I was 22 at the time, and before Ron Paul, I was super naive! Hopefully, through my story you'll see how people found out about Ron Paul back then, and what the campaign was like. Basically, I knew of only two candidates running: Hillary and Obama. I knew Hillary was a democrat (obvious), but I had no idea about Obama. I basically ignored politics because I figured they were all bought anyway.
You see, this was about the time when my studies in psychology and psychiatry led me to adapt a staunch "anti-psychiatry" stance, completely rejecting to biopsychiatric model, and Congress is bought by lobbyist from drug companies, many of whom make a real killing (literally and metaphorically) from the sale of these unsafe drugs, used to treat illnesses that cannot be conclusively proved as being even predominately biological to begin with.
That's when I heard Dr. Paul speaking about drug pushers, and I was instantly a fan! To hear a doctor coming out to speak against these things is rare, although not unheard of. After a bit of research (and youtube), I realized that the man was everything I wanted in a politician. He was genuine, practical, and had a real vision for America.
My biggest problem was that no one had heard of him. Our slogan was "Who is Ron Paul?" and while I'd seen a sign like that before, it had never prompted me to look into who the man was. Even my most political savy acquaintances had no idea who the guy was. The media never talked about him, and even though he had some of the best lines in debate, he was continuously ignored.
Like most supporters, I was very active in the grassroots, and had a bizarre optimism for the campaign, despite what polls showed. We came up with every excuse in the book as to why the polls were fake, such as Ron Paul supporters don't have landlines, etc. And, I remember being crushed when the Iowa results came out, but I didn't drop my support and stayed with it.
All in all, that election cycle was a huge growing opportunity for me. We didn't win that battle, but I learned more about economics and how politics worked than I ever did in school, and it prompted tons of study from me. I suddenly became very politically aware, and I'm glad of it.
Oh, and I still miss the crazy projects we used to come up with.
