Michigan
1.14.8
Tomorrow is the Michigan primary.
There is really only one reason I know that. Any other year and I would have barely been able to guess when my state's caucus was. Now my calendar is practically covered with state abbreviations; a black sharpie rectangle even outlines the four days of the upcoming Republican National Convention.
For Christmas, when my mother asked what I wanted, all I requested was a Ron Paul t-shirt. On New Year's Eve, while everyone else in the house was getting ready to take another shot, I was on the computer buying a magnetic car sign, and watching as the last of the 2007 contributions rolled in.
Tomorrow, I will even be making a call to the Arapahoe County GOP regarding an open precinct leader position. I also plan to sign up to be an official volunteer for the campaign. In the two weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, I'm going to plaster this area in signage.
But then, I've already written about this before. While the actions are more pronounced now, the obsession is the same. It's almost become its own bad joke these days. RPD: Ron Paul Disorder.
Of course, the media is quick to discount this excitement. To them, it is only a way to show everyone exactly what absolute nutcases are supporting Ron Paul. Obviously, no one else is voting for him, right? The reality is (to borrow Giuliani's favorite phrase), while a few 9/11 truthers and other various morons have jumped on the bandwagon, there are a ton of normal people who are simply excited about the prospect of actually having a good president. After all...even I was sick of hearing the constant complaints when Bush was reelected 3 long years ago. That is proof enough for me that Ron Paul isn't just for government-hating anarchists. Some of us are just sick of the bullshit, and finally see a way to do something about it.
I'm also not some conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination. There are several things I firmly believe: A bunch of terrorists brought down the twin towers, not George Bush. Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon and deserves to punch anyone who says otherwise. Crop circles are manmade and no alien life form has ever been seen by human eyes. The world will not end in 2012, period.
But I now believe one more thing: If we don't get Ron Paul elected to office...we might just be screwed.
So, fine. The media will pick out the bad apples to try to make all of us look insane. They'll print lies and false allegations of racism in an attempt to shame us into hiding our support. They'll exclude Dr. Paul from debates and do everything in their power not to cover his campaign.
None of that matters anymore, though. All it does is make people like me try even harder. I don't know for sure if we're gonna win this thing, but I feel pretty good about it, and I'm damn sure gonna do everything in my power to help.
So, for now, I'm just going to have to get used to that feeling of nervous excitement that overwhelms my stomach in the 24 hours preceding each primary...starting with tomorrow's.
After that...only 46 to go.
