2010: The Year Paul Broke

The documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke comes to mind reading Jack Hunter's latest piece — The Ron Paul Moment. His analogy to music of the late '80s and early '90s:

What we might be seeing with Paul, the Republican Party and the mainstream conservative movement is similar to what happened to rock music in the early 1990’s, when the music establishment was still banking on well-established acts like Motley Crue or similar-in-style, newer bands like Warrant, only to see a heavy, underground trio from Seattle called Nirvana come seemingly from nowhere and revolutionize the music industry. Yesterday’s “hair metal” fans and even mainstream pop fans immediately flocked to this newer “alternative” music, which was considered more attractive because it was perceived as being the real thing, as opposed to the same old-same old, popular music of the day, which many began to find stale, manufactured and uninspiring.

The truth is “alternative music” had developed a mass following under the radar for at least a decade before the mainstream figured out what was happening, where so-called college bands like R.E.M, The Pixies and the Replacements, or heavier acts like Alice in Chains, readied millions of ears for something edgier than what they were hearing on the radio at that time. Similarly, Paul’s conservatism is really nothing new, as the congressman has been peddling his brand of fiscal and constitutionally-focused, Barry Goldwater-style libertarianism under the radar for decades, albeit for a considerably smaller audience than he enjoys today. Now, Paul’s old fashioned conservatism is increasingly seen by many as fresh, attractive and exciting-and not just to his loyal admirers-but to a possible majority of Republican, Tea Party and independent voters, as suggested by recent trends and polling data.

Of course the media and political establishment do not, and will not, appreciate any emerging Ron Paul revolution, anymore than 80’s heavy metal acts appreciated Nirvana turning the music establishment upside down in the early 90’s. Regardless, trying to stop an idea whose time has come is almost always unsuccessful, and whether or not Ron Paul’s time has truly come remains to be seen. That the mainstream media and establishment will never see him coming, does not.