NP: Beck, Sea Change

The problem with buzzwords and forward-thinking concepts is that the people who get off on them tend to anoint things as the next big thing and then move on before anyone else can catch up. So I'm a little skeptical of this notion of Ron Paul as the "long tail" of politics. Mostly, I'm still wary of whether or not an online political phenomenon can translate into the real world, where people have to get out from in front of their computers and actually vote. Is Ron Paul just Howard Dean all over again? Or is this movement fundamentally different? We should start to find out soon enough.

I'd be happy if there is, in fact, some leveling of the political playing field that encourages candidates from outside the conventional cookie-cutter forms. I just don't know that I'm willing to say we're anywhere close to that yet, or if Ron Paul is, in fact, the best example of the emerging trend. Mike Huckabee seems like he's in that mix, too.