The winner of the 2009 elections is: Ron Paul!

Forget the spin and the slop. The real winner of the 2009 elections is the public official and candidate who has championed the core insurgency driving the election. It is Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul.

Paul embodies the anti-Washington, anti-tax, anti-big government, anti-financial insiderism viewpoints that are galvanizing large numbers of activists and voters. It is not a majority, but a majority has never been Ron Paul's goal. Paul is a conviction politician, an idea man, an advocate and a change agent.

The Democratic spin is that the Republicans have moved much too far to the right. This is true in a sense. But remember, Democratic smarties said the same thing before Ronald Reagan was elected and before Newt and Republicans won in 1994.

I agree with some things Paul says, and disagree with others, but the truth of the matter, politically, is that his agenda has moved center stage and his people are highly motivated and this is a serious movement that is underestimated and misunderstood by Washington insiders.

What Democrats need to do is forget the PR and forget the spin and do what they were elected to do in 2006 and 2008. They should fight for a progressive populist agenda that takes on the powerful interests that have given us this Gilded Age, interests that a majority of Americans from the political left and independent center are both against.

But for now, for today, my take is forget the smarties and forget the smoothies, because the real winner of the 2009 elections is the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Ron Paul.