With Super Tuesday over and a handful of primaries left, the candidates are all but officially announced in American media. The run-up to the November election leaves little option for American voters looking for something different. Will it come down to the 'lesser evil' vote and, if so, just who is that 'lesser evil' of all evils paraded before us?
In p2p and other online circles one name seems to rise above all others. Ron Paul. This may be because the Paul campaign has relied so heavily on Internet grass roots and because of that the awareness of his campaign and ideals have surely taken hold in cyber land. But is there more to it than that?
With outside voices being some of the loudest for Paul's cause this writer wanted to know why.
I asked Earl Smith in Southwest England why he was watching our election process so intently. He sees promise in Dr. Paul as a new leader for America and feels that:
"2008 is make or break for the whole of civilization as we know it," and further claims,
"The (presidential) election in the US plays a MAJOR role for things to come" for the entire world, not just America.
Another man on the outside who is paying close attention to and is in strong support of Dr. Paul is Robert Young from Midland Ontario, Canada. I asked him why he cared so much about our election:
"I don't have to live in the US to see the importance of a Constitutional Republic. This (coming) US election is important to me because we are seeing a clear fight between freedom and enslavement and it's being seen globally. Voting fraud and mainstream media incompetence is becoming more and more obvious. This election - whether or not Ron Paul wins, is showing the American public that their freedoms are under attack."
Young went on to clarify his reasoning:
"Freedom isn't an 'American' problem, it effects us here in Canada too."
Currently running on a Republican platform, Dr. Paul has been quoted as entertaining the idea of switching to Independent if he doesn't make the GOP primary cut. Will he do it? That remains to be seen, however the voices reaching across our countries borders echo his name.
As Tim Jones, a Toronto producer, put it, "Ron Paul's extraordinary message is engaging more people back into caring about politics."
*The views in this article reflect the views of dozens of people I spoke with across the globe. This article is in no way a personal endorsement of Ron Paul.