Ron Paul goes Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi once said of revolutionary change, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at your, then they attack you, then you win." Since Rep. Ron Paul announced his 2008 campaign for President of the U.S., he's been getting the classic Gandhi treatment.

Initial internet support and straw poll victories were basically ignored, as the mainstream media refused to report any of these successes. Like other alternative candidates like Dennis Kucinich, the Democrat from Ohio, Paul was ignored. Poll results often grouped his numbers in the ubiquitous "other" category, if he was included in the poll at all. When a fundraising drive centered on November 5, known in England as Guy Fawkes night for the "gunpowder plot" to blow up Parliament in 1605, brought in over $2 million, the name Ron Paul started to be muttered on TV and talk radio. Money talks and Pauls message was speaking louder than that of John McCain, Mitt Romney, etc. As the establishment media and politicians keep reminding us, we are "at war," so when the story broke that military servicemen and families were donating more to Ron Paul than any other candidate, the tactic changed.

Ron Paul began to get mentioned in the mainstream media, but was ridiculed by the right and left. George Stephanopoulas on This Week interviewed Paul, seeking to know why he was running when he had no chance of winning. Thom Hartmann spoke of Ron Paul on Air America Radio, calling libertarians "Republicans that want to get high" and support prostitution. Sean Hannity poured his smug derision over Paul's criticism of Bush Administration foreign policy while Bill O'Reilly told Paul he was "living in the land of Oz." USA Today covered Paul's questioning of Fed Chairman Bernanke as being a medical doctor talking to a professional economist. Supporters of Paul have increasingly been labeled "kooks" and "nuts." The establishment was having a good laugh at this audacious attempt to break presidential politics out of its convenient framing effects of left vs right, for the troops vs isolationism, debates over minimum wage and waterboarding.

The laughing stopped as Ron Paul had the single biggest fundraising day in presidential politics and his campaign contributions soared to over $17 million. The support that was supposed to be limited to grumpy old men and young people on the internet was starting to compete with Giuliani and Huckabee's $5,000 per plate fundraising dinners. Democrats began to see his anti-war and anti-globalist message steal primary voters over to the Republicans to support Paul. That's when the attacks began.

Tim Russert welcomed Ron Paul on Meet The Press on December 23, not with the normally jovial banter that he has for star candidates like Clinton and Giuliani, but with a scowling series of questions that were clearly meant to keep Paul on the defensive. Glen Beck dedicated his entire day-after-Christmas show to explaining why Republicans should not be duped by Ron Paul's desire to get rid of the IRS and income tax, playing a series of quotes by Paul meant to depict the candidate of being a military softy who can't be trusted with America's safety.

Yet a strange thing is happening. The more the establishment attacks Ron Paul, the more his message gets heard. The problem for the establishment media is that despite the personal insults, ridicule, and condemnation of Paul's views, more and more people jumping on board. Glen Beck's lengthy radio attack on Paul was constantly interrupted by conservative listeners refuting Beck's criticism and voicing support for the Texas congressman. Thom Hartmann, a vocal critic on the left, played Paul's comments about "soft fascism" and "corporatism" when covering the recent CIGNA Insurance decision to deny a patient an organ transplant and saw the subject of the show shift toward the topic of "soft fascism" as Paul had discussed it.

Ron Paul seems to be winning as he is now polling in the top three of Republican primary candidates, but don't expect that the attacks or redicule will stop any time soon. The only certainty at this point is that the ignoring phase is definitely over. Ron Paul and his supporters are challenging not just the other candidates, but the existing political order in America, like a certain Indian independence leader challenged the British Empire in the 1930s and 40s. Gandhi would be proud.