Ron Paul A Contender?

Here in Tucson it is absolutely amazing how many Ron Paul signs appear everywhere you go. Many of them are home-made. You literally cannot go a mile without seeing a Ron Paul sign. This is a big, spread-out city, and I've happened to drive around a lot of it in the past week; down to the southeast corner of the city limits, out to the northwest side, and on a number of routes through midtown. Pro-Ron Paul signs have appeared very frequently everywhere I look. So obviously there is a passionate and well-organized campaign here in Tucson, and I can't help but think that the same may be true throughout Arizona.

This is, after all, the home of Goldwater, back when conservatives actually were conservative, the mantle of true conservatism that Ron Paul is now the only Republican still holding on to: small government, no income tax, anti-interventionism, upholding the Constitution, and so on.

This phenomenon may be building in other states. People here in the West have a different attitude than the rest of the country, it seems to me. We're less likely to go for the most powerful candidate and more likely to go for the scrappy underdog. My dream is that he builds a lot of momentum, but continues to be rejected by the Republican establishment, forms an independent party, and splits the conservative vote like Ross Perot in '92.

Actually, having a viable third (and fourth) party would be about the best thing that could happen in this country. The bipartisan breakdown doesn't fit. There are anti-authoritarian counterparts to both Democrats and Republicans: the Progressives (Green Party) and Libertarians. For whatever reason, they never seem to gain any traction; democracy has suffered as a result. With multiple parties, politicians might have to actually work to build a consensus, instead of repeatedly bludgeoning the other party to gain a slight advantage. Fluctuations in strength would be more common, requiring politicians to be more in touch with their constituents if they want to retain power.

And, let's face it, were someone like Paul to become president, it might be the best thing for America. All the wasted, bloated excess of the government could be cut way: take the War on Drugs for instance (please).