So I Stopped by the Ron Paul Event Wednesday Night...

The Ron Paul supporters held a Q&A Event at the Percolator on Wednesday night. It was their first attempt at holding an event like this and I was surprised by a few things.

I was surprised at how many people showed up. I expected the place to be half-full at best. But the place was packed and I don't think there any open seats.

I was also impressed by the fact that most of the people in the meeting demonstrated a pretty strong grasp of the issues. And most have a freakishly deep knowledge of portions of financial issues.

They all seem to be completely lost on the Civil Rights Bill. They seem to get it confused with other later policies and blur it all together.

That being said, they were a very welcoming group. Although their insistence in signing in was a bit annoying. It started to feel like that awkward feeling when you have a Jehova's Witness that catches you at home in your yard and you feel cornered.

The meeting was pretty much split in to three parts. A YouTube fest, Q& A, and "Testimonials".

I didn't understand the purpose of watching all the YouTube videos. The people that were there were all Ron Paul supporters, so there weren't trying to make any converts. That seemed to be a bit of a waste of time.

But I found the Q&A part the most interesting. Smart people in the room. A couple of extremists that I know from awhile back, like one guy who is a member of a Minute Man type of organization.

The room was filled with smart, young people. And at least three people that identified themselves as former Obama supporters. Almost all of them said they were not Republicans or didn't like the Republican party.

There was lots of "end the Fed" talk too. But I learned a lot from those people.

They are really motivated. They are sorta organized. They are social networking warriors. I dig their energy and enthusiasm. I'm willing to bet that if you took a handful of Ron Paul supporters, a handful of rank-and-file El Paso Republicans and a handful of rank-and-file Democrats, the Ron Paul supporters would have the deepest knowledge of their particular pet issues.

If they can congeal in to something efficient and tangible, they can make some things happen. But they don't appear to be concerned about much other than federal issues. That means their movement is destined to be cyclical instead of something steady and constant. If they can fix that, they might have a chance to influence local policy.

I'd be lying if I didn't point out one observation that I thought was interesting. Ron Paul supporters are known for their passionate following of Dr. Paul. But for all the ridicule of "Hope and Change" and the "messiah" when referring to the President, I did find it noteworthy that one of them referred to the Constitution as "divinely inspired" and the "testimonials" had a definite Pentecostal feel to it.

When the "campaign for liberty" started in El Paso a few years ago, you could fit the core supporters of the movement in a booth at Denny's. Now they fill the Percolator. Steady and consistent growth is their key. They are having another event soon (I'll get back to you when I find out when) and I'll bet they have more people than they had Wednesday).