I've been wanting to write a post about Ron Paul for a long time. Before I speak let us see a brief overview of his beliefs:

• He has never voted to raise taxes.
• He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
• He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
• He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
• He has never taken a government-paid junket.
• He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
• He voted against the Patriot Act.
• He voted against regulating the Internet.
• He voted against the Iraq war.
• He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program. He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
• Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.

Not only he's the most valid candidate in the 2008 US presidential elections, but he also gained extreme popularity among the internet community, yet ignored by the mainstream media. Why is that? Because he is not the typical candidate who would not speak in politician, but instead about real things, directly to people and attacking those topics that are considered uncomfortable.

I mean, he says some crazy stuff after all. When asked "Do you believe we should spread the American ideas (freedom, democracy) throughout the World?" he replied "Yes, but not with gun, not by the use of force. We should set good example and have them emulate us".

I mean, that is really weird, it sounds completely unreasonable, doesn't it?

Obama and other candidates tried to integrate the Web 2.0 ideas in their sites. Paul is different. His campaign is the Web 2.0. Meetup, YouTube, Eventful, Myspace, Facebook, digg and Flickr, just to name a few.

The internet is not the only florid ground for congressman Paul, many people love him, even in television. Who could forget Paul at the Colbert report, or with Jon Stewart at the daily show, or even that Ron Paul is Bill Maher's New Hero?

The good Duncan Riley wrote a piece about the impact of Web 2.0 on Paul's campaign and I will quote the pieces I think best describe the situation.

Paul is also the underdog in the Presidential race, dismissed by the mainstream media and political pundits as nothing more than a kook with no hope at all. And yet if you believe online polls and surveys, Paul will be the next President of the United States. The secret recipe for Paul’s every increasing support base is Web 2.0

Paul shows that by using Web 2.0 tools you are able to deliver your message directly to those who matter also demonstrates the growing irrelevance of the mainstream media, the very same people that continue to ignore the Paul campaign. Web 2.0 may not yet be at the stage where we can replace the mainstream media, but that day is creeping closer and closer…and Paul is helping the cause.

The point of this post is not to ask anyone to support Paul, but to observe how one candidate is using Web 2.0 tools to bypass the tradition methods of communication to deliver his message directly to the people. No matter what your political persuasion, Paul’s success so far is certainly a credit to himself and his team.

Well, I do think that every one should vote for Paul, but again, this is describibng facts and events, you'll make your own mind, I'm sure you'll do the right thing.

For those interested in what Paul stands for, the follow video comes from Google. According to the video, Google employees submitted more questions for Paul than any other candidate who has visited Mountain View before him. Obviously Googlers think Paul might have substance, you can judge for yourself, though the best means possible of course: a Web 2.0 solution in YouTube.