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The first request made of "Ron Paul Revolution" volunteers on a sheet handed out at the Mid-America Center is "Pray." And that seems like pretty good advice when Paul is constantly predicting our "fiat monetary system" is set to trigger an almost unavoidable global depression in the not-too-distant future ("Just as the Soviet system collapsed because it was not viable, our system is not viable either because we're living way beyond our means") during a race the mainstream conventional wisdom pundits insist will be decided on optimism and likeability.

It is a shame Paul's relationship with mainstream Republicans has become so (perhaps unavoidably) contentious. Not only is the hard challenge to other candidates' ideas healthy, but when it comes to the gospel of limited government, Paul also has a particular credibility and flair for describing how each bad, statist decision feeds the next, growing the government beast.

"Now we have a medical-industrial complex," Paul said, tying the healthcare mess in with our budget problems at large. "Everybody knows about the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us of, but there are so many industries that benefit from what we do in Washington. The system we have today is very divisive because government gets control of our lives, control of the economy and control of our money. And everything goes to Washington."

The gap between Paul and the GOP certainly won't be bridged by calling a hard-line approach to Iran "insane," advocating a swifter Iraq pull-out than most Democrats or suggesting an end to American subsidies for Israel, even if it is along with all Arab nations. Still, Paul seems to recognize Rome won't be deconstructed in one day. "What we need to have is a renewal in our confidence that freedom works," he said. This renewal, he said, shouldn't begin or end with his campaign.

"What freedom does is release creative energy and energizes people," Paul told the crowd as the speech came to a close. "Not everybody will take care of themselves like they should. Not everybody will be responsible. But when we allow people to become more creative, then we understand the real true purpose in life is to strive for virtue and excellence. We can't do that with government bearing down on us every single day."

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