Ron Paul

"GOOGLE RON PAUL"

"R[3vol]ution!"

If you've been on the internet for more than a few hours, then chances are you've stumbled upon the name Ron Paul. Paul is a former doctor (a gynecologist, to be exact) turned Republican congressman from Texas, and arguably one of the foremost examples of the libertarian "old guard" of the Republican Party -- anti-tax, anti-spending, anti-welfare and pro-free trade, but also non-interventionist, anti-censorship, anti-surveillance and socially libertarian. Paul's positions are couched in the strictest possible interpretation of the United States Constitution -- if the power to do something is not explicitly mentioned in the text, he and his supporters feel, then the federal government does not have that power. (The merits of this position versus other interpretations are best left for an entirely different article.) Combined with his history as a medical doctor, this has earned him the nickname "Dr. No" among his colleagues, consistently voting against nearly every piece of legislation to come down the pike. It's been said (of both Paul and libertarians in general) that, while nearly everybody agrees with some of his positions, few people agree with all, or even most, of them.

What Paul is probably best known for, on the internet and in the "old media", is his highly devoted and motivated base of young supporters. Many of these supporters first rallied around him during the 2008 election due to his opposition to The War on Terror, his support for drug decriminalization, his Cool Old Guy image, and the perception that he was a "Mr. Smith" in a field of crooked career politicians, and his support base grew to include supporters from both the Tea Party and Occupy movements. He tends not to get much attention from mainstream news outlets (which some of his supporters feel to be an attempt to marginalize him), unless they're talking about how the winner of the Republican primary can appeal to the young people who voted for Paul. On the other hand, he is omnipresent in the Blogosphere, where his supporters can be found in countless comments sections, YouTube videos and message boards, to the point where some of them have been accused of using Astroturf tactics and spambots. Paul's internet status is borderline Memetic Mutation -- even Know Your Meme has acknowledged this.

Ron Paul also has a son, Rand Paul (not named after Ayn Rand, we swear), who is currently a US Senator from Kentucky and shares many of his Dad's political views.

Tropes:

 * Astroturf: His supporters have been accused of this.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Acts like a nice, genial old man, but his attack ads can be downright scathing.
 * Butt Monkey: He hasn't won a single state, and the one caucus that he apparently won had most of it's delegates pledged to Romney.
 * Through recently, he did win the delegate count in Minnesota and Iowa, through Santorum initially won the popular vote.
 * Conspiracy Theorist: Some of his supporters claim that this is because of widespread election fraud committed by the Republican Party establishment.
 * Cool Old Guy: His image among his supporters.
 * Grumpy Old Man: His image among his detractors.
 * Defector From Decadence: Seen as this by many of his supporters, given that he's a Republican who's one of the most vocal opponents of The War on Terror and the post-9/11 surveillance policies.
 * Doomed Moral Victor: His supporters see his 2008 run as this. Ask this about his 2012 run and they may say he's this, or they might tell you he's not 'doomed' yet in the race.
 * Enemy Mine: He supports and seeks to unify both the Tea Party and Occupy Movements(who originate from two political spectrums) against the establishment. So far while he has garnered supporters from both movements, a full-out unification between the two groups hasn't happened because of their political differences and lack of notable interaction between Ron Paul supporters, the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement as of now.
 * As of now, given the lack of attacks on Mitt Romney's campaign by his campaign, and given the possibility that his son Rand Paul might run for VP if Romney wins the nomination it can be inferred that their campaigns have made a temporary alliance to defeat Santorum and Gingrich's campaignsturn on Santorum and Gingrich first, and narrow the race to only him and Romney. But then again, all four of the candidates vowed to stay till the convention.......................
 * As of now, Santorum has dropped out endorsing no one, and Gingrich is all set to drop out given Romney's total victory in all states holding elections on April 24th and in some areas, Ron Paul supporters have been working with Santorum supporters, so this plan seems plausible. However with Santorum and Gingrich out, a Romney victory is certain given the large gap between their delegate counts and how close Romney is to the nomination.
 * Paul has managed to appeal to progressives through his opposition to The War on Terror and his support for drug legalization.
 * Hero with Bad Publicity / Old Media Are Evil: His supporters think that he is this -- the only viable candidate, and yet sidestepped by a biased, elite-controlled media simply because he is against their interests.
 * Hopeless War: This could be said about his Presidential Campaign -- he did not win in 1988 and 2008, he isn't expected to win in 2012, and he himself has said that he'll retire if he doesn't win in 2012. It's been implied by some news sources that he's not looking for victory given the odds in the first place. Of course, don't tell this to his supporters.
 * Recently, it has been said by Jesse Benton, Paul's camaign manager, that he isn't in it to win given the odds against him, but rather, to influence the platform of the GOP. Of course, the reaction of his supporters to this announcement is to be expected.
 * The Cassandra: based on the eerily correct predictions that he has made in the past concerning the current situation with the economy and the international situation, coupled with the ridicule accorded to him because "he doesn't know how things work."
 * The Messiah: Many of his supporters view him as this, and consider him the "last hope for America".
 * Not to mention the Doompaul meme that jokingly claims that if anyone else wins it's World War III and The End of the World as We Know It.
 * Name's the Same: Don't confuse him with transvestite reality TV host Ru Paul.
 * Old Shame: Do not mention "the newsletters" in the presence of Paul or his supporters.
 * Speaking of the Newsletters...
 * Only Sane Man: Many of his supporters, along with many people who are disillusioned with Obama, hate the current Republican party, and in many cases, politicians in general, think that he's the only decent candidate, Republican or period.
 * With the possible exception of Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party nominee.
 * The Rival: Rudy Giuliani liked to single him out in the 2008 election. During the first stages of the 2012 election, Santorum tried this but he moved on, eventually to Romney.
 * Two First Names
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Pretty far on the idealistic side by any measure, rejecting the view that Humans Are Bastards (but most politicians are). This may explain a lot of his appeal to young voters. However it may also cause his more cynical detractors in both parties to view him as a Wide-Eyed Idealist with "no idea how the system works".
 * Yank the Dog's Chain: Sort of. He finally won the popular vote somewhere, in the Virgin Islands to be precise, but most of the delegates had already pledged to Romney.

Ron Paul in fiction and pop culture:
"Cost to buy an ad on every story on a major news site every day until the election: $1,500,000. Cost to pay five college students $20/hour to camp the site 24/7 and post the first few comments the moment a story goes up, giving you the last word in every article and creating an impression of peer consensus: $200,000."
 * He had a cameo appearance in Bruno, where he was portrayed pretty negatively.
 * This Xkcd strip doesn't mention him by name, but it does issue a Take That to some of his more enthusiastic supporters.


 * He also has a zeppelin that he uses to duel with Cory Doctorow, and can evolve into Tron Paul, complete with light cycle.
 * Paul is a favorite punching bag on Something Awful. Whenever they crack jokes about him, the sentence "I'm a doctor," or a close variant, tends to show up as a joke reason for why his political platform should be taken seriously.