Ron Paul is a candidate for President of the United States. His campaign has adopted this question on their web site and in other printed media. Those of us in the know, that is, anyone who has ever read Atlas Shrugged, recognize this as an homage to Ayn Rand‘s classic novel and the character she created (who is John Galt?) who saves the world. For anyone else, it is a simple interrogatory aimed at those millions of Americans who have not yet had the pleasure of being introduced to this man.
I have been familiar with Dr. Paul for several years now, and I even had the chance to meet him at the 2003 Freedom Summit. He is an inspiring speaker. Not because he is particularly eloquent (although he can hold his own with any of the candidates currently running), but because his ideas are so clear and appealing, untainted by the rhetoric of political campaigns. His campaign’s tagline is “Hope for America” and he truly does represent that, but not by himself as a person, or as a cog in the political machine, but solely through the ideas in which he traffics.
Many of his critics contend that he is unrealistic, that his ideas are, at best, impractical, and at worst, impossible. As far as I am concerned, ideas have to be big to be worthwhile. And if they are difficult to implement, that probably means they are even more valuable. Robert Kennedy was once lauded for his speech in which he paraphrased George Bernard Shaw and said:
Why should Dr. Paul be disparaged for dreaming and asking why not? Who is Ron Paul? Ron Paul is just a man, but he is a man with enough courage to have big ideas and to ask why not? His ideas truly do represent hope for America today. We should all give the man a chance to be heard.