College Times

Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Daily Buzz

Media Credit: MCT

On college campuses across the country, the most organized presidential campaign doesn't belong to the candidate with the most money or the most media buzz.

It belongs to Ron Paul.

Paul is one of a string of candidates in recent presidential elections to appeal to voters fed up with the direction of government. He speaks straight. He minces no words about his politics or his ideas. There is little fear of secret ties to special interest groups which will in turn dictate his policy in office.

Paul will not win the Republican presidential nomination. Not even the most maverick political observer would suggest that.

But like H. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader before him, Paul and his followers will have a huge role in determining the direction of the presidency and White House policy for the next four years.

And here's the kicker - it's probably not the direction Paul or his supporters would like to see it go.

With his win in Florida earlier this week, it's becoming nearly group think in political circles that John McCain will take the Republican presidential nomination. And, based on recent polling in most of the Super Tuesday states, it appears Hillary Clinton will pull away next Tuesday to earn the Democratic nomination.

If this holds true, the American public will end up with a choice between one of two Washington insiders for president; this in an election cycle in which we started out with a crop of mostly outsiders.

Not everyone will agree with me, but I think Paul's impact has been - and will continue to be - felt in both the primaries and the general election. It's always easy to speculate where votes would go, but I think it's safe to say that people voting for Paul would vote for neither McCain nor Clinton were the choice of Ron Paul not available.

He is the ultimate political outsider (with experience). They are the ultimate political insiders.

One could argue that this means Ron Paul is now taking away votes from either of those candidates' strongest competitors - Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.

Paul's candidacy has been a strange one, and the devotion of his followers intense. Some of my closest friends in Arizona are Ron Paul supporters - they left the Democratic party specifically to vote for him in the Republican primary.

And when February 5 comes, they will vote for Ron Paul with a sense of pride. They will vote for Ron Paul because he stands most closely for what they believe in; and because they are conscientious people who cannot settle for anything less than what they believe in.

Continued...

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