Ron Paul just made history.

On Monday, tens of thousands of supporters combined their efforts to raise $4 million for the Republican presidential hopeful. That tally brings Paul’s fourth-quarter fundraising total to more than $7 million, and sets a new one-day record for online primary fundraising (topping John Kerry’s $2.7 million). Hundreds of students attended a rally at Clemson University last week, and Paul’s following on social networking sites, like Facebook, is growing by the day. Despite struggling earlier in the year to gain recognition, Ron Paul’s cash-raising success now puts him solidly into the top tier.

Some have considered Congressman Paul’s enthusiastic support hard to explain. But to his millions of fans around the country the message is simple: return America to its founding principles and protect our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. It’s time to get the government’s hands out of our pockets, and its eyes out of our personal business.

The Congressman wants to end the IRS and cut the income tax to zero. He voted against the Iraq War and against the Patriot Act. Paul has served ten terms in Congress and has never voted for a tax increase or unbalanced budget. He also advocates freedom in healthcare, ending the welfare state, and protecting civil liberties. He is a staunch opponent of regulation of the Internet.

Paul’s meteoric rise, from little-known congressman to the most popular presidential candidate on the Internet, has left many political commentators scratching their heads. Part of the reason for Paul’s Internet dominance is that his message resonates clearly with students. Much of his popularity stems from his consistently sticking to principles and not giving the answer he thinks the audience wants to hear.

We know that the country we’re inheriting is a mess. Our military is spread all over the world (we have had troops stationed in Germany since WWII), and we are bogged down in wars that seem to have no end in sight. Inflation is shrinking the size of our paychecks and savings accounts. Our national debt now exceeds $9 trillion. That’s approximately $30,000 for every person in America.

Ron Paul’s solution is to bring the troops home immediately and to eliminate the deficit with the money saved. He will deal openly with other nations by engaging in diplomacy and trade, and will use the military only in American defense -not for foreign adventurism. A Ron Paul presidency would also eliminate the Federal Reserve and reinstate the gold standard, which would end inflation.

The major difference between Ron Paul’s philosophy and that of the other candidates is that he believes the purpose of government is to preserve our liberty, not to use us as a pawn to serve its own interests; the government should protect our privacy, not its own. He believes we are each the owner of our lives and of the money we earn, and that the government has no business instating either a draft or an income tax.

If you are tired of the same old corrupt Washington politics, and if you want the government to leave you alone and stay out of your personal life, then join the Ron Paul Revolution and help him make history in 2008.

Are you going to join the revolution? Tell us at [email protected].