Ron Paul forces Mitt Romney out of the GOP race

Clearly spooked by a few of Rep. Ron Paul's second-place finishes kind of close behind him, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney was so flustered in his dropout speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee in Washington Thursday, that he didn't even mention Ron Paul.

That's not unusual, actually. Hardly any other candidate and virtually no major media, especially CNN, has mentioned his name for the last year, so terrified are they of his stare and his libertarian-like views, including downsizing the federal government, bringing American troops home and abolishing the Federal Reserve.

Sometimes it seems almost like a media conspiracy to ignore the former ob-gyn. Except for not one....

but two Jay Leno appearances. They even give Paul less speaking time in the debates, if they don't ban him altogether.

Despite spending some $35 million of his own money and $55 million more that once belonged to other people, the 60-year-old Romney youngster was forced to give way to the 72-year-old, 10-term congressman from Texas, who has fired up thousands of dedicated and determined and very vocal and frustrated followers, young and old, across the country and permeating the Internet. He's even got one big-name donor, one big-name endorser and another perhaps maybe.

Ron Paul signs are still flapping in the prairie winds across Iowa, where Paul's caucus finish ahead of Rudy Giuliani launched the former New York mayor's eventual political decline. Then, in New Hampshire despite being barred from the nationally-televised Fox News debate, Paul beat former Sen. Fred Thompson, which began his inevitable political death spiral.

In the face of Paul's relentless campaigning here and there and his successful fundraising -- he raised nearly $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, more than any other Republican -- Romney, who only has an estimated $165 million of his personal fortune left, had no choice really but to quit.

Romney's exit follows the similar Paul-forced departures of other far more famous GOP candidates -- Giuliani, Thompson, Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore. Jeb Bush didn't even consider trying.

That leaves only Pittsburgh-native Paul, somebody named John McCain and this Mike Huckabee fellow from Arkansas, who seems to have had considerable trouble keeping a job. He's been a radio talk host, a Baptist preacher, lieutenant governor and governor. And Huckabee's had trouble raising money. He got only $1 million in the third quarter compared to Paul's $5 million.

So Huckabee can't last much longer.

That will leave only McMaverick, a former Navy squadron commander and POW who endured nearly six years of solitary confinement in Vietnam and then, worse, 25 years of listening to congressional speeches. He didn't get around to mentioning Paul either in his speech Thursday, but he was probably afraid.

Paul's website reports he's raised another $5.3 million just since Jan.1, which is more than Hillary Clinton can loan herself in one week.

Paul has given the Democrats until early August to choose between Clinton and Barack Obama, who's so young he can't remember life without color TV.

According to an authoritative Ron Paul campaign news release, with all of his accumulated fifth, fourth, third and second places, Paul claims to have 42 delegates to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul come September.

That puts him only about 660 delegates behind McCain and barely 1,149 shy of the number necessary to seize the party nomination in the name of the Ron Paul Revolution.

And Texas doesn't vote until March 4!

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[CD]

This is sarcasm. I read people pretty well. I don't think it's mean-spirited, but I do believe you are getting a good chuckle Malcolm. That's OK. I am ready to trudge through the PA snow and get some more delegate signatures. I'm young, and I have many years ahead to spread the conservative movement.

[Lamb Cannon]

Comments roughly what I would expect from supporters of a pseudo-libertarian nut, who has obviously spent way too many years staring up diseased vaginas.

[RPliberty]

Thank you Mr. Malcolm for yet another great article. I wasn't aware of Barry Manilow's support for Ron Paul. It's great to know not everyone is riding the Washington gravy train.

[Judy]

Thank you Andrew. We needed a good laugh about now. Sometimes it's feels like living in the Twilight Zone - rooting for a candidate who apparently (in the media) does not exist.

[TTexas]

Andrew,

When Ron Paul becomes POTUS, he should pick you as his press secretary. Your kindness will not go unnoticed among the Paul army.

[Ryan]

Guys, he's being sarcastic. Please reread it.

We know Paul didn't knock everyone else out-- give us all some credit. You make all of us sound crazy when we're just proud of how far we've come.

[Butch]

The Ron Paul message lives!!!! and will FOREVER !

[Dave H]

Andrew, that is one beautifully funny piece of writing. Thank you.

[Eric]

You're a bunch of idiots. Ron Paul is insignificant. You're all clueless. Go McCain/Romney 2008!!!!!!

[Patricia]

Ron Paul wants to end the War on Drugs.

Are you not allowed to mention this at the Times?

Seriously -- have you guys been censoring his platform?

This is really bad when candidates opposed to the War on Drugs aren't even allowed to be accurately described in the media.

SHAME on you.

[Gmartine]

Thanks for such a great article! Great morning read :)

oh, and I am a Ron Paul delegate in Nevada.

[deralaand]

Ron Paul supporters need to realize that complaining about the obvious media bias will do absolutely no good.

Ron Paul conservatives need to seek out McCain supporters . On a one to one basis, find out why they support McCain and listen to them. Talk to them and find out what they might not know about McCain.
Introduce them to a common sense point that Ron Paul speaks about.
They will at least walk away with a sense that they might need to do some research.
Be careful not to try to "convert" them. Simply appeal to the common sense that 99% of people possess.

[Marcia]

Well past past middle age, with s son in Iraq, I am tearing up here. No sarcasm. Thank you for rising to the occasion, Andrew. You are one of a precious few Americans with any power at all. May God protect your job, and your paper. It has only been since November 5 that I knew Paul had a chance, and got Real excited. Look what one man and a few patriots have done. I can't wait to see what happens next. Ron Paul Forever!

[Jay Seidler]

Andrew, you are a bright light in what seems a dark nation of deception now. I have been one to shun any ideas of conspiracy, but the treatment of Ron Paul by the MSM has really made me start to think that something very odd is going on. The most remarkable was how most of the major news media companies said little or nothing about Fox's refusal to include Paul in the NH debate. Keep up the good reporting.

[Josh]

Thanks Andrew,

There is not an a lot to smile about with respect to being a Ron Paul supporter but you did it I'm smiling :-)

[Josef]

I will be turning in my *cable* also, I have no more need for so called news from the glowing box. I get all of my information from the Internet. Good-bye CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC not to mention others.

The R3volution will not be televised.

[Sophie]

Thank you Andrew Malcolm. I am not a Ron Paul supporter, but I am sick of the mainstream media deciding which candidates deserve attention. Because of them, Obama and Clinton don't even need to buy their media time. And my favorites, Kucinich and Edwards were ubiquitously ignored. The corporations don't find their populist message interesting. I sympathize with and admire Ron Paul supporters. They've been able to sustain him, even without Billary and Obamania media coverage.

[Kathy from PA]

Thanks again, Malcolm. This is wonderful. At a time when I could be screaming at the top of my lungs about this mess, you make me laugh every time you post a Ron Paul article. We need more.

[David]

It wasn't Ron Paul, it was Mike Huckabee who doomed Romney. Paul was an irritant, Huckabee was the spoiler who took enough delegates and would continue to do so, that made Romney realize the end was inevitable. Had Huckabee dropped out, Romney would've stayed in. Had Paul dropped out, Romney still would've bailed.
The blogster clearly got swept up in Ron Paul dreamland.

[business gurus have failed us]

that was a fun article! Here in Minneapolis, 4000+ folks came to see Ron Paul at the U of M and he was visibly moved! Mitt Romney, on the other hand, only drew a few hundred and could only be ashamed.

i.e. capturing hearts is much more satisfying than capturing lobbyists.

[Dan in B-more, hon.]

Great blog. Obviously, it's drenched in hyperbole. But it does underscore an important set of points: Ron Paul continues onward, gaining more money, more votes, more delegates, and less competition.

The mainstream media (especially the Associated Press) want to anoint McCain and move on. I don't think the Republican Party is ready to give up on its values just yet.

[Brian]

Ron Paul. I think he's a great candidate and has a lot to say to America. I'm not sure how he will come out in the Republican convention, since many of the delegates get their information from the media, and the media is biased against anyone who cannot build a large delegate base. As we all know, too many citizens in this country make their decisions based on who is popular in the media and not on who is the right person for the job. Anyway, Ron Paul will be able to get his message out at the convention, which might make some people think for themselves, at least I hope so.

[Brian]

Wait a second! Huckabee will eventually run out of money and be out of the race and when everyone finds out that McCain is not a natural born citizen of the US and he's out, that would leave only Ron Paul left for the GOP. wow! Good job Ron Paul!

[Jim]

Paul has double the number of delegates Lincoln had when he went to convention, so who knows what that means.

[warispeace]

Andrew,
Your sarcasm overwhelms me. The fact is, Romney DID suspend his campaign because of Ron Paul. The powers-that-be are terrified of the possibility of a brokered convention, where Ron Paul might pull off a stealth victory, and that is the reason Romney was told to pull out. Now they can crown Mr. 100-years-in-Iraq-and-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran the presumptive nominee. According to Pat Buchanan, John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi’ - scary!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2008/070208McCain.htm

I say, not so fast! We're still here and we're not going away anytime soon. Ron Paul is the only voice of reason in this entire crazy race for the White House, at this critical time in history. He is the only one who has the solutions to the very serious problems we face as a country. That is why we Ron Paul supporters do not have a second choice. Ron Paul is the only choice. Unlike all the others, he is not doing this for himself. He is doing it for all of us. He is doing it for future generations. He is doing it for the whole world.

IMO, Ron Paul is the best presidential candidate this country has ever seen. Let's give him the chance to be the best President we've ever had.
http://www.ronpaul2008.com