One measure of a leader is the people who champion them. This being the case, I’m directing a twinge of annoyance at the public face of Ron Paul, whose small base of support has hijacked the Internet. Well, online polls, Wikipedia, and the blogosphere as measured by Technorati, at any rate.
It’s novel enough that mainstream media are taking notice, but it just reminds me of how Scientologists bought up L. Ron Hubbard’s books to propel them to the top of best-seller lists.
Not being a voter in the US, it’s hard to stir up enough motivation to comment on this beyond the modest recommendation for the following neologism:
- Ron Paul Effect: (n) When your supporters’ tactics to subvert a public forum turn the public against you.
Hat tip to Freakonomics, which has a good slap-down of the political spam that ended up in their inbox.
There’s a reason that Ron Paul’s supporters are enthusiastic in showing their support for him — it’s beyond rare to find a politician who is principled and consistent, and has the courage to speak out against bad ideas (like the war in Iraq, or destroying Constitutional liberties) without checking the latest public opinion polls.
If Ron Paul with a small but growing following can create so much enthusiasm for his candidacy online, one has to wonder why candidates with 10 to 20 times more supporters barely show up. Perhaps their supporters are a lot less dedicated.
You are just scared. Ron paul has support and and gaining momentum. It will be a hard pill to swallow for the pathetic author of this article.
OK, let’s face reality. Ron Paul is probably not going to win the White House in 2008. In a packed election with 20-some candidates, that’s a fair bet. Rudy Giuliani is also probably not going to win the election. But let’s be fair. A strong internet presence, and committed supporters are NOT the same as spammers, or rigged elections. It’s the same thing you see in the Obama campaign, only it got started a lot earlier and has already spread into the mainstream. Its the same thing you saw from Howard Dean in 2004. If a lot of people vote for Paul on the internet polls, that simply shows that he has a well-organized internet voting network. They inform each other that there’s a poll to vote in. They vote. They win. There’s no hijacking going on.
Ron Paul may be unknown to you, but he’s been making his case for constitutional government for 30 years. After 8 years of Bush, that case has begun to resonate. It resonates with a widely disparate group of people, and I worry about how they’ll ever be able to work together in an organized campaign. The future for Ron Paul is anything but assured. But let’s put aside all this nonsense about spam and subversion. Whatever you think about his candidacy and his issues, let’s deal with them forthrightly, not with a bunch of inane name-calling. I think, given the strength (or lack of same) of his party’s other nominees, his candidacy is quite viable. It is way too early to begin counting poll numbers, but it seems a bit over-the-top to simply call his candidacy illegitimate, and then take your marbles home with you. Debate the issues! Stop trying to marginalize the candidate. Whether you like it or not, he isn’t marginal this year.
I am sick of it, and have taken to burying all Ron Paul articles on digg as “spam.” I do not disagree with Ron Paul’s position, but I can’t stand his supporters’ tactics.
Getting tired of Paul’s completely disproportionate web presence is not small minded, anti-american, or censorship.
What Spam tactics?
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[...] The Ron Paul Effect – when spam politics goes wrong [...]
[...] The Ron Paul Effect – when spam politics goes wrong [...]