles/videos about him based on the type of content I had thumbs upped. I was hooked.... still am I usually spend 2 hours a day on this forum/the internet.

[V-rod]

I first heard about Ron Paul sometime towards the end of 2003 when I saw a speech he made in Austin about how the Patriot Act was unconstitutional. I thought, "Gee, I wish HE was my Congressman".

When I saw that Ron Paul entered the race this year, I rolled my eyes and thought "Why is he wasting his time, he has NO chance against the neo-conservative, pro-Bush establishment".
Later on, right after the May Fox debate, I was floored at the snowball effect RP was having. Right away I joined the effort. But it was YOU hardcore loyal supporters who stuck with RP since the very beginning, and helped pave the way for his future following.

[goRPaul]

When I was in high school, I was very interested in politics, and I was borderline socialist. I felt it was the government's responsibility to manage the distribution of wealth lol. It only took three months of college (this was about two years ago) until I converted to libertarianism, and the website www.TheAdvocates.org is mostly responsible for that conversion. They have a page with libertarian celebrities, and Ron was one of the only congressmen on it. I looked him over and was pretty impressed.

In January this year, I heard he filed for an exploratory committee. Then in March I heard he officially declared. I was happy for him, but I had sorta lost interest in politics and pretty much had my mind set on voting third party. It wasn't until June or July that I noticed that people were really interested in Paul, and I got to learning about him. After really studying the man, and finding out there was a lot of interest to do grassroots activities for him, I went to a sign wave and the rest is history.

[Abu]

I am a religious Muslim conservative. The Republicans are not conservative. Look at the front runner! A social liberal crusader! He's the antithesis of what is right with America.

Honesty, decency, not having my life controlled by the government/not being taxed to death, and having America stop policing the world is a very, very attractive message.

You elect Ron Paul and people will have more of their money in their own pocket, and terrorists will lose their motivation to attack the USA. Trust me.

Ron Paul is a good man. The message is a great message. How can we not support him?

[Eric21ND]

I follow politics pretty closely, and I heard very early (probably almost 10 months ago) someone talking about the candidates and what kind of support they would have. They said Ron Paul would get the conservative christian support. I just filed tiny bit of info away as ok I'm totally not going to agree with this guy. Then later on I heard Bill Maher was going to have him on as a guest, this was the first interview with Maher and Ron Paul was going to be on satellite. I watch Maher's show every friday and I wanted to see what Paul had to say because I heard he also had a libertarian streak. Well he spoke intelligently in that first interview about history (I'm going for a B.S. in History) and it's so rare to hear that after 8 years of Bush. He also spoke of our involvement in the Middle East. I was like this guy seems like an independent thinker...he deserves another look so I checked out his website. Then I found video interviews on youtube. I really liked his stances on everything except the pro-life thing...I'm pro-choice in that regard and it choked me up for a bit. But then the more I thought about it, the more it didn't even matter to me....there are so much more important issues that need to be addressed and abortion/gay marriage are topics used only to divide us. Paul wanted to turn these difficult questions over the states anyway.

Since he seemed like an interesting guy, I tuned into the first debate and I thought he did very well for himself with the little time he had. He started winning me over, and I was like too bad he doesn't have a shot and then I saw the post debate poll and holy crap other people agree with me!! He won the debate!! I thought I was in the twlight zone. So then I tuned into the south carolina debate with Rudy and that's when I fell in love with the guy, for once someone was standing there telling it like it is on national tv. I was like oh my god he's going to get crushed now for speaking the truth and then the poll shows he's winning AGAIN!! :eek: I was blown away by that and been a diehard supporter ever since. He was the total package, he says all the right answers on the issues and combined with his honesty and integrity that really won me over. I also saw he had the wisdom not to vote for the Iraq war. I totally against that idea from the start...I thought it would be too costly in man and economically devestating for this country, and in the end it wouldn't work anyway.

That was my Ron Paul epiphany. :)

[Kandilynn]

I'm an Objectivist, so I planned picking a Libertarian candidate to support for president. It was mid-April and I noticed that myspace had a page full of the candidates that were running and a link to all of their myspace pages. So, I went to every candidates myspace page individually, and followed all the links and checked them all out. Ron Paul stood out. So I badgered my husband into watching the few videos present on youtube and joined the myspace Ron Paul message boards. And in May my husband and I created our local meetup group.

[Craig_R]

Until one day some dude posted a link on a message board I was frequenting (just to mess with christians) I followed the link out of curiosity... It was loose change.

Now I didnt have cable TV in 01 and really didnt have any idea about the mangnitude of 911 much less any "theories" going around about it, however that loose change got me looking into what went down that day.. well I got me a big ol tin foil hat and jumped head first down the "rabbit hole" and boy did I go deep. In my studies I came across Ron Paul (he's quite popular among the patriots in the "freedom movement") and was very pleased when it leaked early that he was going to run.

just to clarify, I'm not one of those "truthers" that like to propose theories. I only ask about inconsistencies and point out known history. I do very little of that even. I figure it'll all come out in the wash once we restore the government to its constitutional level

[nayjevin]

Until one day some dude posted a link on a message board I was frequenting (just to mess with christians) I followed the link out of curiosity... It was loose change.

Now I didnt have cable TV in 01 and really didnt have any idea about the mangnitude of 911 much less any "theories" going around about it, however that loose change got me looking into what went down that day.. well I got me a big ol tin foil hat and jumped head first down the "rabbit hole" and boy did I go deep. In my studies I came across Ron Paul (he's quite popular among the patriots in the "freedom movement") and was very pleased when it leaked early that he was going to run.

just to clarify, I'm not one of those "truthers" that like to propose theories. I only ask about inconsistencies and point out known history. I do very little of that even. I figure it'll all come out in the wash once we restore the government to its constitutional level

nice post -- you give 'wackos' a good name

[curtisag]

I was fed up with politics after Bush betrayed all that is conservative, so I tuned out politics for a long time. Then, I started seeing all these people posting stories about Ron Paul on www.digg.com. I liked him from the very beginning, but I didn't become a huge supporter until after I saw the youtube video Ron Paul: A New Hope. It made me cry the first time I saw it, and then I knew I had to get involved again in politics. I've probably watched it 100 times :). I feel like Ron Paul's message has changed me forever. I was convinced our country had seen it's better days in the past and the future looked bleak, but now there's hope for America.

[bootstrap]

I invented and developed a technology that must not fall into the hands of any guvermint, but especially not insane, malicious warmongers. Given the speed and direction the US is headed, it became obvious I must abandon ship. So I did some research, chose a location, made plans to leave next summer, and shipped everything confidential about my technology outta here to be safe (no, it is not weapons technology).

I have never owned a TV, but by coincidence I happened to see part of one republican debate where the candidates made total idiots of themselves, except Ron Paul. Though I have always been certain that US politicians are malicious authoritarians, I was rather surprised to hear them sound exactly like a parody of crazed nazis, almost competing with each other to raise their level of insanity beyond what the others might dare say (like pre-emptive nuclear attacks)!

Ron Paul was appropriately scandalized at their remarks, and he sounded that way too. But his answers were not insane like those other jerks, they were accurate and rational. Later I googled for Ron Paul and found a pile of youtube videos and this forum.

After listening and reading for several hours (to the other debates and various videos of Ron Paul speaking), I realized that my assumption this country was doomed to overt authoritarianism and tyranny within 2~3 years had dropped from 99.9999999% certainty to 99.9% certainty. Enough to make me donate on November 5th, and consider how I/we can best increase his chances - then share them here, and do whatever I can. If Ron Paul wins the primaries, I might cancel my move and continue to help.

This series of events is rather remarkable, when you think about it. I refused to vote or support any politician for the 30 years, because I refuse to acknowledge anyone has a right to force me or anyone else to do anything. I was virtually certain no politician would ever deserve my support, especially a presidential candidate. Needless to say, I was quite impressed at what I heard Ron Paul say during my research. I only disagree with 1.5 of his positions (that I heard), but more importantly, I am certain he is honest and his mistakes are unintentional. Furthermore, his answers to tough questions are usually extremely impressive.

That's my "RP moment". Too bad this probably happened many years too late to succeed (government too far gone, authoritarians too strong, americans far too intellectually corrupt (just watch, you'll see), voting machines rigged, etc). Unfortunately, what the candidates said also convinces me the day of overt tyranny will occur even sooner - possibly before the 2008 elections.

[Nefertiti]

Last year in July I somehow came across this column by Pat Buchanan and was really impressed:
http://www.theamericancause.org/print/072106_print.htm

I started reading all his columns and found myself really agreeing with a lot of his views, so much so I hoped he would run for president and would have supported him in a heartbeat if he had run.

Being from Obama's neighborhood, however, and with the lack of a Buchanan campaign, I became a big fan of his as soon as he announced he was running. I felt his background too would help him to understand my own personal situation. I stayed an Obama supporter and participated in the main blog on his site frequently until one day someone mentioned what Ron Paul had said to Giuliani in the debate. This sounded interesting, plus his name sounding like Ru Paul. I decided to read something about him, and so I looked him up, can't remember where, and found that he sounded a lot like Buchanan and so I was hooked!

[AlexMerced]

I was introduced to Ron Paul on my trip to the phillipines funny enough watching the first GOP debates in may, good stuff

[JMO]

It was one of the earlier debates. I was registered Democrat but made the decision to watch the Republican debate. i have always disliked giving my money to other countries. my 2 biggest concerns in this election was the current tax system and the war in Iraq. when I saw him address both of my concerns i kept Ron Paul's name in the back of my mind. as time went on and a few more debates i started researching him closer, then I took the step to become a Paul backer, I made the decision to switch parties and now I am bringing his name to some of my co workers.

[bgky4paul]

These stories are great! Keep 'em coming! :D

[ShowMeLiberty]

I've voted for and been disappointed by both Democrats and Republicans in the past. In recent years I found my opinions becoming much more in line with Libertarians.

I only regularly visit one other forum on the web - it's my favorite author's forum and he happens to be strongly libertarian. A few months ago one of the other members there (whose tag is "Libertarianer Than Thou") suggested looking up info about Ron Paul. The rest, as they say... :)

[Kap]

I remember watching him during the Republican debate vs Guiliani on the now classic "blowback" debate I knew the man made sense then, but what turned me into a die hard Ron Paul fan was one You Tube video.

The video highlighted all of his recent speeches, but the theme of the video was Ron Paul's growing support and eventually taking the White House Watching that video made me see we need to do everything possible to make that man president

[JimDude]

I remember seeing Mike Gravel in the All-American PBS debate and I remembered thinking "That guy is right!" I liked Gravel's ideas, and he sounds good and he made sense. He said he was gonna end the war on drugs and that I liked that.

So, I went to youtube to learn more about him and I while looking on the comments of one of Gravel's videos, I kept seeing comments about how Ron Paul is better then Gravel and has no real chance of winning. I thought, "No way man."

So, than, I went searching for Ron Paul instead and than I supported him. I was blown away by some of the RP videos.

Before I saw gravel, i was leaning towards supporting Barack obama, and than I supported Mike Gravel and now I support Ron Paul.

[jb4ronpaul]

lewrockwell.com

[Adamsa]

I can't even remember how I found Ron, it might've been because I saw the debate where he and Rudy had that disagreement.

[scubasteve01]

Marc Emery's myspace page, did some youtubing after that and I was hooked.

[iloveronpaul]

I saw him in a documentary and was wondering why this guy Ron Paul was not running for president... :D

[paulitics]

tripped over a rabbit hole in 2004 when I discovered how both parties could suck so much, I started to realize they were two sides of the same coin. I started to research history, symbolism, propaganda, etc. The whole Iraq war bewildered me, and something didn't seem right about the direction things were going. I would say farenheit 911 may have opened up my eyes, a little, so did several books.
3 years later I got pulled into a rabbit hole and there was no turning back, my mind is equipped with so much more knowledge and information. RP was a soft sell, and was hooked after the first debate.

[ValidusCustodiae]

First heard his name on Alex Jones' show. First saw him speak on Freedom to Fascism. Was amazed, and then he announced his candidacy. I remember watching the video and thinking to myself "Oh my god there is actually hope." Then when I saw his campaign slogan was "Hope for America" I knew it was true.

[jesshwarren]

6 weeks ago. One Sunday morning I picked up the New American news mag. I was browsing threw it and they had a 3 page article on Ron Paul. I was HOOKED. I thought WOW!!! The last good honest presidential candidate. Ever since it has been RON PAUL!

[scbissler]

Vaguely remembered him from 1988, but really started to follow him about 8-9 years ago at lewrockwell.com. I had always told folks that there was only one person in Congress worth listening to - Ron Paul. Set my alarm to make sure I would be awake for his announcement of his candidacy on CSpan

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

I'd been active on online political forums for the past few years, and in 2005 and 2006 people on the forums started talking about the '08 presidential election and how the only way they'd ever vote Republican is if some guy named Ron Paul were the nominee. I didn't know who he was at the time, and (funny part) because his name first came up in the context of discussing the Mexican immigration problem and because he's from Texas, I--for some reason--assumed Ron Paul was Hispanic and, having never heard his name pronounced in real life at that point, thus assumed that his name was pronounced Ron Paúl (as in Pah'-ool).

Then last year, I saw a news article about this guy launching a presidential exploratory committee. I checked out his website back when it was just a big grey page with a badly photoshopped picture of Ron that said "Under Construction" (or something to that effect) for like 3 months before the website was actually finished, and was really turned off. It screamed second tier--third tier even.

I ended up falling into the Rudy camp, and was one of those people who laughed at and chided Ron during that debate with the Rudy-Ron argument. Curiosity eventually got the best of me though and I started looking into his views. I gradually came to the conclusion that I actually liked Ron Paul except for his stance on the war. Then I watched that FOX News debate where Chris Matthews quipped at Ron Paul if he thought we should take our marching orders from al Qaeda, and when Ron Paul answered "No! We should take our marching orders from the Constitution!" a light suddenly clicked on in my head. That triggered an extremely intensive month-long study of Constitutional law, history, foreign policy, and terrorism. I bought and read everything I could find: a copy of the Constitution (obviously), the Federalist Papers, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the 9/11 Commission Report, Raymond Ibrahim's Al Qaeda Reader, Robert Pape's Dying To Win, Michael Scheuer's (my copy still lists the author as "Anonymous" :P) Imperial Hubris, and the straw that broke the camel's back--Ron Paul's Foreign Policy of Freedom--the book that made me a Paul supporter.

I became an official Paul supporter about a month ago.

[Pedro TT]

Real time with Bill Maher. I saw him and it gave me chills...been a die hard supporter since.

[sedele]

No one likes to hear it, but Alex Jones is how I found out about him.

Me too.

[monotony]

I found out about him on a message board full of neocons deriding him. I knew if they hated him so much he must be saying something good.

I stayed up half the night did the research on the guy and his positions and I knew I had to choice but to support him.

[rajibo]

I'm not sure where I first heard of him, most likely through Libertarian articles, but knew of him only as the "only libertarian in Congress".

I was casually channel surfing one night and stopped on Bill Maher and he said he was interviewing "republican presidential candidate Ron Paul" :eek:. I immediately knew who had my vote and there has been no looking back.

[The Dane]

I ended up falling into the Rudy camp, and was one of those people who laughed at and chided Ron during that debate with the Rudy-Ron argument. Curiosity eventually got the best of me though and I started looking into his views. I gradually came to the conclusion that I actually liked Ron Paul except for his stance on the war. Then I watched that FOX News debate where Chris Matthews quipped at Ron Paul if he thought we should take our marching orders from al Qaeda, and when Ron Paul answered "No! We should take our marching orders from the Constitution!" a light suddenly clicked on in my head. That triggered an extremely intensive month-long study of Constitutional law, history, foreign policy, and terrorism.

That brought a tear to my eye. :)

About me, i was surfing on youtube and somehow i just caved in on his first campaign visit to New Hampshire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3As_yipN7k pt. 2, as an example.

He looked 5 years older than today, but he has such an honesty, i fell for that.

[Steve4RP]

I read an article on "The Ron Paul phenomenon" in the commentary section of the OC Register on 10/7/07. I had really lost interest in in our political system over the last couple years due to the disappointing performance of the Republican party.

I have always been a constitutional conservative republican and although I have read through Libertarian ideas knew our system was prejudiced against a third party. I have a renewed interest and hope now that I have discovered RP and the revolution!

[TopJimmy]

Back in 1999, being self-employed for the first time, I wrote to my congressman - Ron Paul - to complain about the RIDICULOUS amount of taxes I had to pay that year. The response that I received addressed my complaint in a way that was respectful and personal, and expressed the Congressman's own dismay at the taxes I was paying - it was no form letter.

I've never gotten a response like that from any other politician. After that, I studied up on the good doctor and his political philosophy, and I've been a huge fan ever since.

Because of redistricting, Dr. Paul is no longer my rep, so now I get the standard form letter responses from a warmongering Republican jackass. :mad: