Ever had one of those music-snob friends? You know, the kind who only likes bands that nobody’s ever heard of? Well, that’s what I’m like with presidential candidates. I’m a sucker for hopeless outsiders. I swooned for Bill Bradley when he went up against Al Gore. I voted for Ralph Nader before it was cool (1996) — but not when it was (2000). Paul Tsongas’ Kermit-like voice positively set my heart aflutter. So when I heard that maverick congressmember Ron Paul was entering the fray, I got a little excited. And I wasn’t alone. The Texas Republican has become the Web’s favorite dark horse, harnessing the power of the Internet to turn his long-shot candidacy into a powerful rallying cry for disaffected Netizens.
Pick any Web 2.0 phenomenon and you’ll find Paul’s supporters exploiting it. Digg? In just two months, a user-generated campaign video picked up more than 16,000 diggs, making it the sixth-most popular video of 2007. Flickr? A group photo pool offers a profusion of grassroots agitprop. (My favorite: a Star Wars-inspired logo declaring Paul “A New Hope.”) Facebook? 5,589 fans and counting, baby. For 24/7 Ron Paul, junkies can sign up for his Twitter feed or check out the campaign lifecast on Justin.tv. There are 10 Ron Paul Meetup groups within 20 miles of San Francisco alone; the biggest hosts near-daily events for its 432 members. (Sorry I missed the Irving Street Starbucks gathering, dudes.) The candidate has proven such a draw that pageview-starved webmasters publish lolRons — Paul-themed lolcats — as a cheap and easy way to boost their traffic. Paul’s people are so Web-savvy they’ve even achieved the impossible: a MySpace page that doesn’t induce seizures.
All that buzz might be easy to dismiss but for the fact that Paul — unlike most other Web 2.0 phenoms — has managed to convert eyeballs into dollars. On Guy Fawkes Day, he set a record for one-day fundraising by a Republican, pulling in $4.2 million in online contributions. He outdid himself just six weeks later, tapping the Internet for more than $6 million in a single day. Hey, if the presidential run doesn’t work out, maybe Paul could join Al Gore with the VCs on Sand Hill Road.
So the guy is wired. There’s just one problem with the Ron Paul story: Ron Paul. Sure, he seems like a decent guy, forthright and honest. Unfortunately, his paleo-libertarian policies make Ayn Rand look like Mother Teresa. I like the gold standard as much as the next guy, but I’m not sure we’re ready to overturn three decades of reasonably successful economic policy in order to reinstate it. I don’t agree that the minimum wage should be abolished. (Ever work in retail, Ron?) And while I like Paul’s stance on Iraq (let’s get the hell out), I’m not thrilled with his position on the United Nations (let’s get the hell out).
The Ron Paul candidacy is a lot like the first wave of Facebook apps: thrilling as a notion, disappointing as content. If this were a meta-election — an election on how to run an election — I’d happily throw my digg behind Paul. Unfortunately, it’s an election about how to run a country. So, much as I’m drawn to long shots, I’m afraid I’ll have to sit out the Paulapalooza. Kucinich, if you’re still around when this piece runs, call me. I’m available.
Jason Tanz (jptanz@gmail.com) is a senior editor at Wired.
One Candidate Mastered Online Campaigning. Too Bad It Was Ron Paul
Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for a review or commentary on the online apps mentioned in this article (Facebook, Digg, Twitter, MySpace).
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