Ron Paul scales back hopeless effort, refuses to back McCain

He's not really quitting. He's not really suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He's not promising victory, just to keep on keeping on. But, in effect, Rep. Ron Paul, at 72 the oldest candidate for president and the only GOP candidate to oppose the Iraq war, is facing reality.

In a statement to supporters on his website, first mentioned here early Saturday, Paul admits, "With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get." In a new 14-minute campaign video, Paul says he wants to clarify some confusion

His campaign currently claims a total of 42, 1,149 shy of the total to win and some 650 behind the GOP leader, though other estimates give him only 16. He took third in Washington over the weekend and fourth in Kansas behind even Mitt Romney, who'd dropped out. Even if he won every delegate still available, Paul could not capture the party's nomination in September in St. Paul, which is no relation.

Despite ridicule by other GOP candidates, despite getting significantly less time to speak during debates and, in one instance, even being barred from a GOP debate by Fox News although....

he'd collected more votes than those included, Paul repeated his vow not to attempt a third-party bid, which would drain priceless conservative votes from the party's nominee. "I am a Republican," he said, "and I remain a Republican." He did say he'd be reducing staff and offices.

Now, whether the 10-term congressman with the libertarian ideals, actually endorses Sen. John McCain is something else. Paul has said we should bring overseas troops home and invest the saved money in fixing America; McCain has vowed to stay overseas, especially Iraq, as long as it takes for success.

This morning Paul told one of our sister newspapers, "I cannot support anybody with the foreign policy he advocates, you know, perpetual war," said Paul. "That is just so disturbing to me."

In his website statement, Paul then alludes to probably the largest factor for his refocused campaign: He's trying to run simultaneously for president and his House seat in Texas' 14th Congressional District and faces a challenger in the March 4 primary, Chris Peden, a city councilmen from Friendswood. So Paul will be on two ballots that day.

"If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat," he said, "all our opponents would react with glee, and pretend it was a rejection of our ideas. I cannot and will not let that happen." In a new 14-minute campaign video, Paul says he needs to clarify confusion over his dropping out, that he is just altering his schedule to allow primary campaigning in his home district and he intends to compete fully in all remaining primaries and on to the convention.

Although largely ignored as irrelevant by many media outlets, though not The Ticket, the story of Ron Paul and his thousands of determined, sometimes aggressive, usually good-natured followers is one of the more interesting of the current election season.

Virtually spontaneously, disaffected Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and newcomers to the political process began gathering around the plain-spoken Paul last summer and with their nearly $20 million in smaller donations turned him into the most successful GOP fundraiser in the last quarter. On one day he raised $6 million online and was the only Republican to increase his contributions in every quarter of 2007.

With some 1,400 meet-up groups across the country, letter-writing and sign-waving campaigns and creative publicity stunts, they helped Paul to some second, fourth and fifth place finishes in states such as Nevada, Montana and Maine. He beat Rudy Giuliani in Iowa and Fred Thompson in New Hampshire and financed an eight-state advertising campaign.

His boosters, who worked the Internet assiduously to right wrongs and make Paul's case, maintain that a corporate-media conspiracy to ignore him prevented the former ob-gyn from getting his less-government message out to most Americans. He certainly was ignored and, only recently, included when providing poll results on TV. But additionally, his strict constitutionalist ideas for reducing the federal government and abolishing the IRS and Federal Reserve Bank and returning to the gold standard may be just too radical for a country today facing international terrorist threats and the current economic uncertainty.

Even the tone of hundreds of comments left here by Paul supporters changed in recent days from aggressive advocacy to reluctant acceptance of the disappointing reality of continued single-digit poll results.

It would be interesting if those supporters took the time here now to leave comments explaining why they think Paul never caught on to a wider audience (we already know about the media conspiracy) and what they think about his refocused campaign and their spent donations.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Martin]

It is really a shame that Ron Paul was shunned by Main Stream Media as a result of their views. What is more of a shame is who is being pushed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y395Tftgz0E

[Flo]

Paul hasn't quit and neither has his supporters. They are your next door neighbors. Hundreds of thousands of people now realize just how corrupt both our media in general and our elections have become. The vote fraud and backroom deals should make every American angry because their votes really don't count.

[Ms. Cris Ericson]

Hi! I hope Ron Paul stays in the RACE.
I live in Vermont.
Cris Ericson

[Jon]

I donated to the campaign, and have no regrets. Paul raised many valid points about the war in Iraq and the economy, points which would have been ignored if he wasn't there. He brought many new voters to the process, as well as reawakening many disaffected and formerly apathetic voters.

A message has been sent to the GOP, the voice of many who do not agree with big-government "conservatism" and interventionist foreign policies which cost us trillions of dollars, with questionable returns.

The question is, will the GOP listen? I don't think they will this time, and they will go down in flames in the general election. Maybe four years from now they will be a little wiser, and if so, my investment in Dr. Paul was money well spent.

Plus, those Federal Reserve notes aren't worth much anyway :)

[Michael OBrien]

There are a multitude of reasons Ron Paul never caught fire. The first reason was timing. Had he received his money bombs in July or August, rather than November and December, he could have built a national organization and planned an appropriate ad budget.
Secondly, Paul's Jeffersonian/Madisonesque ideals appeal to independents, and to a lesser extent--fiscally responsible democrats and to an even lesser extent--those republicans who haven't drunk the Neo-Con Kool-Aide. This required the large swath of his supporters to switch party affiliation. Many missed that deadline or were unaware that in many states, independents cannot vote republican.
Thirdly, the self-coronated moderators rationed debate time away from Paul and Thompson, and toward McCain, Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee.
And lastly, America is not ready to return to a republic with Constitutional governance. Corporatism and it's bought and paid for shills, who never met a lobbyist or pork spending project they didn't love, are so firmly ensconced in Washington, that a lone voice like Paul is shouting in the cold, dark wilderness. I long for the America our Founders created. The plain truth is if Jefferson and Madison were voting today, Dr. Paul would be their only option.

[politicalsanity]

In my eyes, the fight is not over.

Ron Paul may not win the GOP nomination this time, but he HAS energised a lot of previously apathetic voters into becoming involved.

It may take a while for the messages to percolate through, but his Revolution HAS begun. The Paulunteers will soon be changing the face and direction of the GOP, away from the neo-con empire building agenda and towards more Constitutionally mandated policies.

[tim, minnesota]

Cute story, I a Ron Paul support and precinct chair will remind everyone the delegate tally reported by the press is inaccurate for caucus states. The caucus state results only reflect straw poll results and not actual first tier delegate selection. In our Minnesota precinct, 42 folks voted about 1/2 for Romney as a protest vote against McCain. Then 22 folks left, we held elections and six of 10 open delegate spots were filled by Ron Paul supporters. This happened all over Minnesota last week even as Ron Paul only garnered 16% of the state straw poll. Those spots are what matters as the county district and state convention occur in Minnesota. Ron has great support in Minnesota and other states far exceeding the straw poll indicated by the media. There may be many surprised folks when the national Republican Party holds the convention this summer. To the diligent goes the prize. I can provide the crow should you need some this fall.

[AJ]

I blame the media almost exclusively. They would rather cover a monkey riding a rodeo dog than talk about less government, sound money and ending lucrative wars...Although I wished that the Paul campaign pushed harder for more mainstream endorsements, I doubt that anyone would have heard about them anyway. The fact that our own active troops support Ron Paul over ALL other candidates never "made" the news is a good example of the "blackout". People voted for McCain because they thought he was against the war! I am afraid that alot of Americans are just too far gone to ever wake up. I truly believe that we accomplished a major goal during this race....Starting the FREEDOM REVOLUTION!!! You will be hearing about hundreds of "Ron Paul Republicans" running for various offices both local and national in the years to come and I will be voting for all of them! God Bless America and support a new investigation of 9/11.

[Kirk Smith]

Here in Washington State, it has just come out that Ron Paul has won at least twice as many more statewide delegates than any other candidate.

McCain may have won the straw poll, but it now appears that Ron Paul has won what counts: the committed delegates to the convention.

Just thought you might wanna know.

[joe momma]

I think ron paul was ahead of his time, oddly enough. I think libertarianism will gain more momentum in the years to come.

[Boots920]

What happened to the recount in NH, money talks BS walks. Voter fraud reported in NH, Washington, New York.
Question: How can people outside the US respect the process when there is media black outs, world wide and no paper ballot. With coruption like this, who needs terrorists. You guys instead of a book burning, why don't you have a Constitution burning. For Leaders of the Free World, you suck...

[beava]

The R[evoL]ution is more than the presidency..it is a movement to restore our government. We are Ron Paul Republicans and we are not going away any time soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryMliyeIDp4

[Revolutionary]

First off... thank you SO much to the Ticket for it's continued support. I am more for Ron Paul today than I was on Friday before my caucus in WA State. I am proudly a delegate, and I intend to see this through to the end - no matter where that is (St. Paul, here I come). We have the power now, we are the delegates. We understand the system, and with understanding comes the power to change the system. While the MSM thinks they can wrap it up into a paragraph, the Revolution keeps moving forward. Ron Paul is fighting in his normally uncontested district. Why, who is this guy who's running against him? Where is his money coming from? The GOP is scared because Ron Paul has a natural ability to gather all people to him, something they've tried to do with George W Bush. And failed miserably. Vote for Ron Paul, vote for freedom. The Revolution will not be televised.

[Michelle Gruber]

TO RON PAUL: Go as an independant. Everyone I talk to just does not want to support who is being 'voted' into democratic and replican vote now. I think this might be the year ,that if you focused your efforts on 'others' YOU just might win!!! I know of soooooo many who are campaining for you!!! So get your staff and supporters and focus on the independants....seriously!!!! YOU HAVE TIME!!!!!!!!!

[Mark Abraham]

It would be interesting if those supporters took the time here now to leave comments explaining why they think Paul never caught on to a wider audience (we already know about the media conspiracy) and what they think about his refocused campaign and their spent donations.

--Andrew Malcolm

Andrew, are you kidding? Paul's campaign is growing as you type impotently. His message of constitutional government is spreading like wildfire to American patriots hungry for the truth after having been starved for decades by a corrupt elitist group of neo-Tory traitors who have seized the reigns of government and spew their undemocratic propaganda from every pulpit they own. Having starved on this thin gruel, Americans are waking up and asking for beef. Not satisfied with diet coke, diet pepsi, and diet sprite as the single offering for the presidency from the ultra rich, Dr. Paul's ideas are clearly the Oatmeal Stout antidote they crave!

The ideas you claim never caught on are gaining momentum through face to face neighborhood action -- we canvassed for Ron Paul for two days before the primary in Atlanta and won our precinct -- TAKE NOTE PAUL PRECINCT LEADERS YOU WILL CONVERT HUNDREDS OF VOTERS JUST BY KNOCKING ON DOORS AND LEAVING FLYERS -- THE REVOLUTION IS NOW!!!

[zach]

Thank you Mr Malcolm for your continuous and genuine coverage of my favorite candidate, Dr. Ron Paul.

[Dave]

Simply I think Americans and the media would have voted for somebody like Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld for president over Ron Paul. I am sure the LA times would have advocated those two over Paul if they were running. At least the supporters of Rummy wouldn't be attacked as being anti-semetic racist kooks.

Why ? because I'm sure Americans would take the Iraq war planning by Rumsfeld and others like Paul Bremer to be "some of the greatest planning ever done in war to secure america from terrorists". I'm sure some of the talking head pundits would agree that Iraq had great post invasion planning.

For I know that the mainstream media and republican party thinks Ron Pauls ideas for foreign policy are worthless and unimportant and they'd do anything to support somebody like rumsfeld, who seems to make people laugh, cos he's such a good natured guy.

Lets face it - If Donald Rumsfeld was running for president, with the media and masses knowing what he did with Iraq post-invasion strategy, he would be considered a MAJOR contender in the presidential race.

[Bill]

I think that some of the reasons that Ron Paul didn't get as much support is because of the media in general. Most people today get their information in tidbits from the Main Stream Media. If his name is not constantly mentioned, people wouldn't know about him. I know every time I mentioned his name to friends, they would say they never heard of him.
Also Paul has started a movement and in any movement it takes time to develop, especially when you are going against the "establishment." If this movement keeps growing through the next few years. There could be some surprises in the next presidential election.
Most of his campaign was(is) run by people new to the political process and they had a learning curve. That doesn't go well when you are up against professional campaign people.

[tom]

The Republicans most likely to support Paul have drifted away from the party over the last 8 years. And there are potential Paul Republicans that never joined because of the last 8 years. And there are a lot of closed primaries. The rest of the story is special interests: a lot of people vote their "pocketbook". I'll bet Ron Paul gathered a huge percentage of the vote among those who have no immediate family member employed by the welfare/warfare state.

[John]

Mr Malcolm,

You sir, have been fair in your reporting on Ron Paul's campaign. Thank you.

I have been following RP's campaign for about a year and you are singular in my view. I don't know why there is such hostility to an anti-war, fiscally conservative Republican but there is. (This is only my seventh blog on RP and the three I made on Fox News blogs were deleted. I thought they were polite btw.) I feel, and it is fairly verifiable, that he has not gotten much coverage--especially since Jan 1 2008.

Still, he was in the debates and even with limited time and questions asked and framed that interviewers wouldn't dream of asking "top tier" candidates, he did not sway enough voters. The electorate is scared and confused. They may be institutionalized to large government and that coupled with the Nation's wars are pretty tall orders to overcome.

I believe a movement is underway now and slowly (maybe too late, though) it will return and scale back the Nation to its promise.

Thanks again for the fair coverage.

[John]

Ron Paul has not quit and neither have his supporters. This is just the beginning. There is a lot of work to do and we wont quit until the truth about the depth of curruption in our government, media, and banking industry are common knowledge. This is the age of information, knowledge is power, ignorance is slavery, mass media means mass ignorance.

[Rhys]

Andrew, you know good and well that Paul caught fire with tons of people who heard his message. The problem is, even when media outlets covered him, he was relegated to an aside and called longshot darkhorse.

I still want to know who's father is cruel enough to name them Darkhorse Longshot. Darth Vader?

The point is, even Newsmax put him on the cover with the headline "RON PAUL WONT BE PRESIDENT".

I mean, Andrew, media is respected for some odd reason. When the media, like the host of heavenly angels, in unison sings "Darkhorse Longshot wont win", honestly to God truth is "duh".

But when you say things like his platform is too crazy for people in this day in age of everything sucking, you smear him yourself.

Ron Paul asserts that those agencies and warring is what's caused all those problems. Almost no media outlet ever took that serious or looked truly into why. Ask yourself why millions of Americans are willing to go to the ends of the Earth to get Ron Paul's message out. Just saying "for some reason we flocked to his campaign" is ignoring the question, what was he offering? About 90% of the people who study what Ron Paul was talking about, come away agreeing with him.

However, the same media that couldn't be bothered to question the war BEFORE it started, are the same media that wont ask the emperor why he has no cloths.

Ron Paul did while being fully dressed himself.

Einstein was crazy and a scientific outsider, as are most geniuses. Ron Paul's just ahead (and behind) his time. The rest of you will catch up when it gets worse. He's told us supporters what to expect. We know. The rest of you listen to McCain and Billary. You're screwed.

[Nash]

"But additionally, his strict constitutionalist ideas for reducing the federal government and abolishing the IRS and Federal Reserve Bank and returning to the gold standard may be just too radical for a country today facing international terrorist threats and the current economic uncertainty."

That's why he didn't catch on. You nailed it. He's just too radical. Period.

I gave him money. I canvassed my neighborhood and I support him even beyond this current effot. But if you ask why he lost, look no further than that.

[Andrew Levine]

I watched something a couple of months back about how Nader got shut out of debates and media continuously. I don't even necessarily agree with Ron Pauls ideas, although many of them I do. I am voting for him because he is not suppose to win.

It is RIDICULOUS! How is this free? I makes no sense. If someone is running for President, THEY SHOULD BE FAIRLY HEARD. Gimme a break with all of this sarcastic wording on here. He is totally taken out of media coverage and debates, I have to personally tell people about him.

I am registering Republican so I can vote for Ron Paul, and yeah, in the Presidential Election, I just may write him in.

The Media and the people stopping freedom need to STOP.

It's pretty bad when I have to vote for someone because they are being screwed over!

[ted]

It seems that, unfortunately, the American people just don't realize how far their country has fallen. The powers that be have done a very convincing job of setting up establishment candidates who preach change, but practice nothing but politics as usual. Which means? Bending over backwards to secure coporate control of nearly aspect of our lives. Hyperbole you say? Check into some of the films available on GoogleVideo about the the Federal Reserve, or Codex Alimentarius, and you might be surprised.
Ron Paul has given hope to millions, both in America and abroad. I believe its only a matter of time, before the corrupt and decadent ruling class is finally torn down and replaced, with a goverment of the people, by the people, for the people. Thank you, Dr. Paul, for galvanizing a generation desperately in need of heroes.