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The streets of St. Pete were bustling with hundreds of Libertarians. The old, the young, the prostitute and the soldier, they came to passionately support Ron Paul. They dressed funky; they costumed. Some dressed like Paul Revere; others undressed. Their numbers outshined any other candidate. At the outdoor Republican staw poll, Ron Paulers chanted en Mass, “Freedom! Freedom!” Vendors worked the crowd with bull horns, souvenir tee shirts and buttons like a Grateful Dead Concert. They had old school buses in the parking lot.

Some other street theatre was provided by homeless activists and their annual streetfight against the town fathers, some street theatre was given by the Global warming protesters, but the main event, the airplane banners, the snipe signs, the car decorating and the face painted was Ron Paul hands down.

They had three separate event sites - The Vinoy Park (with the Republican Party) , they occupied tables at Pioneer Park, were the Democrats gathered. There, they outnumbered any other candidate, even Dennis Kucinich. They rented the Palladium, and from there spilled into the streets, drinking heavily.

At Vinoy Park, the location of the outdoor mainstage, Giuliani, the front runner in the polls, had a table with four college students. Mitt Romney Had about sixty supporters, who became quickly annoyed with the boisterous rabble. Romney people came prepared to vote for friends and family, who had other things to do. Mike Huckabee had fifteen supporters. John McCain had none. Fred Thompson had a half dozen stalwarts.

The Ron Paulers stood in long lines to vote in the straw poll. Each bar-b-que meal cost $20, this entitled the bearer to one vote. Voting was managed by Debra Clark, Supervisor of Elections, on official electronic touchscreens. The young Paul activists held cameras on other voters as they voted, to make sure that no one cheated. Their scrutiny verged on intimidation, the vote was in fact a nominal contribution to the party.

Onstage, between karaoke sets of Neil Diamond covers, Mitt Romney’s son spoke. Congressman Gus Bilirakis spoke, the chair of the Pinellas Republican Party spoke, Congressman Bill Young spoke, a few others spoke. What ever they said had no import, because to this crowd, all that mattered was Ron Paul REVOLUTION. Ron Paulites showed marginal respect for other candidates and attendees. Mercifully, rain came and cleared the field, and the jumbotrons played only to a few concession workers.

And what was it that is so motivating the populist street movement? Why would prostitutes sing the praises of a pro-life Republican? A few conversations with any Ron Paulite would get back to the same road.

Paraphrased it goes something like: There is an international, New World Order, Jewish banker conspiracy to bankrupt this nation. We have been preyed upon by corporations, George Bush and Dick Cheney. While we may need an investigation to determine just what their culpability in 9-11 was, there is no doubt that the Iraq war was illegal, and only Ron Paul can stop this hell bound train. Oh yeah, that is the conservative liberterian view, the radical Paulites think that George Bush and Hillary Clinton are puppets of the Extra-terrestial overlords who have seeded this planet. The human race is a captive genetic experiment on prison planet earth were they can abduct people, mutilate cattle, and communicate with crop circles.