Published in the Davenport, Iowa River Cities Reader Newspaper:

Ron Paul Will Re-Legalize the Constitution
Written by Todd McGreevy
Wednesday, 19 December 2007


Ron Paul, the 10-term Republican congressman from Texas, is running for president, and his candidacy warrants much more exposure than the mainstream media has afforded the voting public. Dr. Paul, an OB/GYN and former Air Force flight surgeon, has a sterling conservative, limited-government voting record over 20 years. The Wall Street Journal wrote last week, "As the GOP front-runners address crowds of dispirited primary voters, Mr. Paul has been tearing across the country, leaving a trail of passionate devotees in his wake."

Last month supporters donated more than $4 million to Ron Paul's campaign in one 24- hour period, a record for any GOP candidate ever. On December 16, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, more than 50,000 supporters donated more than $6 million in one day. His campaign has received more donations from active military personnel than any other candidate. He is the only GOP candidate to increase campaign cash every quarter and has raised more in the fourth quarter than any so called "front-runner." All of this without one dollar from PACs or corporate interests - all from individual voters.

His is the most-searched-for name among presidential contenders on Google, more than Hillary or Obama. He has more than 63,000 video clips on YouTube, four times as many as Hillary. He has more than 40,000 subscribers and more than 6.4 million channel views. Romney is the next most popular GOP candidate with 3,500 subscribers and 900,000 channel views. Remember the song lyric "The revolution will not be televised"? Well, maybe not on broadcast television, but the Internet and YouTube are to grassroots politics what the Gutenberg press was to 16th Century church reformists.

So if Ron Paul is so popular, why is he not leading in the polls, and why is he not getting more media coverage as the grassroots phenomenon that he is? Because his message undermines the very establishment that supports traditional mass media. This status quo, gorging at the trough of public subsidies, quietly enjoying the benefits of big government, costly wars, and an unconstitutional central banking monetary system would much rather not have to contend with the likes of Dr. Ron Paul. That's why the same Wall Street Journal editorial that begrudgingly lauds his success as "holding lessons for leading Republican candidates" prefaces this with: "Mr. Paul isn't going to be president."

Ron Paul has stated that he has his own faults but his campaign's message is flawless, and he's right. Ron Paul's message is that American government has lost its way entirely. It has encumbered future generations with trillions in debt to support an interventionist foreign policy resulting in illegal, unconstitutional foreign wars while simultaneously unduly empowering the executive branch and eroding our civil liberties with such unconstitutional laws as the PATRIOT Act and the Military Commissions Act. Ron Paul is the only GOP candidate running on peace as a platform, citing George W's kinder, gentler non-nation-building promises. Much to the dismay of pundits and his fellow candidates, Ron Paul repeatedly refers back to the Constitution as the fountainhead for solutions to America's chronic big-government problems. He reminds us that the Department of Education, the IRS, the CIA, NAFTA, and the Federal Reserve are all unconstitutional. To date no one has refuted any of these factual statements. The results of these unconstitutional institutions can no longer be called successful or effective.

Ron Paul reminds us that the Constitution's intent was to restrain the role of government in our personal lives, not the opposite. Ron Paul reminds us that America can spread the merits of democracy throughout the world by practicing what it preaches first here at home - rather than through unconstitutional foreign aid and occupational wars. Ron Paul's formula for success consists of a non-interventionist foreign policy, cutting spending and the size of the government back to what it was 10 years ago, and thus having no need for the unconstitutional IRS.

And Ron Paul is not just staying on-topic and nailing down his talking points. He walks the walk and has a 20-year voting record to prove it. He has never voted to raise taxes, has never voted for an unbalanced budget, has never voted to raise congressional pay, has never taken a government-paid junket, has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch, has never voted to regulate the Internet, and does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program. He voted against the PATRIOT Act and NAFTA and any legislation that robbed the Social Security fund.

Lobbyists avoid Ron Paul. They know that he won't forsake his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution in exchange for special favors or campaign cash. Ron Paul is the real deal. He doesn't skirt issues, or spin answers, and he's a wealth of knowledge on every single topic that is thrown at him ... when the media takes the time to actually ask him questions, that is.

Do yourself and America's next generations a favor, and get to know Ron Paul before the January 3 caucuses. Is there a downside to re-legalizing the Constitution?

Visit http://www.freeme.tv or http://www.youtube.com/user/RonPaul2008dotcom for online video clips and more info on Ron Paul.

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