The Republican presidential candidates had another debate last night.  This one was in Tampa, Florida and it was hosted by CNN and the Tea Party.  The media is making a big deal about Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, as they are the proclaimed front runners.

Unfortunately for the establishment, Ron Paul keeps telling the truth and his poll numbers are showing him in third place and not going anywhere but up.

Rick Perry took a bit of a beating on the stage last night and deservedly so.  His executive order to vaccinate young girls is an outrage to anyone who believes in liberty.  Ron Paul also pointed out that taxes and spending went up in the last ten-plus years under Rick Perry.

It is good to hear the candidates continue to bash Ben Bernanke.  I’m not sure if one candidate would reappoint Bernanke as Fed chairman.  Bernanke is very unpopular and we can credit Ron Paul and his supporters for a big part of this.

I was thinking about Herman Cain’s so-called 9-9-9 tax plan.  He wants a 9% corporate tax, income tax, and national sales tax.  This is worse than the so-called Fair Tax.  At least the Fair Tax attempts to repeal the 16th Amendment and do away with the income tax.  With this latest plan from Cain, we would have an income tax and a sales tax.  And I’m sure there is no way that Congress would ever attempt to raise the rates on these in the future (this is sarcasm).  With Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, many middle class individuals would be paying far more in taxes, assuming that many deductions are done away with.  This is just one more example of how Cain is a statist.  I also get the feeling that he is not that bright.

Rick Santorum, once again, challenged Ron Paul on foreign policy.  Some of the audience booed Congressman Paul as he tried to explain that the terrorists don’t hate Americans for freedom but because of U.S. government foreign policy.  Unfortunately, this is going to be the roadblock for Ron Paul from getting the nomination.  He is absolutely correct in what he is saying and he should continue to say it, but there are too many militaristic Republicans who want more war and more foreign entanglements.

The good news is that Ron Paul continues to change minds.  This is reflecting in the polls, even if slightly.  Just think, every time Paul goes up one percentage point in the national polls, that means there are hundreds of thousands of more supporters than there were before.  Last night, he talked about shutting down the Departments of Education and Energy.  He also talked about letting young people opt out of Social Security.  These things can get people’s attention.  For some people, they might say, “how can he be so good on all of these issues and yet wrong on foreign policy?  Maybe I should examine his foreign policy more to see if he has a point.”

This is how minds are changed.  Ron Paul should just keep telling the truth and whatever happens, happens.  He will continue to convert more people to libertarianism and this will help save our future, even if we don’t have a President Ron Paul.