During the 2007-08
presidential campaign
, two local men did all they could to support Ron Paul.
Even though the congressman from Texas did not win, Chris Rye of Hancock and Corey Kealiher of Stevens Point were baffled by the unique grass-roots movement Paul inspired.
Rye, 37, and Kealiher, 30, spent the last year traveling the country, interviewing people involved with Paul's campaign and producing a documentary, "For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty," which was released this week.
These two small-town men knew there would be some interest in their film, but they never imagined the nationwide interest they're receiving. More than 1,000 copies were preordered; they are swamped with interview requests; well-known authors, such as political writer Tom Woods, are promoting the film, and screenings are happening across the country.
The world premiere in Philadelphia on Sept. 18 attracted 500 people, who offered two standing ovations afterward. "We knew at that point that it was really good and people liked it. As a filmmaker, that's all you can really strive for is to have people like your work. ... It inspires you to keep going," Rye said.
Kealiher works for Creative Community Living Services in Plover and spends time with people with disabilities. He and his wife, Rosalind, 27, have a son, Abishua, 9. Rye co-owns a film and editing company, Props Visual, which is based in
Illinois. It isn't affiliated with the film, but they used the equipment. Rye and his wife, Virginia, 34, moved to Hancock four years ago.
Rye and Kealiher invested $4,000 into the project, which they worked on during weekends. They took three weeks off in September to travel 10,000 miles across the country to speak with activists, media professors, historians and social commentators.
The documentary follows the campaign from the perspective of grass-roots activists and shows many of the supporters' unique projects. "We were just really shocked by what lengths people were willing to go to for this guy. They had just massive online fundraisers; they launched a blimp; people were flying planes. All this came out of their own pockets," Kealiher said.
Craig Groshek, 27, of Plover, was involved with the local grass-roots campaign and began "Snowmen for Ron Paul," which received national attention.He and local volunteers built snowmen in areas with high traffic, with the words "Snowmen for Ron Paul" in Christmas colors. Pictures of this are featured in the documentary.
During the campaign, Nick Danczyk, 23, of Stevens Point, drew a cartoon of Ron Paul trying to
save the Constitution from the Republican and Democratic parties, which also is featured. "(The documentary) is kind of what (Ron Paul's) supporters were all about: kind of taking responsibility and doing what you could at a grass-roots level," Danczyk said.
Rye said the film tells a story that many people don't know happened."We just tell it like it is ... but we did it in a way that it's really funny," Rye said. "Humor is really powerful in the film, because it kind of breaks the ice. Watch it with an open mind. "
and video attached.
