What The Ron Paul Campaign Means

Ron Paul has, once again, shocked the Republican world. Raising six million dollars in a single day, he has demonstrated a massive appeal at the grassroots level that his competitors for the Republican nomination can only dream about. Though still a wild long shot for the Republican nomination, he's getting more and more of the all-important media coverage leading into Iowa and New Hampshire. Will he pull the upset win in New Hampshire? Probably not, but he can give the other candidates a good scare — and there are enough disaffected social libertarian college students out there that he could beat Fred Thompson.

Once again, the Republican Party has told us what the Left already knew: this country is sick to death of pro-war protofascists. We're tired of having our liberties eroded in the name of security. We're tired of a "conservative" in the White House accusing the Democratic Congress of overspending, then pouring ridiculous amounts of money down the black hole of Iraq.

We should really thank Ron Paul. Ron Paul is contrast dye. He's that stuff doctors inject into a sick person so they can track problems with a CAT scan. His message, and success, that is so contrary to the neo-cons running the Republican Party should serve as a medical scan of the American electorate. He's showing us where voters are sick, damaged, and desperate for a soothing tonic that could and should be provided by the Democratic party.

The tricky part for our side of the aisle is to properly read the scan and prescribe the appropriate medication. The sick American voter wants someone outside of the Washington establishment and not beholden to the same institutions that pay for most of Congress' reelections. If we want to win in November, we have to offer those Ron Paul voters someone that will make them feel good about crossing the aisle and supporting change.

We have to think about curing the illness not just in Democratic voters, but also in persuadable Republican voters and independents if we're going to win. We have to come up with a candidate that is good medicine for both the Democratic malaise of 8 years of exile from the White House and conservative chronic fatigue of Iraq and theocracy. Once we have that prescription, we win.