With 80% of the New Hampshire precincts in, Ron Paul in assured of nearly a quarter of the vote and a solid second place. It is a great victory for liberty or, should I say, the great beginning of a future victory for liberty.

It is unlikely that Mr. Paul will win the Republican nomination. The political establishment is terrified of him — and for very good reasons indeed. Were he to win the nomination, I fear the probability he would get elected is low, even if he comes at a better time than Barry Goldwater did. But the seeds are sown. The fact that Mr. Paul received a sizable proportion of the youth vote is extremely encouraging. History is in the making. Perhaps we haven’t worked for nothing during all these years.

In my opinion, not all of Ron Paul’s ideas are unassailable. On monetary matters, for example, he would benefit from the advice of more critical libertarian economists. But all his proposals point in the right direction. He has a strong knowledge of, and commitment to, individual liberty. Pardon my self-serving bias but his endorsement of The Idea of America (edited by Bill Bonner and myself) shows the reality of the Ron Paul revolution (see the endorsement, and buy the book, at Amazon or at Laissez Faire Books).

Ron Paul’s campaign will have a major pedagogical impact towards the restoration of liberty in America, and in the rest of the Western world. For perhaps other countries will stop importing only what’s bad from America and, once this country becomes the beacon of liberty again, will import libertarianism.