He's catching on - why now?

MSNBC recently reported on a Ron Paul rally. One of the things Ron Paul said at that rally was:

I’ve been used to delivering a message very similar to what I’m delivering tonight for many, many years and not getting a whole lot of responses. And all of a sudden, there’s a whole generation of people now very excited about hearing about the message of freedom.

He is speaking the absolute truth. People are becoming increasingly enthusiastic, and Paul's message is spreading as a meme. One of my partner's coworkers passed out Ron Paul literature to adults who came trick-or-treating last night. One of my coworkers is getting registered to vote for the first time in a long time - for Paul. While my partner and I better fit the stereotypical "young" demographic of Paul supporters (28 and 25, respectively), both these men are middle-aged. Supporters of Paul vote disproportionately in polls, and not just on the internet - he has won both the text-in polls Fox had after the last two debates. In internet forums, supporters of Paul post disproportionately about him (annoyed managers at RedState, an internet community of conservatives, recently banned members from talking about Paul). People who support him are excited, and they share their excitement!

And yet, Paul has been delivering this message for decades. I've watched videos of him filmed in the 1980s: while he looked younger then, his voice was the same, and he was saying the exact same things. He got 0.5% of the vote when he ran for U.S. President in 1988. In New Hampshire, he's currently polling at 7.4% (PDF of poll results). Why now?

I believe our current political situation has made it obvious, in a way it never was before, why Paul is right. Our federal government is abusing its power by misleading and bullying the American people into accepting an out of control deficit, engaging in foreign wars, and allowing our Constitutional rights to be trampled. State governments, facing the same domestic threats, are conspicuously not engaging in these behaviors, and a few states have even condemned these actions by the federal government. To prevent future abuse, we need a drastically smaller federal government, and a larger role for the States. Republicans and Democrats want to use the federal government to enforce their social values on the rest of the country. Only Paul wants to let the people in each State make these decisions.

Our consumerist society has encouraged people to take on debt they cannot handle: the huge number of foreclosures on sub-prime mortgages is hurting the entire economy. Our consumerist society has encouraged its federal government to take on debt it cannot handle: investors are losing interest in the U.S. market, and it shows in the falling price of the dollar. We're headed in the direction of not being able to finance the deficit - and then which bills do we default on? The Social Security pensions? The soldier's paychecks? It's a scary thought, and one I do not want our country to have to face. Only Paul seems to understand the importance of ending the credit addiction - he has promised that a Paul Presidency would veto every unbalanced budget. His Congressional voting record supports this: he has voted 'no' on every unbalanced budget that has come up during his ten terms in office.

Our country was prosperous and respected throughout the world when Paul ran for President in 1988. We did not seem to need his prescription at that time. Now, we are entering a recession of our own making and our head of state - the person who embodies our national values - is very likely the most hated person in the world. The United States needs medicine. And Ron Paul's prescription is catching on.