Liberty Maven

Ron Paul has lead a political life of principled integrity and as Jon Stewart noted last year when Paul appeared on his show, “Americans don’t usually go for that.”

Jon Stewart said it as a joke, but he couldn’t be more correct. Ron Paul collected over a million votes in the primaries and changed a lot of minds about foreign policy and freedom. His reach was always limited though. The media was never going to give him equal time or fair treatment. They labeled him a ‘kook’ or an ‘extremist’ almost at every turn. This fostered the notion in many that he was an unelectable distraction from the real candidates. Looking back this is one of the saddest truths about Paul’s campaign for the presidency.

Most people just aren’t ready for the truth and when they hear it they run to the hills, look back and call the truth teller names as a diversionary tactic to make themselves feel better. Some though are ready, and these are the people who still make up Ron Paul’s faction of supporters. They hear, “Abolish the Fed” and keep their eyes open. They hear, “Stop the NAU”, and think “damn right.” They hear, “We can have a 0% income tax” and cheer loudly in agreement. Everyone else shuns this “crazy” talk and then they just stop listening altogether, eyes closed tight and mind closed tighter. How do we pry open these eyes and minds?

The answer: Bob Barr.

Don’t laugh. As the Libertarian nominee he is uniquely positioned to do this. He can take Ron Paul’s rhetoric and soften it for stubborn ears. He can be the political voice of liberty whereas Ron Paul can remain the principled voice of liberty. He is the perfect candidate for this task because he used to be one of them.

While in Congress he voted along with the other politicians for the Iraq war authorization. He voted for the Patriot Act. He was a very popular neo-conservative soldier. There is no better person to show fence sitting libertarian minded conservatives the road to liberty. After all, he has traveled down that road himself. He is a recovering Republican. He can lead the 12 step program for other recovering Republicans. When those reforming GOPers are finished with the steps they just might wake up in the Libertarian Party embracing its principles. Alternatively, they may help return the Republican Party back to it’s own “Old Right” libertarian roots.

Once the initial softening has taken place their newly opened eyes and minds will be more receptive to a candidate like Ron Paul.

In either case, the liberty message wins in the end. That is what matters most. No, Bob Barr is not Ron Paul, and that is a good thing. It is precisely this difference that can recruit new members over to team liberty.

Once on the team, I suspect Manager Ron Paul won’t ever be ignored by them again.