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Title: Ron Paul can still be president — through a new video game
Source:
Houston Chonicle
URL Source: http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/201 ... dent-through-a-new-video-game/
Published: May 18, 2012
Author: Samantha Wagner
Post Date: 2012-05-18 00:54:51 by Prefrontal Vortex
Keywords: None
Views: 16
It doesn’t look like Ron Paul is going to win the White House this year. But in one Paul supporter’s world of virtual reality, the Texas congressman can take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue any time you’d like. With Paul’s announcement on Monday that he would no longer campaign actively in remaining primary states, his movement has shifted focus away from getting the 76-year-old suburban Houston libertarian elected president. But the self-style Paul “revolutionaries” still care passionately about their leader’s message of liberty at home and non-intervention abroad. And that’s exactly the goal of the new video game “Road to REVOLution.” Daniel Williams, the 27-year-old Paul supporter from Houston who designed the game, originally wanted to create a tool to get libertarians excited. As he moved forward with the project, he also saw a potential educational benefit, as well. “There definitely is a responsibility or call to arms,” he said. “It’s a switch in your head that you can’t turn off once it gets activated. You find yourself trying to educate everyone that you meet.” David Jackson, associate professor of political science at Bowling Green State University, said the game could be an effective means of keeping Paul’s message alive after his presidential quest comes to an end. “They’re not in this to win it,” Jackson said. “They’re in it to spread ideas.” In “Road to REVOLution,” the Texas congressman travels through the 50 states, collecting delegates and “sound” money backed by gold or silver. The ultimate goal is to amass enough delegates to win the presidency, but along the campaign trail, players are challenged to 13 “boss fights,” where they can knock out the 12 branches of the Federal Reserve, with one final fight to shut it down for good. The game is designed around Paul’s political beliefs, including his anti-war, anti-violence principles. Like any video game, “Road to REVOLution” has many villains — zombies, sleepwalkers and classic neo-cons like George W. Bush. But instead of killing the bad guys, a player must divert them into Paul’s crowd of supporters, where they are converted into delegates. Paul, whose popularity is strongest among younger voters, is the only Republican presidential candidate to have his own video game. (President Obama has one already.) The game’s developer says he was turned off by politicians for most of his life — until he learned about Ron Paul. Williams, like many of Paul’s supporters, does not fit the traditional likely voter mold, said Justin Vaughn, a political scientist at Cleveland State University. “His supporters get that he is truly an outsider who needs their efforts to help him,” Vaughn said. “So their ways of supporting him turn out to be non-traditional, too.” A Paul campaign official says the game is further evidence of how the Texan’s supporters think outside the box. “(We) are always pleasantly surprised by the amount of creativity and enthusiasm displayed by supporters,” said Gary Howard, Paul’s national press secretary. “The congressman is always appreciative of anything that helps to positively spread his message.” This isn’t Williams’ only contribution to Paul’s revolution. He is also one of the co-founders of Ron Paul Swag, an online merchandise store dedicated to “making liberty sexy.” Williams, a freelance programmer and budding entrepreneur, has been designing video games for the last six years. This will be his first game he releases to the public. To fund the project, Williams posted a video to Kick Starter, an online funding platform for creative projects. He met his $5,000 goal in less than 72 hours. He plans to finish the game by mid-July and make it available to play for free online through any web browser. Ron Paul can still be president — through a new video game
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