Ron Paul and the Moment of Truth for the Tea Party

Ron Paul once again left the Conservative Political Action Conference with a first place finish among attendees participating in a straw poll of who they support for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Paul bested fellow former candidate and ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 30 percent to 23, with rest of the field polling in the 2-5 percent range. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and a few other potential candidates did not attend the event. Huckabee reportedly boycotted CPAC because of the participation of GOProud, a group for openly gay Republicans.

Paul's victory was once again, largely ignored, written off or heavily discounted by the mainstream press, who it would seem are intent to convince voters that no matter how many supporters he has, he  remains something less than a "real candidate" with an actual chance of becoming president. It's been truly mesmerizing, but the Texas Congressman was completely marginalized in 2008, despite early fundraising and caucus success that should have pushed him into the spotlight.

In fact, It seemed like the only time he was mentioned at all was to solicit yet another opinion from some "expert" as to whether supporting Paul was akin to throwing one's vote away. It seems he's destined to suffer the same experience, as even his post CPAC media experiences led with the question: Yeah, but do you really have a chance? How many others, even outside candidates who haven't polled in double digits in a single poll, are persistently asked this same question? None that I'm aware of.

In 2010, it seemed possible that dynamic might change when the Tea Party movement began gaining ground within the GOP primaries at all levels, espousing a very Ron Paul-like message of small federal government and less spending. At the time, Paul was being given credit as the "Godfather" of the movement. However, it has been potential candidates like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann and even Paul's son Rand, who've become the public torch bearers of the group and the ones who are getting the most benefit from its network of supporters. If Michele Bachmann had received 30 percent (she got 4), I suspect the media would be abuzz about her hot prospects for winning the White House. Conversely, if Ron Paul got that same 4 percent, they'd likely be sounding the death knell for his candidacy.

Fox News.com's Kevin McCullough was so unnerved, he penned a column titled – Disrespectful Libertarians Hijack CPAC Poll. McCullough dedicated the entire article to discrediting the event. McCullough wrote "Ron Paul, though technically still a Republican, has given up his GOP identity to embrace the chance to be the poster child for the more libertarian streak that has run rampant through CPAC, largely unabated for the past two years," and then complained that "it has been the inclusion of the libertarian aspects of the past two years that has thrown the message of conservatism askew in a widely disproportional way," before accusing them repeatedly of stuffing the ballot box.

Why does Fox News seem so unnerved by Congressman Paul's inclusion in what is supposed to be a process in which voters choose the representative that best embodies their beliefs? In 2008, they inexplicably excluded Paul from one debate and pretty much belittled him in another. Why are they so eager to give a platform to people like Bachmann and Palin, when Paul is clearly the Tea Party candidate with the best chance of of winning the presidential election? Fox is not alone. No one has had the courage to present Ron Paul as anything other than a fringe candidate, despite the data proving otherwise.

The other question mark is the Tea Party. I've seen Rand Paul, Bachmann and Palin all quoted and promoted in several Tea Party vehicles, but I haven't actually seen small Tea Party organizations hitching their wagon to a Ron Paul 2012 wagon yet – or even really mentioning him for that matter. It seems that Libertarians and Tea Partiers are branching off in distinct directions and Congressman Paul has taken notice, complaining that many of the so-called Tea Party members in Washington aren't following through on much of the platform – particularly those beyond opposing health care reform and supporting tax cuts.

So, will the Tea Party become a single issue faction of the GOP aimed at cutting spending for the purpose of lowering taxes? Or will they take a sincere interest in promoting Paul's broader platform, which includes drastic changes to monetary policy and ending the culture of militarism, in a way that might help elevate Libertarianism to the mainstream? The 2012 GOP primary will present the asnwer to these questions.