Could 2012 finally be Ron Paul’s time to shine? According to multiple media reports, Ron Paul’s political message of significantly reducing federal government, auditing our gold reserve and bringing back the gold standard for our United States currency, eliminating federal income tax and not getting involved in international conflict is actually starting to stick, thanks to a growing following for the Tea Party movement and a raised profile for his son, Rand Paul, up on Capitol Hill (the “Paul” brand?).

Ron Paul acknowledges that the American people and the Republican party, for that matter, were not ready for his radical message back when Paul ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, stating in an interview, “During the last campaign people weren’t too interested in what I was saying. There’s some respect for it now.”

Well thanks to a growing level of disgust for President Obama’s brand of heavy-handed liberalism (even by some Democrats’ standards), growing the federal government on the backs of American taxpayers, and this strong Tea Party movement, people (particularly young people) are really taking notice of the former OBGYN turned Congressman. As a result, Ron Paul is throwing his hat into the ring for the Republican Presidential nomination once again, for 2012 presidential race. Does Ron Paul want the gig, or is this simply a way to further his political message and strengthen his congressional platform?

At the end of 2008, just before Barack Obama was voted in as President, I interviewed Ron Paul to get his thoughts on John McCain, our then crushed national economy and the massive bailouts of 2008 and to try to understand Ron Paul’s unconventional brand of wisdom regarding how our government and constitution should be interpreted and operated.

Now looking back, I am more fascinated with my Ron Paul intrview than I was at the time of my conversation with Paul, as his ideals have come full circle and are no longer considered so far off the beaten path in the minds of many Americans. Here are some excerpts from my 2008 Ron Paul interview:

PR.com: How can we regulate our currency again?

Ron Paul: The market should regulate the currency. The only thing the government should do is make sure there is honesty. If you say you have a currency that is backed by gold and convertible to gold, the government is supposed to guarantee the contract and guarantee the value of the currency. That is a role given to the government by the constitution, but they did exactly the opposite. They destroyed the value of the currency, and they became the counterfeiter. So, Congress’s role is to make sure that we have honest weights and measures, and that if we do have gold and silver coins that we know what those weights are. And if people create instruments that are related to that paper instruments credit that they are held responsible for the contracts that they make. Today our government spends more time breaking contracts than maintaining contracts.

PR.com: Do you think that either Barack Obama or John McCain has what it takes to get us back into the black, financially?

Ron Paul: I don’t think they even have a desire to do that, because people now don’t think you should ever balance your budget in times like this. They don’t even pretend to do that. Republicans are sort of like, what Dick Cheney said not too many years ago. He said, “Well, we don’t have to worry about deficits. Ronald Reagan taught us to live with a deficit.” Conservative supply-siders think the deficits don’t matter all that much and liberals never care. So, no, neither one of them has a desire to, nor would they know how to do it, because they both endorse this empire we are operating around the world. It’s the empire that’s bringing us to our knees and if we don’t address that there’s no way we can solve our problems.

PR.com: As a rule, you believe that Government’s sole involvement in our lives should be the protection of our liberties and protection of our property. Where do you stand on things like social security, Medicare and Medicaid and Federally funded student loans given to us by the Federal Government?

Ron Paul: It’s back to the plunder. Government can’t give you anything. They had to steal it from somebody else. None of those things you mentioned are, in a strict sense, constitutional. They should be done either in the private sector or by local government. My position on it right now is that we are so entrenched with that, that if I had the authority, like tomorrow, to stop, say, a medical program for the elderly I wouldn’t do it. Even though technically it’s unconstitutional, what I would do is have a transition period. If we want to get our budget balanced and get back to a strictly limited government, I would cut all the money from overseas, because, those are hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars. If you cut enough, balance the budget, pay back some of the deficit and take care of those people who have been totally dependent on us for so long and we actually took money from them with the promise that we would give it back to them, whether its Medicare or social security. And then let the next generation get out of it and have a transition period. But no, this promise that Government can get people these things begs the question where does government get it? They have to steal it from somebody else.

READ MY ENTIRE RON PAUL INTERVIEW

Being that I am a journalist who does celebrity and political feature interviews it has taught me quite a bit about the politics of political public relations as funny as that sounds.

The very first political public figure I interviewed was Ralph Nader who is known for being a Washington outsider and exceptionally open with his opinions and views. He doesn’t need to worry about pissing off the establishment. Those horses have already left the stable. So, in short, he was quite open and very in-depth with his thoughts and views. Essentially a cake-walk in that regard and also extremely kind.

My next political interview for PR.com was with Ron Paul, another Washington rebel of sorts and someone who actually left a pretty indelible thumbprint on the 2007/2008 Republican Presidential primary race. John McCain may have earned the Presidential nomination for his party, but Ron Paul became a pop culture cult hero among conservative independents the world over. His answers were a bit more packaged than Nader’s but they were in-depth, and he was not afraid to take sides on issues including abortion, taxes, healthcare reform and welfare.

Dennis Kucinich was the next Congressman to cross my path and I interviewed him for PR.com as well. The complete antithesis of Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich is at the extreme left, more so than even President Barack Obama. If people think President Obama is liberal, they would have been in for quite a ride had Dennis Kucinich won the 2008 Presidential Primary race. Dennis Kucinich created a high profile platform for himself as well when he ran in the 2007/2008 Presidential Primary race, trying to nab the Democratic nomination. Problem? He tipped his hand too fast and all his cards spelled “bleeding heart liberal.” Dennis Kucinich was a mixed bag during our interview. Public Relations-wise he was able to muster the courage to answer some questions with a great deal of personal opinion and emotion, and didn’t hold back. When it came to questions regarding how he would vote on various bills brought forth by President Obama he became a little repetitive in his answers, not wanting to go into too many specifics, which I understand. Those fights are often best left to the House floor. He also did not want to directly address his opinions on Rahm Emanuel who had just recently been appointed White House Chief of Staff at the time of my interview with him.

My interview with Howard Dean shone a spotlight on a politician sticking to their talking points and staying on message at all costs. To his credit, his message was to be a vocal advocate for healthcare reform and for a public option that would resemble what Congress enjoys in their own privileged healthcare benefits. Though his message was clear, well thought out and on target with current news headlines, he was clearly not comfortable veering off topic or message at all and did not wish to step outside his book’s talking points to reveal any other thoughts drifting through his mind as it pertained to any downsides of a public option in healthcare or to discuss any other topics unrelated.

Last night I had the privilege of conducting an interview with David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s campaign manager and the now legendary figure who many credit with making the impossible possible and creating history in ushering Obama to the White House. Stay tuned for my thoughts on David Plouffe…