Zeal For Truth

*Note* I am studying for my medical boards (which I take in six days) so this will be a quick and general rundown of my thoughts between studying tentorial herniations and allergic polyarteritis nodosa. Don’t ask me, I still don’t know.

Ask somebody, anybody, who Ron Paul is, and you’ll likely get one of two answers: One, of course, being most commonly “who?”, which is not surprising coming from a country where only one in seven Americans aged 18-24 can find Iraq on a map. The second most popular, being of course “that guy running in the wrong party.” Daily show host Jon Stewart asked it, and after the second GOP debate, it was the first question asked. So what, right? Not that he really has much a chance, according to the most recent Gallup polls. It’s a moot point.

I guess then, that is the point.

Think back to the 2000 election. By a narrow margin, Republican George W. Bush nudges out Democrat Al Gore by less than a 1% margin in the popular vote. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader takes 2.73%, and hatred of party-line Democrats everywhere. The cry of “Ralph Nader stole the election from Gore” echoed down the the left-hand side of the streets of New England and California, while Kleenex stock skyrocketed. Their biggest pre-election fear was realized…a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush. Wasn’t that how it went? (Politics is perception, isn’t that how is goes?)

Or was it that there were issues out there that were big enough to swing some people away. Or perhaps, just maybe, some Americans discovered they didn’t like to be pigeon-holed into left/right political box.

According to this article, we could have a similar “problem” on our hands, only this time it is within a party itself.

The other important thing to note is that Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate to oppose the war. This is critical because it means that the anti-war Republican vote will almost exclusively be on his side. And the pro-war vote would be split among all the other candidates..

While this is more than likely a far stretch, there is no doubt that Ron Paul and his campaign has given the Good Ole Boy Republican Club its fair share of eye twitches and sweaty jock itch, especially considering his views on the Iraq Conflict War. Not to mention many anti-war moderates/independents, tired of the two-party taffy pull, might find his brand of realism and staunch opposition appealing. Recent polls indicate that opposition to the war is at about 67%. Of the 169 million registered voters, only 43% are registered Democrats, making this well beyond a Democrat-only issue. Not to mention that the Iraq War may be big enough to cause a pull on these “fringe” voters, especially for those living in states not requiring registration to vote in primaries.

So let us pretend that Ron Paul manages to throw a monkey wrench into the giant GOP machine, not by winning, but by swinging some votes to upset the would-of-should-of-been future Mr. Forerunner, yielding the crown to a lesser-likely hero. Will the streets of Anytown, USA run red with pachyderm tears while cries of “how did we let this happen to us” echo across Middle America? Or will we, as Americans, finally realize that we can’t have our cake and eat it too, for we demand what we aren’t willing to take.

We demand a difference and change in each election, but question any deviation from the standard. We occasionally give 3rd parties a glancing nod, then frustratingly cast them into the “wasted vote” pile as we reluctantly choose a lesser evil. When these 3rd party candidates run under that larger umbrella, they are immediately chastised and questioned about their sincerity of perceived polarization. “You’re different” they cry, “perhaps you made a mistake and meant to be over there, playing on their team?!” Why must the difference you crave fit into that box you’ve built? Perhaps, America, just perhaps, you’ll find that choice is more important than the allegiance and alignment.

So, despite the opinions of many who enjoy comparing the likelihood of election with political importance (like our very own Darius. BTW, welcome!), it may be a little too soon to start picking out your proverbial wallpaper with your bedfellow top-runner.

America may not be done surprising you.