Ron Paul's fervent following

Ian Winbrock, a 19-year-old Santa Rosa Junior College student, says he was as turned off and tuned out of American politics as anyone of his generation.

Until Ron Paul, a 72-year-old Republican congressman from Texas, came along, calling for an end to foreign wars, income taxes, overspending and the post-9/11 erosion of civil liberties.

"He is an alternative to the mainstream message," said Winbrock, a sociology major who started the Ron Paul for President 2008 club at SRJC.

Now Winbrock is an avid foot soldier in the "Ron Paul Revolution," and a cheerleader for political activism that had left him, like many Americans under age 30, cold.

"Citizens have to be involved in government," Winbrock said. "The second you skip out it's not a democracy any more."

Paul, a Libertarian wedded to limited government and free-market principles, made campaign waves last fall when he raised more than $5 million in three months, mostly via the Internet.

Running a low-budget, volunteer-driven campaign, Paul still has more than $5 million cash on hand, more than both poll front-runner John McCain and Mike Huckabee combined.

But aside from his thousands of newfound and fervent supporters, who organized mostly on the Internet, Paul has yet to register more than a blip on the political radar. His best showing is second in the Nevada primary, and he is running fifth and last among Republican candidates in national and California polls.

That, said Holly Clearman of San Marino, state coordinator of the Ron Paul 2008 campaign, is because the polls "go after people who voted in the last election and have a land line (telephone)."

College students have neither, she said.

"I'm telling you this is a young people thing," Clearman said. "They tend to get it right away."

The Paul revolution's backbone is Meetup.com, a social networking site where groups can organize and communicate for free. There are 92,044 people signed up in 1,570 Ron Paul meetups in 1,171 cities, including Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Petaluma, the site says.

"I never thought I'd volunteer for a candidate," said Ed D'Emidio, 18, of Windsor, a co-founder of Santa Rosa Ron Paul Meetup, which lists 127 members. "I never dreamed it would be a Republican."

But the Texan's "Libertarian conservatism" won him over, D'Emidio said. He favors Paul's ideas for cutting overseas military aid and closing foreign military bases, and for overhauling the U.S. monetary system by creating a "commodity-based currency" to compete with -- and ultimately replace -- bills issued by the Federal Reserve.

D'Emidio, a charter high school graduate who's interested in hydrogen energy, said he found in Paul, despite their half-century age difference, "someone I could directly relate to."

"I don't identify with age anymore," he said.

In stressful times like these, with an unpopular war and threat of economic recession, Libertarianism's message appeals to some Americans, said David McCuan, a Sonoma State University political science professor.

But he's unsympathetic to Paul's young devotees.

"They live at home with their moms, they rant on the Internet. This could fit right into 'Wayne's World,' " McCuan said.

Libertarianism's flaw, he said, is "an abiding belief in the free market to cure all our ills." Ideas like returning U.S. currency to the gold standard are 100 years out of date, he said.

"An unregulated market would be an unmitigated disaster," McCuan said.

But Paul's appeal is not limited to those under 30.

Meg Ellis of Petaluma, a longtime independent voter, switched to Republican so she could vote for Paul, and started a Petaluma Meetup, now with six members.

"He's so straightforward, you just don't feel the guy is pulling wool over your eyes," said Ellis, a 50-something corporate dynamics consultant.

She likes the idea of lower taxes and spending, repealing the Patriot Act and, even though she doesn't own a gun, approves of Paul's support for the right to bear arms.

A regular voter, Ellis said she was seldom enthusiastic about the process. "I find I am constantly presented with two choices I don't like, and I vote for the lesser of two evils."

Some Paul partisans bristle at the suggestion their man is a long shot -- or no shot -- with single-digit support in the latest polls.

"The media is controlling the message; we get that," Clearman said.

She also rejected the idea that a vote for Paul is wasted. "You're still making a statement," she said. "You still get the opportunity to vote your conscience."

Winbrock said he and thousands of other formerly apathetic young people will persevere, no matter the outcome.

"We need to stick together," he said. "We'll continue to be active long after Ron Paul is gone."

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com