How did you first find out about Ron Paul [Archive] - Ron Paul Forums / Liberty Forest

andrewgreve

07-24-2007, 11:47 PM

Other: I saw his picture hanging in the Mises Institute back in April and said, "Who's that?"

Someone told me he was congressman Ron Paul. My reaction was "Why in the HELL would a largely anarchist institution such as Mises have a picture of someone in the government hanging on its walls?!?!?!?"

Now, I know...

ronpaulhawaii

07-24-2007, 11:48 PM

I read one of his speeches that had been reposted to a usenet newsgroup back in the 1990s. I've been hooked ever since.

"Other" is "it's been 10 years, I don't remember".

Yup, it took some posts to jog my memory

TPG - usenet

He's been a hero ever since

Highmesa

07-24-2007, 11:50 PM

Other as in through Libertarian Party campaign literature.

May also have been through the FFF. I used to subscribe to the little Pamphlets they would send out maybe monthly. I think it was called Freedom Daily - i.e. non-traditional media. You have to remember this was in the days of yore - before the internet - when we all lived in caves and walked 10 miles to work, up hill, through knee deep snow.

d'anconia

07-25-2007, 12:05 AM

Found out about him early on in the "College Libertarians" group on Facebook. It had about 4k members and now the Ron Paul group has some 4x as many members.

jnpg

07-25-2007, 12:09 AM

found him while researching illegal immigration positions of presidential candidates- maybe on a link from numbersusa?

smtwngrl

07-25-2007, 12:15 AM

My husband and I became constitutionalists in 1994, when we started to get more educated. After Ron Paul was elected to Congress in 1996, we started to hear about him, because of his actions in Congress. A few years later, when he and other Representatives (including Tancredo) formed the Liberty Committee, I was on their email alert list.

I've always held Ron Paul in high regard, and I always thought he would be a good presidential candidate--but I didn't know how great!! (And I didn't know, until he entered the race this time, that he had previously run in 1988.)

FreedomLover

07-25-2007, 12:16 AM

Its funny.

i said debates, but in reality I just watched highlights of it on msnbc (which, you guessed it, didnt include RP)

And out of curiosity I went to the msnbc website to look out how they were doing in the online poll there. I voted for Mitt romney in most of the categories(yeah yeah I know)

And when I saw the results, it was a landslide for Ron Paul, and I was floored because I had no idea this guy was even running for president, let alone in the debate.

I looked him up on google, saw his videos on youtube and researched his core-conservative, libertarian views, and i was hooked. I guess you could also say...enlightened. :cool:

cac1963

07-25-2007, 12:20 AM

Reading this article (http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/02.24E.Ron.Paul.htm) from a truthout.com newsfeed right after 9/11. Been keen on Paul ever since.

paulitics

07-25-2007, 12:59 AM

This is all very interesting. Come on, George Steponallofus,..no votes yet for you or your dinosaur media. We need more votes here. What is working. So far, it looks like hands down the internet. But what about word of mouth?

DXDoug

07-25-2007, 01:25 AM

knew about him long time norml.org

LibertyEagle

07-25-2007, 01:46 AM

I've known about Dr. Paul for more than 25 years.

Shawn

07-25-2007, 02:01 AM

When I was a teen watching the Morton Downey jr show.

edit: I found the highlight, here's the clip :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88REf0tjZHo

if you do a search you can find the entire thing

JosephTheLibertarian

07-25-2007, 02:25 AM

I found out about him through the New Jersey Libertarian Party's forum, I was planning out my state legislature campaign.

Hamburglar

07-25-2007, 11:29 AM

Bump for more responses.

xita

07-25-2007, 11:31 AM

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=9008 is how i got hooked.

Chelle

07-25-2007, 11:40 AM

I found out about him on a blog about one of the executive orders that went through (Bush as Supreme Leader). The blog writer was blasting someone that had mentioned Ron Paul as being what America needed. I googled Dr. Paul then and have been hooked ever since.

Joe Knows

07-25-2007, 11:45 AM

What intrigued you enough to find out more? What planted the initial seed?

My answer. Freedom to fascism. The movie opened up my mind, then the debates closed me.

I learned about Dr. Paul when he was running for President in 1988. I think you should have had an option on the poll for that.

paulitics

07-25-2007, 12:02 PM

I learned about Dr. Paul when he was running for President in 1988. I think you should have had an option on the poll for that.

This poll is asking how. What was the source. Did you first find out through a newspaper, a friend or associate, the infamous 1988 Morton Downey Jr show? I should have put an option for "I don't remember" The majority of those who are choosing other are saying they heard of him through the libertarian party. But, the information had to have got to you somehow...through some media, word of mouth, etc..unless Dr Paul has telepathic powers more powerful than yoda.

Roxi

07-25-2007, 12:28 PM

i came home from work and jay said, theres this guy running for president that wants to abolish the IRS and even if i dont agree with anything else he says thats enough for me to vote for him, AND hes a republican... I said PFFFFFFT riiiiiight im sure a republican from texas will be the best choice

then i looked at his myspace, and went through and looked at the pages on his friends list and saw that his family was very closely connected and they all seemed like genuinely NICE people, then i saw freedom to facism and the debate clips....Then i was hooked and registered to vote for the first time in my life

mdh

07-25-2007, 12:30 PM

then i saw freedom to facism and the debate clips....Then i was hooked and registered to vote for the first time in my life

zomgz! You saw AFTF and it turned you ON?! :eek:

:D :D :D :D :D :D

empirenine

07-25-2007, 12:31 PM

DoubleViking.com did an article about him (HERE (http://doubleviking.com/50-reasons-why-ron-paul-is-frickin-awesome-5409-p.html)) and I wanted to know more at that point.

Craig_R

07-25-2007, 12:41 PM

I saw loose change and was floored, didnt even know wtc 7 went down that day. Fitted myself for a tin foil hat , did reasearch found out about him on prisonplanet.com.

to clarify- I dont believe either side of the 9-11 debate ;)
I have formed my own opinions on what went down and dont usually share them.

Its all thanks to bush really, before him I didnt care about politics at all.

DavyDuke17

07-25-2007, 12:46 PM

The first debate was the first time I had ever heard of him and by the end of the night I knew who I was voting for.

Paulitician

07-25-2007, 01:03 PM

Word of mouth. I first heard friends talking about him, heard he was popular on YouTube. So I started looking up some videos 3 months ago and I was surprised there's a candidate actually talking about issues and their causes in a straight-forward, honest manner. Add to that the fact that he has a solid, consistent voting record for 20+ years, and that he stands for core conservative/constitutional and libertarian princples... I've been hooked ever since.

Syren123

07-25-2007, 02:19 PM

Back in 2002 or so, I had CSPAN on while I was doing other things around the house (you know the network MSM is utterly useless if CSPAN is the best thing on) sort of half listening as I went in and out of the room. A Congressman was speaking in the House and something about it caught my attention - he was talking out the Middle East, the history of western presence there and our involvement there so I sat down and watched.

I thought to myself, "they're letting this man speak on the House floor? He's telling the TRUTH and is actually conveying accurate information?! What's going on here?!" I was waiting for the hook to come out and pull him off stage. I listened to the whole thing then looked him up on house.gov and saw his prolific writings which I read over the next weeks.

Since that day I have been a HUGE Ron Paul fan and told anyone who would listen about him. I used to call his DC office and tell his staffers I approved of his vote on this or that. The day after the debate where Rudy displayed his ignorance in front of the nation I called Dr Paul's DC office and told the staffer I thought he was awesome and did great no matter what the skulls were saying to the contrary. The staffer said "yeah, he's a great guy. Definitely the best boss I've ever had."

I'm so glad he's getting the national attention he deserves.

cottonmouth

07-25-2007, 02:25 PM

For goodness sake! He ran in the primary election for US Senator in 1984. I make it my business to learn about the candidates. Been following his career for 24 years.

guntherg16

07-25-2007, 02:32 PM

I first heard about Ron Paul in the New American magazine.

http://www.jbs.org/thenewamerican

freelance

07-25-2007, 02:33 PM

Other--Gold bug sites--Kitco, GATA, etc.

JaylieWoW

07-25-2007, 02:35 PM

I voted other though I might should have said LewRockwell.

The reason I voted other though is because even though the first article I read by him was on LewRockwell (A Republic, If You Can Keep It), I'd been thinking many of the things he's said over the years based on my experiences as a step-mother and involvement in "father's rights" groups. What especially caught my attention was his stance on entitlements, which is something I've been against for a very long time.

lovesladyliberty

07-25-2007, 02:44 PM

My husband.

A month ago, I could have cared less about politics. I was an econ major in college and knew next to nothing about anything. 4 years and nothing. Sad, but true. Well, that's not quite accurate. I have a prettyy firm grasp of how incentives work to motivate people and why the free market is so important.

Then, about a year ago, we attened the Libertarian Convention, and a table was displaying CD's of Ron Paul's stuff and I vaguely remember my husband saying how much he liked him. And I said, "But he's a Republican and you're a Libertarian." And that was it. Still nothing.

Then the first debate came on the TV and my husband said, "I want to watch this." Whatever, I thought. I was busy doing something else (I can't remember what). But, something, somewhere finally penetrated because I remember thinking, "Wow, this guy really says all of the things I have been thinking."

I was hooked. Now I am more of a supporter than my husband and have been calling Iowans and writing letters and making signs.

paulitics

07-25-2007, 07:36 PM

bump

Salamando

07-25-2007, 07:52 PM

The first time he was on Bill Maher's show

MozoVote

07-25-2007, 07:54 PM

Heard about him on www.thehousingbubbleblog.com - figured any politician that can understand the lies in our reported inflation numbers, and how the debt bomb is swallowing up America, deserves a look.

bah

07-25-2007, 08:04 PM

I think I found out about Ron Paul on Digg.

Richie

07-25-2007, 08:15 PM

For me, it was word of mouth. My Dad introduced me to Dr. Paul. Kinda cool. Years ago, I reactivated his political spirit by introducing libertarianism (lower case L). He quit the Republican party and became an independent. I was feeling politically burnt out, he introduces me to Dr. Paul, and I couldn't be more excited!

RPatTheBeach

07-25-2007, 08:18 PM

I put "word of mouth" ... but it was really "word of shirt". One of my coworkers has been frequently sporting a "Who is Ron Paul?" t-shirt.. so I bought some of what he was selling and jokingly said "So, who is Ron Paul?" He elaborated, the rest is history. A few hundred dollars in donations to the campaign, joined the local meetup group, and am headed to the Georgetown Straw Poll this Saturday to let the presence be known!

Syren123

07-25-2007, 08:19 PM

Other--Gold bug sites--Kitco, GATA, etc.

It's thanks to Ron Paul that I got interested in monetary policy/economics and gold. I never understood it nor saw the need and his education changed all that.

Paulitician

07-25-2007, 09:03 PM

The first time he was on Bill Maher's show
Ah! Yes, I said word of mouth earlier but Bill Maher's show was the first time I ever saw him. Ron was explaining why we didn't need a civil war. I didn't know he was running for president until a little later though. I guess I wasn't really paying attention...

ksuguy

07-25-2007, 09:35 PM

I've known about him for years. Probably first read about him online in something L. Neil Smith wrote.

bygone

07-25-2007, 11:03 PM

Good poll, I heard from the debates.

Marceline88

07-25-2007, 11:13 PM

I was reading Rosie O'Donnell's blog (be kind, I happen to like loud large lesbians that make me laugh)......after the second debate she and Joy mentioned him on the View, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6SfmXigHpE

Later that day on Rosie's blog in her Q&A somebody asked if she agreed with him. She simply answered, I do.

I thought, who the heck is Ron Paul? I googled him and proceeded to become obsessed. So no matter what you think of Rosie, she did something very good for me that day. One day I think I would NEVER vote for a Republican in my life, the next day I understand what a real conservative constitutionalist republican looks like, sounds like and acts like.....and now there is not another soul on the planet that I would vote for as President in 2008, except Dr. Ron Paul.

AnotherAmerican

07-26-2007, 01:27 AM

I first encountered Dr. Paul in his 1988 campaign. It was my first election, and with Bush v. Dukakis headlining, I read the voting book and decided I liked the Libertarian candidate best. ;)

I first found out about this current campaign from the UROC (United Republicans of California) endorsement back in May.

As another poster wrote:

One day I think I would NEVER vote for a Republican in my life, the next day I understand what a real conservative constitutionalist republican looks like, sounds like and acts like.....and now there is not another soul on the planet that I would vote for as President in 2008, except Dr. Ron Paul.

You said it. Ron Paul really is all that and a bag of chips, isn't he?