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Friday, October 19, 2007

Ron Paul : Got me thinking

Here is my story. As an active young blogger I follow politics but recently
few events hapened that got me really interested about the Presidential Race.
One of my good friends recently quit is Job and traveled cross country from
Los Angeles to New Hampshire to Support and participate in the Ron Paul campaign.
Crazy and foolish act I thought.

I later talked to my friend and he provided his reasoning.I was more surprised
that he was not alone and more of his friends had joined him in the campaign.

This got me thinking.Who is Ron Paul? and what is this all about.
So as usual I followed main stream media like CNN,FOX,MSNBC etc and it looks like this guy does not have a chance. But Wait lets check out the internet and see if this
story has a buzz and here you some of the numbers from different sites.

You Tube (Around 41,500 results)
Digg ( Has more than 10,000 diggs for some posts)
Technorati Ron Paul is one of the most searched for items

Google Trends
http://www.google.com/trends?q=ron+paul

Notice I am not comparing Ron Paul to other candidates. That is not the point
I am making. The point is that there seems to be more buzz,interest about him
on the internet than on traditional media.

I discussed this with my friends and there were different reasonings provided.

Some of the common one's

A media conspiracy.
A political conspiracy.
He has a bunch of bloggers working for him.
Young people like him.
People Hate Him.

As a practical personal I debated about this. One thing that occurred through this
process is that it got me more interested in the presidential race.

It also got me thinking more about traditional media versus the internet.
People kept mentioning that it is easier to game the system on the internet
than on traditional media channels.

I cannot concur to this idea simply based on the fact that the internet is all about
me and you. The people. How can we say that few people know better than the masses
on the internet. The internet also lends itself to self regulation.

Still unanswered questions. Do comment on this topic.
I would love to hear your reactions and wouldn't mind if you hate this piece

I have always received passionate responses on this topic.

Signing Off
Ravi



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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

They hate Ron Paul because the same companies that are profiting off this war are running the media.

Xcalybur said...

I think in a lot of ways you are right. The MSM (Main Stream Media) is ignoring Ron Paul because they are used to doing that to all non-top-tier candidates for the last 20-30 years. They pander to what they think the public wants to see. Unfortunetely, this stifles innovation and educated thinking. The example of this is Ron Paul. He has the best ideas of any candidate, he is the most principled politician there has ever been, and he is the only one that can beat Hillary. The MSM is catching on quickly however. They see that Ron Paul has anywhere between 4-10 times the numbers of the next closest candidate on either side of the isle. This grassroots movement cannot be ignored by the MSM. And of course, what woke them up? Money! Ron Paul pulled in over 5.2 Million in the 3rd Quarter. That sure does tell you a lot about the internet pulling through for Ron Paul and definetely shows what the MSM is all about. But who would have expected anything less?♠

Walter said...

BTW I'm in New Hampshire too- kudos to your friend for joining me here to support Ron Paul!

The bottom line with Paul is this- if you look at videos of him from 20 years ago when he ran as a libertarian candidate for president and compare videos of him today, you will see that he is saying the exact same thing- Freedom. Liberty. Justice for all.

The other popular candidates are all a collection of calculated statements- they are attorneys and career politicians. Ron Paul is a doctor. He sticks to his beliefs even in the face of adversity- check him out facing down "values voters" at a recent "values voter conference" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHNiUdzAEk

And the appeal to the average Joe? Just watch this cartoon short someone created about Ron Paul. I think it pretty much hits the nail on the head about what the appeal is: http://www.joecorrao.com//RonPaul/RP_onthecampaigntrail01.html

Ravi- the answer to your mystery is Ron Paul's message- and the proof I've seen is that the people I've shared his message with, who took the time to truly understand and research Ron Paul, have now gotten on board with me. I hope you will too!

Ron Paul Revolution!

Ravinder Dharmapuram said...

Thanks for the comments,I agree that Ron Pauls voting record is great and he has a good message. The nice thing is that it looks like finally MSM is noticing the power of the internet.
Everyone has a voice.

Ofer Nave said...

Ravi - I'm honored that my migration inspired you to get involved! The best thing you can do in the next ten days is spread the word about this:

http://thisnovember5th.com/

Walter - Just moved to Portsmouth. Where you at, and do you use ronpaul.meetup.com?