"Libertarian" is Sorta Like "Liberal", Right?

Can someone explain to me why young liberals like Ron Paul?

In case you missed it, Paul has been all over various magazines; he’s been on The Daily Show (which he said he never saw before being on it); he has more MySpace friends than any other Republican candidate; he’s more viewed on YouTube than any candidates, even more than Barack Obama. And despite the fact that he trails far behind the Republican frontrunners, he’s managed to raise $5 million for his campaign.

The 72-year-old Texas congressman has gone from having the least name recognition at the beginning of the year to now, being one of the surprise sensations of the 2008 Presidential election.

How has he done it? He’s drawn support from both the (far far) right and the left, especially young people – as evidenced by his MySpace and YouTube success. That has happened because of his vehement opposition to the Iraq war since the beginning.

Over and over again he has begged the Bush administration to “open the Constitution” and to read it. Not only that, he has stated that he would issue a withdrawal from that disaster in an instant. Of course, he won’t support an action against Iran. In fact, Paul is against any international intervention of any kind.

When you also consider that Paul wants to eliminate the federal income tax, has always voted against the Patriot Act and its various renewals and would, in effect, legalize marijuana (among other drugs) if elected, well, we can begin to see why liberal, college-age people might take a liking to this guy.

This is where we begin to get into the murky waters of political ideologies, and just how unaware many people are of the divisions.

He’s against the so-called War on Drugs because he wants to abolish most federal agencies, including the ones that police federal drug law. Aside from withdrawing from the Middle East, Paul would just as soon have us withdraw from the UN, NAFTA and the irrelevant NATO. Paul doesn’t like gun control or abortion – hell he doesn’t even like the Federal Reserve, you know, the central banking agency in the United States. The ones who maintain the fiscal balance of the entire country.

Ron Paul doesn’t like the idea of immigrants, either. He does like free trade in its most unregulated sense, though. Anything that requires regulation on the part of the federal government, you’d probably be safe to bet that Ron Paul doesn’t like it.

Ron Paul is a libertarian – the most conservative of all the conservatives running on the Republican ballot. Why oh why would any remotely liberal person, specifically college students, support a libertarian for President? (Though, on a positive note, he is from the Pittsburgh area.)

I’m convinced that the War in Iraq has so completely skewed our political sense of up and down that we might as well all be diagnosed with vertigo. Liberals like Ron Paul because he is an outspoken critic of the war, missing the point of why he’s so outspoken altogether. College students may very well like him because he stands beside many of their interests, assuming that many students reside in the upper class. Or maybe they just like him because he’d legitimize street drugs.

He follows the Constitution to every single smear of ink, and he rides shotgun with freedom. Who doesn’t like the Constitution and freedom for all? Who likes anarchy?

Okay, he’s not an anarchist. Anyway, when push comes to shove, I imagine that people will come around and get a hold on their senses. Some ardent supporters may not be able to do that, but I trust that this odd left-wing support of Ron Paul will end.

Of course, I also trusted that we wouldn’t be stupid enough to give Bush another four years to prove himself.