Ron Paul could save the GOP

In the interest of full disclosure I'd first like to state that I am a socialist (not State socialist mind you, but that's a different blog post entirely). Although I agree with Ron Paul on a few issues, namely his stance on American militarism, we part ways on social issues. His opposition to Roe v. Wade, his naive faith in Capitalism, his resistance to Universal Health Care and his inflexible adoration of Ronald Reagan has turned my stomach on more than one occasion.

But if I were Republican I'd hoist Ron Paul on my shoulders and herald him as the chosen one. That's because Ron Paul has accomplished something that few politicians, let alone REPUBLICANS, have managed - appealing to the young. At this critical point Bush has uncontroversially decimated the G.O.P. No amount of burnt offerings to Yahweh or Krishna or the Wizard of Oz will resurrect the party from the premature death this administration has wrought.

At the turn of the century, liberals, the past-their-prime Dems, lumbered along the political landscape like a bevy of Clintonoid zombies. That's when a folksy Marlboro Man stole a couple of elections resulting in a ghoulish national nightmare. We're living through the unremarkable denouement of that frightening tale: the death of our privacy, $9 trillion dollar deficit (I don't even know how many zeros that is) and self-authorized torture. Suddenly, the Democrats almost look attractive by comparison. Well, almost.

Enter Ron Paul with a glorious on-stage fencing match with Rudy Guillani about 9/11 and blowback, which most likely caused a collective gasp from the FOX News home audience. It was real truth followed by real anger countered with more real truth. Perhaps the first and only time FOX aired anything resembling "reality" T.V.

This launched an internet firestorm for Paul, giving every major television network ample opportunity to ignore him. He chugged along, winning over progressives and conservatives alike with his knowledge of "hidden" American history and a sound bite-ready delivery. Even those stealing wholesale from Republican talking points couldn't enunciate their position better. Bill Maher invited the Congressman on his show twice going so far as to call Ron Paul his "hero". The New York Times wrote a glowing retrospective of Paul's political career and he even appeared on the G4 tech show, Attack of the Show, to speak about Net Neutrality.

Why, I believe, Ron Paul has risen above the level of just another politician into a rallying cry is his unique third way. While Democrats want to take taxes and spend them on social programs like education and health care and Republicans want to pump more funds into an ever expanding military and police state Paul diverges from the two positions completely and calls for less spending, less government and less infringement upon personal liberty, a stance some might call conservative. If given a chance to submit his views into the marketplace of ideas the Republicans just might find themselves with a large number of converts.