Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul
It is every blogger's dream to attract the largest audience possible. There are some tricks; we could, for instance, put the name of Paris Hilton in every headline.
Howard Mortman, the former producer of "Hardball" and former editor of The Hotline, was among the first to discover the online power of Ron Paulites, the fervent followers of Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas libertarian who is running for president this time as a Republican. These people apparently have nothing else to do but surf the Web planting praise for Ron Paul and righting wrongs against him.
So Mortman, who has also been a standup comedian, wrote a blog item consisting essentially of Ron Paul's name mentioned over and over. The result: his site got swarmed by Paulites.
So in the interest of boosting his online page views, Mortman has done it again. Only this time he's created a Top Ten List of why Ron Paul is not Libertarian enough.
We won't steal the whole list, but it is too good not to share.
No. 10: Ron Paul's passport was issued by the U.S. government.
No. 9: When the National Hurricane Center suggests Ron Paul take shelter, he does.
No. 6: Ron Paul accepts that Pluto is no longer a planet, but still says the other eight are.
No. 3: When the U.S. Postal service raises the price of a stamp, Ron Paul goes along.
No. 2: Ron Paul's Social Security number is not of his choosing.
Of course, Mortman got a whole lot of Ron Paul comments, almost all good-natured. Danny wrote, "That's hilarious. Maybe we Ron Paul supporters can just take a joke better than most." Chris wrote, "HaHa Glad you had fun with your RP spam experiment. What do you think of the recently announced fundraising numbers which put RP at #3 for cash in hand among GOP candidates?"
And Don added, "LOL. I enjoyed your list! Thank you for being civil to a candidate and his supporters."
So these Ron Paul folks sound like OK people. Maybe we'll see if any Ron Paul fans find this item.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo: Rep. Ron Paul; Credit: U.S. Congress
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Hi! I'm the Don you referenced. Yes, this Dr. Paul fan found you as hoped! If you really want to get folks talking, discuss the new stories of Dr. paul supporters' passion. One young couple has asked their wedding guests to donate thier gift money to the Paul campaign instead of giving them wedding gifts and another man has proclaimed that he is selling his ome and using the procedes to promote Dr. Paul. Support and passion like this wont be found with ANY other candidate. Just follow the news and search on "Ron Paul" and you will see many more examples.
Thanks and I hope you have an incredible day!
Posted by: Don | July 10, 2007 at 09:16 AM
LOL, great little story and thanks for the link to Mortman. Funny stuff!
Ron Paul 2008
Posted by: Pete | July 10, 2007 at 09:24 AM
I found this item LOL. I hope some of your readers find RonPaul2008.com and check him out. Thank you for providing an outside look into the Paul campaign!
Posted by: Tim | July 10, 2007 at 09:42 AM
your gimick worked but it will only work once with me
Posted by: fred immendorfer | July 10, 2007 at 10:22 AM
I found it as well! Ron Paul 2008!
Posted by: Mel | July 10, 2007 at 10:35 AM
I'm a liberal democrat, but I will get in bed with libertarians if it will break the stranglehold of narrow interests on DC. Cato Institute was an early and consistent critic of both the Iraq War and the erosion of Consitutional rights in the US. Some of their free-market positions are loopy and for a long time they were staunch global-warming deniers, but their heart's in the right place, or at least they HAVE one.
Posted by: rob | July 10, 2007 at 10:45 AM
Haha... funny piece. Thanks for adding to the attention Ron is getting, America needs him desperately. Ron Paul 2008!!
Posted by: My Balls | July 10, 2007 at 05:29 PM
what's this? even the mighty instapundit climbs on board the ron paul train? RP is the ultimate porkbuster and you know it.
Posted by: Buckwheat | July 10, 2007 at 08:12 PM
You heard it hear first: Ron Paul will carry California on 2/5/2008!!!
Posted by: jesse in san jose | July 10, 2007 at 10:03 PM
Funny stuff. I've actually been wondering for several weeks...When is someone in the media going to get it? When is someone going to realize once they throw up some stuff about Ron Paul, their numbers will go through the roof. Supporters will be flocking towards their site in droves.
For months we've been hearing how Ron Paul rivals Paris Hilton in the internet world, how he's such a highly searched person in google, youtube, etc. Yet no one in the media would talk about him. You finally caught on. Ron Paul articles cause a spike in web traffic.
Posted by: Mani | July 11, 2007 at 08:12 AM
Sure I'll bite. Although I generally check the Time politics section daily anyway. When are we getting a real story about Dr. Paul anyway? I thought you guys conducted a 1 on 1 interview? Is that ever getting published? When is the old media ever going to wake up and recognize this guy as a legit candidate? I realize you hate his politics of individual empowerment but he still deserves coverage over Frudy Jullianne and the bought and paid for Democrat "front runners" who really have no intention of ending our involvement in the middle east and are chomping at the bit to invade Iran for "humanitarian" reasons.
Posted by: Mark | July 11, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Great list - I laughed my butt off. How about a follow-up "Top 10 things not to say at a RP meetup meeting." Lots of material there. I sure hope we can get enough money together so the folks in California have a chance to hear RPs message. When you read some of the stuff he was writing back in the 90s, it just about knocks your socks off. I do know this - guys like him don't come around very often. Your guy Arnold needs to read a few passages. http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/
Posted by: Jack Wagner | July 13, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Grassroots politics is a Beautiful thing. Any rain on Dr. Paul's campaign parade just means more grass will grow!
Posted by: william henry childers | July 14, 2007 at 12:22 AM
The reason we ronbots do this is because we think this candidate could make a difference for the better. Who in the world could get passionate about electing Romney, Rudy, Johnny, Hillary, or Obama?
Posted by: Ward Ciac | July 15, 2007 at 07:03 AM
You were right -- I was looking for Ron Paul info and found you. It's kind of like how pollination works with plants -- the idea of liberty is being sent out there, and it's growing, a sort of Paulination if you will.
Posted by: Jen | September 13, 2007 at 05:34 PM
Just searching around on Ron Paul, as I often do, and stumbled upon this. I think I would like to read the full list. I hope we can all see that Dr. Paul really is the only hope for America. I've never been excited for any candidate ever. I have donated and publicly promoted him and plan to keep doing so.
Dr. Ron Paul cured my Apathy, and I'm not the only one.
Dan
Posted by: Dan | December 03, 2007 at 01:57 PM