US Politics Feature: Ron Paul, the Youth Vote, and the Legalisation of Marijuana

What do conservative intellectuals who adhere to the Catholic ethical philosophy of the Just War theory, the drug culture, and Occupy Wall Street, all have in common? They support, in principle, the quest of Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President. None of these constituencies may actually go out and vote for the Texas Congressman, but the potential coalition under his banner illustrates what is meant when pundits call libertarianism a "big tent".

Before and after the Iowa caucuses, one of the curious stories to emerge was the extraordinary support 76-year-old Paul was garnering among the youth of that state. Most of the commentary credited it to his followers in the anti-war brigade and associated it with the growing disillusionment with America's conflicts abroad.

A natural conclusion; and with some merit. But that alone does not explain why he appealed, according to CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) to 48% of voters under the age of 30.

One possibility is that many young Paul supporters are not voting for him, first and foremost, because of his views on foreign policy. Instead, they are considering their personal lifestyles and deciding that Paul, with his calls for the legalisation of marijuana, is the candidate who best represents their interests.

At least that is the conclusion that can be drawn from the study of Mark Naison, a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University, "The Drug Economy, Neo Liberalism and the Social Basis of Ron Paul’s Appeal to Young Voters".

Naison explains how research, most notably Nelson George's book Hip Hop America, has established the enormous size of the drug economy in urban areas. He then observers, “What is less well known is the size of the drug economy in small town, rural and suburban America, and its role in supplementing wages in a nation where Wal Mart has replaced the automobile and steel industry as the largest employer." He then argues:

If what my students tell me is true, a significant portion of young people working in Wal-Mart, K-Mart or other box stores sell drugs on the side ( prescription pills as well as pot) and almost no-one can survive on what those stores pay without some additional source of income. In poorer, more rural areas, chrystal meth, locally manufactured, is the drug of choice, and the violence associated with its trade can rival what you have in tough inner city neighborhoods.

Naison concludes:

Enter Ron Paul with a call for legalization of drugs and release of non-violent prisoners. To millions of young people living in an economy where the route to the middle class can no longer go through the legal economy, that portion of his campaign speaks directly to their lived reality. It provides them with the hope of doing in the light of day, and in safety, that which they now do surreptitiously in order to have even a minimum access to what they perceive as an American standard of living.

Naison, in a Christian Science Monitor article, adds other reasons for Paul's appeal, include “opposition to torture, preventive detention of suspected terrorists, and curbs on civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism." But his view on the potency of the drug legalisation topic is backed by Tracy Davis, a Republican strategist and former speechwriter for the younger President Bush. She notes that marijuana use has increased dramatically, while use of alcohol and cigarettes have decreased, not just among college-age youths but in the 18-30 demographic as a whole. She maintains that this “one issue alone has a huge impact on young voters in America today, who would be thrilled to be able to purchase and smoke marijuana without the fear of being arrested".

This issue intersects with the attraction of Paul's "Washington outsider" persona to young people who feel they have no stake in the political and economic future of the US. Patrick Riley writes at bigthink.com, “It's incredible that the media has yet to uncover the fact that many of participants in the Occupy movement demonstrations are in fact young Ron Paul activists.” And reason.com, in "Ron Paul Reaches out to the Youth of Occupy Wall Street", noted “Paul's sympathy for young people whose political concerns only slightly overlap with his own: namely, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement.”

As for the Just War crowd, Ron Paul is the only viable candidate running with the promise, included in his campaign "Statement of Faith (Ron Paul is a committed Christian)": “Once war is declared, it must be waged according to Just War principles. We should only fight when it’s in our national security interest, and we should no longer do the corrupt United Nation’s bidding by policing the world.”

It has long been a dream of radicals from the Right and Left that they could find enough common ground to unite politically and challenge the dominant political centre. These three groups, and the current surge in youth support for Ron Paul, illustrate how certain differing ideas can unite behind one candidate --- at least for a time.

This has led to speculation that Paul may run as an Independent when he is knocked out of the Republican race, a possibility the candidate hinted at last week in Iowa when he “spoke of forging common ground between Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. 'There’s a lot of people unhappy, and they’re not so happy with the two party system,' he said. 'So in many ways, I identify with both groups.”

Ron Paul's youth popularity in Iowa may have been just a blip. But if it continues in and beyond Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, then it raises a question --- if Ron Paul has little chance of winning the Presidency, either as the Republican nominee or as a third-party candidate, "What politician can unite opposition to the current status quo, not only through his/her views but through occupancy of America's highest offices?"