Many pundits and activists have wondered aloud about the long term impact of the Ron Paul presidential campaign and the organizational efforts that directly followed from it. 

As Ron Paul prophetically reminded us at the end of the presidential campaign, this battle is just beginning.

A few years ago, virtual communities (groups of politically like-minded people organizing on-line) were mostly academic discussions rather than political realities.  However, the successful application of this idea came first with Howard Dean and then more aggressively with Ron Paul and is now proving to be highly effective and impactful on national debate as well as the political landscape.

From the incredible growth of Young Americans for Liberty to yesterday's successful fund-raising efforts for Rand Paul and Adam Kokesh, the fruits of the Ron Paul movements are being born in cyberspace and on the ground.

But the true test remains...Can the freedom coalition turn successful netroots into a successful get out the vote campaign?  Ultimately Howard Dean's then unparalleled meta-organization failed this test, as did Congressman Paul's.  Today, as has long been the case, it is still structural organization, coalitions, and mass media that move voters to the polls. 

By over-emphasizing netroots and on-line activism at the expense of traditional campaign technology, the freedom movement still runs the risk of failing to find the formula that will lead to electoral success.  That is why YAL is so vitally important to the future. 

I encourage everyone to find a campaign and get involved; not just on-line, but in the real world of canvassing, phone banking, traditional media outreach, traditional fund-raising, coalition-building, list-building, and organization-building.  Only when our bench is deep with skilled activists will we achieve this important objective, running and winning political campaigns.  That is the difference between being a historic revolution or a footnote.