A wave of optimism overtook several hundred people gathered at a 9/11 truth conference in Chandler, AZ, Feb. 24, 2007. A rumor that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) was running for the Republican nomination for president in the 2008 elections was confirmed as true.

The news dominated conversations among 9/11 truth conferees as hope for the future was, perhaps unfairly, placed on the shoulders of the then 71-year-old doctor from Texas. Ron Paul has been revered among "patriot" circles for decades as the only sitting member of Congress to openly declare his devotion to the Constitution and our nation’s founding principles; his voting record on the floor of Congress has unerringly reflected his lonely stand to protect and defend those principles. At that moment, in the Crown Plaza Hotel in Chandler, the Ron Paul Revolution was born in the minds of what was then just a handful of people.

"I know we are all excited that Ron Paul has announced his candidacy to run for president. But what most of us haven’t even thought about is that he doesn’t have a chance because the Republican party nominee to run for president is chosen by delegates. If he doesn’t have delegates he won’t get the nomination," commented author/activist Devvy Kidd.

Though a general feeling of pessimism was guiding Devvy’s thoughts at that time in Chandler, her’s was the only voice of reason right then.

By June, 2007, the Ron Paul Revolution was underway and gaining momentum. Almost immediately it was apparent that corporate media and political interests were threatened by the platform of freedom upon which the popular and well-spoken, 10-term OB/GYN from Texas was basing his candidacy. Even though his constitutional message was being well-received by studio audiences at internationally-televised debates, he was repeatedly ignored so establishment puppets could parrot their platforms, all of which represent minor variations of the same theme: "Government is here to keep Americans safe so the bigger it is the safer we are."

As summer, 2007 progressed, Ron Paul’s banner was being taken up by more and more people from all walks of American life; meetup groups were forming in cities big and small all across the nation and the Internet aspect of the revolution took off like brushfires ignited in American minds. The world, it seemed, was also beginning to see the Ron Paul Revolution as a means to end perpetual war and multinational corporate exploitation by the west.

By fall, 2007, the Ron Paul Revolution was gaining popular support apace with establishment attempts to either dismiss Ron Paul and his supporters as idiots or just ignore us. It became harder and harder to ignore us because we had a blimp and a radio network of our own; meetup groups all over the nation—and the globe—were planting signs, holding public rallies and engaging other innovative means to increase public awareness that the Second American Revolution had begun.

Then the impossible began to happen: Legions of Ron Paul supporters got involved in local politics; some were elected as precinct committeemen and others were were confirmed as delegates.

As it stands now, in the wake of Ron Paul suspending his campaign, nearly every Republican central committee in America has been infused with men and women committed to freedom and justice. Because of Ron Paul, we now have in place the infrastructure necessary to begin restoring the Republic.

Today I am happy to announce the official launch of the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty.

Please visit our new website and join us: www.campaignforliberty.com

Over the next few months I will be developing a program, assembling a team, and announcing new and exciting projects. We will have a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you.

Right now, I need your patience and support. I want the Campaign for Liberty to be a grassroots campaign; so your energy, your creativity, your feedback, and your participation are essential.

Together, we will educate our fellow Americans in freedom, sound money, non-interventionism, and free markets. We will write commentaries and broadcast videos on the news of the day. And I’ll work with friends whom I respect to design materials for homeschoolers.

Politically, we will expand the great work of our precinct leader program. We will make our presence felt at every level of government. We will keep an eye on Congress, and lobby against legislation that threatens us. And we will identify and support candidates who champion our great ideas.

"In the final analysis," I wrote in my new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, "the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them."

Our time has come to act on these words.

May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to their politicians, the opinion-makers, and the establishment, and saved their country.

I am pleased to report that last week we received notice that the Texas Department of Transportation will recommend the I-69 Project be developed using existing highway facilities instead of the proposed massive new Trans Texas Corridor/NAFTA Superhighway. According to the Texas Transportation Commissioner, consideration is no longer being given to new corridors and other proposals for a new highway footprint for this project. A major looming threat to property rights and national sovereignty is removed with this encouraging announcement. Public outcry was cited as the main reason for this decision.

I was very impressed to learn that the TxDOT received nearly 28,000 public comments on this matter, and that some 12,000 Texans attended the 47 public hearings held earlier this year. They could not ignore this tsunami of strong public opinion against the proposed plans. I was especially proud of how informed my constituents became on the subject, and how eloquently and respectfully they spoke and conducted themselves, considering how upsetting the plans were for our communities in Texas.

This is a major victory for the people of Texas, and a reminder of what we can accomplish with civic involvement. The informed and active citizen truly is a force to be reckoned with, as we have seen with the defeat of this proposal. We must keep fighting the good fight and remain ever diligent against the encroachments of big government. As tempting as it may be to simply live our lives with no regard to government, apathy will inevitably be punished by ever more government intrusion. That is what this fight was all about. We can win if we stick together.

If I had to guess, they will probably try to implement the NAFTA Superhighway again sometime in the future.It is a never-ending battle, but it must be fought, and can be won. I am proud to stand with my constituents in this fight, and in the other fights we have ahead of us. ~Ron Paul (June 23, 2008)

Though most of us hoped Ron Paul would get the Republican nomination, the Republican establishment had decided it would do anything in its power to prevent that outcome.

But look what Ron Paul inspired us to accomplish: Over the last 17 months we have made freedom a national issue, millions of people have been educated and now champion the cause of freedom. And, according to a representative poll released by news portal Freedom’s Phoenix, 60 percent of us have already decided to continue advancing the cause of freedom—no matter what.

For those of us who are upset that Ron Paul withdrew from the race and/or believe that he was not treated fairly by the press, then let the following "thought problem" cheer you up.

Beginning with a year ago when almost no one had heard of Ron Paul, let’s see what has happened since:

1. With almost zero media coverage, Ron Paul was popular enough to get on the ballot for every primary in the union.

2. With only grassroots support, Ron Paul set the one-day campaign contribution record—twice.

3. With less than zero support from the Republican Party and zero publicity in the media, Ron Paul received anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of the popular vote in state primaries.

4. With purely grassroots motivation, about 20 percent of the Republican Party precincts have elected Ron Paul revolutionaries as precinct committeemen.

5. From within the Republican Party system, we elected significant numbers of Ron Paul-supporting delegates to both the state and national conventions.

6. Those of us who were in the middle of all this can safely say that, if our in-party numbers were simply doubled, we would not need support from party leadership or any press to choose delegates or elect a president.

7. Freedom is popular and all this came together in less than one year.

So, again, we ask, "What are YOU going to do—between now and next year?

Our tendency is to believe there is no time to change things from within the system. But, if we had begun this process in the 90s while Clinton was in power, where would we be now?

With everything we understand the world to be and with everything we hope for the future, it is important that we enlist ourselves to play a role in this revolution.