I went out for the December 31st Ron Paul March. Honestly, I was a bit reluctant. Now, I’m a pretty ardent RP supporter, but even still, the media coverage and stereotype of the typical Ron Paul supporter had me worried that I’d meet up with a load of weed-smoking 9/11 conspiracy theorists that had just emerged from their mothers’ basements. (Yes, I’m sure there were a few there.) But there were also completely normal-looking people. People that didn’t appear to find meaning in life through the current fashionable protest. In fact, most people seemed to look around a little uncomfortably, just like me. First time? Yeah… Not really sure how we do this.
We met at Riverside Park, and noticed that the Music City Bowl was just fixing to let out. Most of the crowd would have to walk across the walking bridge, so we decided to just set up shop and let them see us.
There was definitely a mixed response. Aside from the random shouts of support for either UK or FSU, about half the responses were shouts of approval for Ron Paul. The other half could be divided up amongst the other candidates. And one for McCain.
Some of the responses were downright strange:
“Well, I was going to vote for him, but now I won’t.”
“Can’t we just enjoy a football game?”
“You all are a bunch of kooks,” as the fella’s wife takes a handout.
After the bridge, we took a walk around downtown. Much more lively and supportive a response. We even found a few that joined our march. One Kentucky fan left the bar and joined us, telling me, “You guys made my night.” Keep in mind that Kentucky won the Music City Bowl.
Don’t dismiss it, especially based on a stereotype. The most ridiculous thing to do in politics is assume that a candidate’s supporters are what defines him. Instead, read the platform to find out what he says he’ll do, and read his record to find out if he’s a liar.
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