Video by Ken Newton

Paul Hamby flinched not a bit at the description. Surprise does his activism little good.

He stood in a crowded meeting room to ask U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill about a piece of legislation that would mandate an audit of the Federal Reserve. Congressman Ron Paul, the former presidential candidate, offered the bill and made the cause a rudiment of his followers’ post-campaign movement, Campaign for Liberty.

Mr. Hamby, a Campaign for Liberty regional coordinator, heard the senator call some of Dr. Paul’s ideas “wacky.”

Nothing that followed suggested endorsement of the proposal, nor did it unsettle Mr. Hamby. If the idea was to marginalize the idea and the people backing it, he’s seen that before.

In the quiet of his office a couple of weeks later, he even puts the exchange in the context of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Mr. Hamby smiles at the prospect of this movement getting to the “laugh-at-you” phase.

Not that he enjoys being pushed to the fringe. The mainstream holds no great appeal — look at the mess created by those in power, he says. But he wants a shouting-distance chance of getting the Campaign for Liberty’s ideas heard in a serious way. Getting relegated to the corner reserved for hair-on-fire extremists ill-serves that ambition.

He got an opportunity last week for some clear speaking, taking the stage in front of thousands at a Tax Day “tea party” meant to protest the expansion of government. Mr. Hamby got his turn at the microphone and urged those assembled to do more than vent frustrations on one particular day.

“Protests alone aren’t going to change the government,” he said. “It’s political activists that will.”

A Plattsburg, Mo., native, Mr. Hamby came to political involvement at an early age. He remembers campaigning, at age 12, for Kit Bond during his first run for governor in 1972. His parents were involved on Republican Party committees.

At the University of Missouri, Mr. Hamby took a role with the campus GOP. He became a devotee of Ronald Reagan’s belief in limited government and private enterprise.

By the time he settled in Maysville, Mo., where he owns Hamby Dairy Supply, he had a more fully fleshed view of the world as seen from out-state Missouri.

“Out here in the country, Republicans and Democrats tend to be more conservative than in the city,” he said. “It’s not as much Republican versus Democrat as it is rural versus urban and liberal versus conservative.”

His business and family required time, and his political activity slackened. Dairies became fewer, and his service calls became more far-flung, digging into profits. Mr. Hamby admits his supply company could have faded away.

So he changed the model, turning it into a mail-order business. Taking advantage of the Internet, he got a global reach. This day, he excuses himself to take a call from The Netherlands. Every day, he ships something to a foreign land. After fears of extinction, business volume tripled.

America offers such opportunities, Mr. Hamby believes. In recent times, however, he soured on Washington’s irresponsibility. The Ron Paul campaign, one that focused on small government, personal liberties and non-interventionist foreign policy, restored his political bearings.

“I think people are upset but they’re hungry for an answer,” he said. “In both parties, there is a huge lack of leadership.”

Mr. Hamby, in Carhartt overalls and with an international clientele, defies the image of a wild-eyed ideologue. He speaks evenly, cites bill numbers like a Washington insider and praises good work regardless of party affiliation.

He allows President Obama credit for, like President Reagan, presenting “a positive, solution-oriented message.” He commends Ms. McCaskill for touring rural parts of Northwest Missouri and facing constituents.

The Maysville man could do without the “wacky” derogation. It’s one more thing for a message to climb.

Activism, he concedes, requires that you take a few hits.

Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com.