If you don’t pay close attention to politics or frequent social media sites, chances are you don’t know much about Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Yet in the last quarter of 2007 he raised almost as much money as Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Paul, a Republican doctor from Texas who represents the anti-war, libertarian wing of the party, is a sworn enemy of the party’s neoconservatives. But as his campaign continues to gather steam without the aid of the mainstream media or the political establishment, he is gaining their respect, nonetheless. Newsmax compared him to Barry Goldwater, saying Paul may have changed the Republican Party forever. But how is he doing it?
Simply stated, Ron Paul’s candidacy would not be possible without social media. The mainstream media has ignored his campaign from the start and continues to do so even as he breaks fundraising records by way of “money bombs” organized by his supporters. But by using social news sites like Digg and Reddit, Paul’s supporters have caught a wave of momentum that has carried Paul further than anyone thought possible. Paul is now making YouTube videos, has a blimp urging people to google him, and has bloggers everywhere wondering why the mainstream media continues to discredit his campaign efforts.
Social media represents a whole new way of getting and sharing information and the “Old Media” i.e., MSM, doesn’t like it one bit. The Old Media used to decide who was a real candidate and who was a sideshow, but social media has turned the tables. And even if the Ron Paul Revolution doesn’t succeed at getting Paul into the White House (as it almost certainly won’t) a new channel has been created… by the people; for the people.