I was attracted to Ron Paul’s message as an antiwar conservative who thought Bush-Cheney era neoconservatives had severely damaged the Republican Party and the country. I’ve met others who come from a more liberal perspective. I’ve met those who were generally apathetic about politics until Dr. Paul inspired them.
I’ve also met a good number of folks who’ve come to the liberty movement because of Glenn Beck. I know this sounds strange given some of the criticisms Beck has lodged at Ron Paul in the past, but we also forget the liberty things he has uniquely promoted, some of which I outlined yesterday.
I received this email from a reader today. I have received many similar emails concerning Beck, both this week and in the past:
“Mr. Hunter, I thoroughly enjoyed watching your segment on the Glenn Beck program this week. I have been a Beck fan for quite some time. I use to fall into the “George Bush-neocon” wing of the republican party. But Beck opened up my eyes; he taught me to analyze policy, not just bash a particular party. He always preaches his audience to “do your own homework.” Because of that, I found Ron Paul and thus began my transition to libertarianism.
So I definitely am one of the many that became libertarian because of Ron Paul, but I never would have gotten here without watching Glenn Beck. I subscribe to The Blaze, not just for Beck, but the entire platform of his programming. The show “Real News” is excellent- a good mix of conservatism with libertarianism- as Matt Kibbe and Matt Welch are frequent guest hosts. But I think your recent article is spot on. The liberty movement needs to embrace those who want to learn and also embrace those who we don’t agree 100% with. I wasn’t born a libertarian, in high school I mistakenly supported a lot of big government Republican programs and laws- so I guess I feel a connection to Beck seeing him go through the same transition.
Thank you for all the work you do for the liberty movement…”