The Republican From Texas

The first time I saw him, I was floored. It was an interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Often a forum for presidential candidates, I expected this interview to be much like the others. Boring. Cliche'. The same ol' political diatribe. Make a bunch of generic statements, humor the host a little bit, smile pretty and exit quickly.

But this one was different. He had that certain charm about him. When he spoke, he'd say things that I never thought I'd ever hear. The way he spoke...it was just so...unusual.

I'd heard rumors about the kind of things he'd done in the past. I started reading up on him, trying to discover the truth for myself. I started with wikipedia, the non-stop place for information on the internet. Sure enough, his entire history, everything he'd done before, laid out before me. I kept searching for more. The more I found about him, the more I realized that he was the one.

I was floored. I couldn't believe what I was thinking. Could this really be our President?

I really hope so. I never thought I'd say this, but the answer to our nation's problems could be solved by one man.

A Republican. From Texas.

No, not G-Dub.

Ron Paul

His name is Ron Paul

His name is Ron Paul

His name is Ron Paul
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I'm a registered Democrat. I've been a Democrat for as long as I could remember. If I could've, I would have voted for Dukakis. Of course, I was 10 years old at the time, and my party affiliation was solely based on the my preference of the word "democrat" over "republican". Probably because, in my mind, democrat was a prettier word.

I stayed a Democrat because I supported Bill Clinton. I stayed a Democrat because I identified more with the liberal social view of the Democrat party. I liked the fact that Republicans didn't want to tax me, but I was more concerned with civil rights & foreign policy than I was with the economic views of each party.

Then George came along and everything got messed up.

I'm still a registered Democrat, but I don't affiliate myself with either party. Like so many other Americans, I'm fed up with the bi-partisan system. I'm tired of the bickering, the hostility. I'm tired of "Democrat" & "Republican" meaning "good" & "evil", however you see it. I just want a sensible President, not just one who seems like a nice guy, but one who is willing and capable of restoring honor to the Presidency.

I'm pretty sure I've found that guy.
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I know it's wikipedia, so take it for whatever value you choose, but here's some excerpts regarding Ron Paul's political positions:

Congressman Paul advocates a non-interventionist foreign policy that avoids entangling alliances. He believes that when a war must be fought, it must be fought to protect the citizens, be declared by Congress, planned out, won and then left: "The American public deserves clear goals and a definite exit strategy in Iraq."

Ron Paul believes that the federal government has been neglecting its constitutional responsibility to protect its own borders and concentrating instead on unconstitutionally policing foreign countries.

Paul favors that all immigrants should be treated fairly and equally under the law through a "coherent immigration policy." He has spoken strongly against amnesty for illegal immigrants because it undermines the rule of law and grants pardons to lawbreakers

Paul believes in decreasing the size of federal government. He supports the gradual abolition of the income tax, most Cabinet departments and the Federal Reserve

Paul has spoken against the domestic surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency on American citizens.

Paul was Co-Sponsor of H.R. 2592, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana and is affirmative to the question "Should marijuana be a medical option?"

Congressman Paul adheres to the consistent life ethic, and therefore opposes all forms of killing not done in self-defense. His pro-life views factor into his support for foreign non-interventionism and opposition to capital punishment and abortion.

Paul opposes federal efforts to redefine marriage as something other than a union between one man and one woman. Paul believes that recognizing or legislating marriages should be left to the states.

Ron Paul believes that polluters are aggressors, and should not be granted immunity or otherwise insulated from accountability.

He believes that to stem the Social Security crisis, Congress should cut down on spending, but even with that, the commitment cannot be met. He thinks the only way to meet the commitment to elderly citizens who depend on Social Security is to reassess monetary policies and spending and stop borrowing so much from foreign investors, such as those in China, who hold US treasury bonds.

and so on and so forth...

I don't necessarily agree with all of Ron Paul's views, but we're not going to find a candidate that everyone can agree with in totality. What I do see in Ron Paul is this - a President who will make decisions that are consistent. A President who will stand up against something that he believes is unconstitutional, even if it means it is an unpopular stance. A President that allows state matters to be controlled by the states, and Federal matters to be controlled by the Federal Gov't. A President who has a clear, consistent, and hard-to-argue-against stance on civil freedoms.

You're probably not going to hear as much about Ron Paul as you will about Hillary, Obama, or McCain. They've got the name credentials, they've got the money, and they've got the support of corporations and lobbyists behind them. You may be ready to vote for one of them right now. But I encourage you to dig deeper, to investigate each candidate, and I think, I hope, you'll find that Ron Paul is your man.