Ron Paul lives! So does Elizabeth Kucinich's husband!

Rep. Ron Paul, the 72-year-old libertarian-like, 10-term Texas congressman who's also running for the Republican presidential nomination, easily won his 14th District primary Tuesday and is set for easy re-election in November.

With about half the precincts counted (what's the rush -- it's Texas) Paul was thumping Friendswood City Councilman Chris Peden by two-to-one.

Now, Paul can set his sights on this other old-timer, 71-year-old Sen. John McCain, who claims to have won more than the 1,191 GOP delegates for the Republican presidential nomination this September at the National Convention in St. Paul (no relation to the congressman).

Actually, Paul hasn't really won any Republican primaries in the current political season, though he did take some fourths and fifths and a couple of second place caucus finishes. And he controls somewhere between 12 and 42 delegates, depending on who's counting as if that matters anymore.

But just Paul's powerful presence, eloquence and outspoken defense of the Constitution has forced every other Republican party luminary out of the 2007-08 race, including Rudy Giuliani, who's now reduced to doing bit parts on "Saturday Night Live," Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Sam who's-its from Kansas and that grumpy guy from Virginia. Tuesday night, faced with the prospect of a hard-charging Paul on his tail, even former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee gave up, although he directed his concession speech at McCain to save face.

Paul, the only Republican presidential candidate to oppose the Iraq war, is no longer the oldest presidential candidate since the 74-year-old Ralph Nader began his quadrennial quest for 3% of the vote. Paul has declined to endorse McCain, which pretty much dooms the Arizonan's candidacy in the eyes of thousands of Ron Paul Revolutionaries.

Although they have been largely ignored by a media that thought the race involved ...

so-called front-runners like Giuliani and Romney, Paul's army of earnest, dedicated volunteers have fueled the GOP's most successful and recent fundraising quarter, when Paul amassed nearly $20 million. This year so far, according to Paul's campaign website, they've donated an extra $6.14 million.

These volunteers, many of them new to the political process, have organized some 1,400+ meet-up groups that wrote thousands of letters and hand-painted countless signs to wave at motorists in intersections and passing beneath them on interstate bridges all over the country. Their chatrooms coach supporters on what to say and how to say it to encourage broader political support.

These fans fervently scour the Internet at all hours for stories like this to comment on or correct. Some websites refuse to accept their comments so, uh, fervent are they and sometimes trite -- "Ron Paul 2008" and "the Revolution will not be televised." But we've welcomed most of them on The Ticket because they're so eager for dialogue, involvement and follow the day's political events with admirable intensity.

These folks also devised some of the most imaginative fundraising schemes from mini-music concerts to Boston Tea Party re-enactments to music videos to pinup calendars showing female Ron Paul fans with very little clothing on, which only Ron Paul supporters are allowed to click here to see.

There was confusion after Paul knocked Romney out of the presidential contest about the congressman continuing his presidential race because he said he needed to focus on his House primary. But Paul vows to continue to run his hopeless campaign as long as his supporters support him and his ideas of strict constitutionalism. And now that he's waxed Peden, McCain had better watch out. Not by coincidence, McCain quickly left Texas after Paul's win, allegedly to visit the White House today.

Paul's supporters will explain below that if it wasn't for a vast media conspiracy, led by Fox News in cahoots with big banks and oil companies who tell newspapers what to print, their candidate might very well be the one celebrating 1,191 GOP delegates today. How Paul supporters know their candidate has been ignored when they claim to no longer read newspapers is unexplained.

Anyway, a few blogs such as The Ticket have explained Dr. Paul's plans to drastically downsize the federal government, bring all overseas American troops home and abolish the Federal Reserve because it does bad things. But apparently few voters read blogs or they don't care about Ron Paul.

Paul supporters explain now that winning elections isn't the only measure of success in politics and that they are driving a historic idea of restoring American freedoms whose time will come and actual contemporary votes are irrelevant. All of which is what candidates say about votes when they don't get many.

Speaking of votes and hopeless causes, another presidential contender and House member, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, was getting a sufficient number Tuesday night to beat back four primary challengers in his home Cleveland district. The main competitor was City Councilor Joe Cimperman, who trailed Kucinich 52% to 33% in early returns, despite several endorsements by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The liberal Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic presidential race and, using his list of national donors, most of whom don't live in Cleveland on purpose, Kucinich raised a reported $700,000 to protect his congressional seat.

Some political observers, who won't admit it now and also don't live in Cleveland by choice, thought Kucinich was in political trouble at home because he was always off somewhere else running for president and driving his hopeless agenda of impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney over starting the Iraq war. Cimperman ran ads parodying Kucinich's quixotic presidential campaign absences, but obviously they didn't work too well.

Now, Republican state Rep. Jim Trakas will have his turn to unseat the former Cleveland mayor in the general election Nov 4.

(UPDATE: Late returns indicate Kucinich won his primary by a 50:35 margin while Paul won his 70:30.)

Meanwhile, Kucinich is still married to his wife, Elizabeth, who looks a whole lot nicer than he does. So we're publishing her photo instead.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo: Elizabeth Kucinich (Mark Duncan / Associated Press)

Comments

[Patrick Y]

For anyone who doubts that Ron Paul has been ignored by the media, read this study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism:

http://www.journalism.org/node/9610

[Freemarketman]

Maybe it's because you copy and paste that section containing the word "hopeless" every time you run a Ron Paul story. :-)

Since the bulk of the commentators here are Ron Paul supporters, I'm sure they will enjoy this excellent and hard hitting essay by Eric Englund on Central Banks.

http://freethemarketman.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/central-banking-the-depreciation-of-self-worth-and-decivilization/

PS: Andrew, this is not a spam comment. Read the essay and you'll see the importance of sharing it.

[John from Warren, MI]

Mocking, condescending sarcasm duly noted. The financial meltdown Ron Paul tried to warn you about appears as if it might be materializing even before November, which paradoxically might turn out to be good for HillBama. If you lose your job during the coming recession, you won't be getting any sympathy from us. You'll not only be unemployable in any productive endeavor, you'll be getting exactly what you asked for.

[Adrian]

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are two of the greatest politicians in America. I'm glad they both won and will be keeping a close eye on the MSN/Corporations/lobbies who really rule America.

Evil MSN can laugh all it likes, but if this article did't appear on the net only very wrinkly people would read it.

[Jon]

Um, Paul pretty much confirmed he will not win. I know your sarcasm is directed at the teenagers who get online and post dumb comments without really reading the articles, but it makes it look like you think Paul is an idiot. He knows where he stands, and the only reason he is still in the race is to spread his message. He knows he won't win, just as Huck knew he wouldn't win once Romney gave his delagates to McCain.

p.s. Paul supporters stopped reading the newspapers AFTER seeing that they were ignoring him.

[Mark W.]

Well that was good for a few yucks. I am a fervent Ron Paul supporter, and I have never really even considered an electoral victory as plausible.

I can only speak for myself, but there are probably one or two people who would agree that Dr. Paul is a fine role model. He is a man that Americans should respect and listen to. I cast my vote in yesterday's Texas primary for him, and he'll be my write-in candidate on Election Day (unless he counsels otherwise, and then we'll see).

We've all seen the Ghandi quote ad nauseum. I'm going to have to say that we're still in the "laughing" phase. But we'll see who is laughing in the next election cycle when you have a totally new pool of "likely republican voters" to poll.

[gårcho]

Ron Paul is insane. He would never be elected over and over again if it weren't for two things: the people of Texas are notorious idiots, and his policies are never put in place. If they were they would be completely, irreversibly devastating to our economy and through chain reaction, our entire civilization would collapse. It's so frustrating that his supporters believe in so many righteous ideals yet don't bother to actually follow them up with rational analyzation. I applaud his supporters for feeling like they're do doing something good for America, but feeling like you're doing something good isn't good enough to justify voting for the executive of the country. You have to know you're doing something good, and Ron Paul's policies don't hold up under any logic or reason. Now, please stop your whining and go home.

[Josh]

Where does this quote come from:

"The amount of dollars you have to give up for a barrel of oil is going to increase because the dollar is purchasing less and less."

A Ron Paul speech? No, a lead article in Tuesday's LA Times about the cost of gasoline.

Whether or not people want to admit it, Ron Paul is influencing the country.

[Kevin]

Having gone to battle with the corporate controlled “Bank of the United States”, and won, ending its continuance, President Andrew Jackson said this in his farewell speech, "We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, thus organized, and with such a weapon in its hands, would be likely to use it. The distress and alarm which pervaded and agitated the whole country, when the Bank of the United States waged war upon the people in order to compel them to submit to their demands, cannot yet be forgotten. The ruthless and unsparing temper with which whole cities and communities were oppressed, individuals impoverished and ruined, a scene of cheerful prosperity suddenly changed into one of gloom and despondency, ought to be indelibly impressed on the memory of the people of the United States. If such was its power in a time of peace, what would it not have been in a season of war, with an enemy at your doors. No nation but the freeman of the United States could have come out victorious from such contest; yet, if you had not conquered, the Government would have passed from the hands of the many to the hands of the few; and this organized money power, from its secret conclave, would have dictated the choice of your highest officers, and compelled you to make peace or war, as best suited their own wishes. The form of your Government might for a time have remained, but its living spirit would have departed from it."
There were the panics and resulting recessions / depressions of 1811, 1837-41, 1873 (demonetizing of silver), 1893, and 1907, all of which benefited the “money power”. Then the Fed came into being in 1913 (along with the Federal income tax), giving the “money power” / government” the greed / power partnership they were seeking. In 1921 we had the Agricultural depression (documented in Edward E. Kennedy’s book, “The Fed and the Farmer”), where thousands of small farms were destroyed along with the small banks (the intended victims) that had made loans at low interest rates. We had the stock market crash in 1929, which worsened our recession, which Fed policies allowed to grow into the great depression (confirmed by Ben Bernanke at Milton Freidman’s 90th birthday celebration). The Fed protected their corporate interests, worldwide, as Americans were left starving, where these unknowing Americans embraced Roosevelt’s / the money power’s “New Deal” socialism.
Senator Louis T. Mcfadden said it best in his 1930s 25 minute speech against the Fed, "Mr. Chairman, when the Fed was passed, the people of these United States did not perceive that a world system was being set up here…that this country was to supply the financial power to an international superstate. A superstate controlled by international bankers, and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure”.

[Brandi]

The media can convince the masses not to vote for Ron Paul, but they cannot make him wrong. That's the beauty of supporting someone whole-heartedly; you don't compromise in the end to be on the side that's winning. If he's not on the ballot in November, I'll cherish that once-in-my-lifetime vote for Ron Paul (past primary) and wear my RP t-shirts until the thread no longer holds them together. Thank you for the article.

[Jon Phillips]

My parents have failed us. They only vote once every 4 years and expect to be represented. Nobody care about people who only poke their head up every 4 years. Me and my friends laugh all the time at our parents and their shallow political views. All the time they'll say something like "obama is a muslim", or his middle name is hussein. Or my favorite, "she's a woman", or my dad's logic he served in the military i'm with him.

The future is hear it's our time now, they might of suppressed Ron Paul this time but look at the numbers. Things will be different in 2012, people know who their enemies are now. Save your fear tactics i'm not afraid. I've turned off my TV, and turned my brain back on. 4 years of "more of the same" or "change" that never comes will only help our cause.
You can almost see it on the horizon!

[Stephen]

"Maybe somebody at LA Times can moonlight as a journalist and get on that scoop." - hahaha.

Andrew - Is this a career, or just something you happen to do when you're not being downright hilarious?

(Thank you, Stephen, I think. We're just telling stories here as the 2008 political parade passes by. And sometimes I can't help myself. I'll try to control my base instincts and appreciate your regular visits and reading.)

[Jon Phillips]

Mr. Malcolm,

Go find your place in line!

I make my own decisions.

Ron Paul for Pres, for our future.

(As well you should. I'm sure not trying to tell you whom to vote for. Don't you think this is one of the most fascinating years for politics in recent memory? So many twists and turns. Great to have you and all the others along for this wild ride.)

[Liandro]

I have appreciated the fact that you have continued to cover Paul. And I appreciate the fact that you inserted a picture of Kucinich's wife in place of Dennis himself.

I was and am a big fan of Paul's, and I'm glad he ran, but I understood the degree to which it was an uphill battle. You were more then fair over the course of the election. Thank you.

[Sitting-Bull]

Despite the irony, the US election system is a farce, scum if you want to say. Money, Media and Military dominate the process.

If the media had done their supposed job, that is to report news and not to distort them, the Ron Paul Revolution would surely caught fire.

Nobody wants to be associated with wackos and so on. And how often did the media called Ron Paul and his revolutioners nut jobs, wackos, Ron Paul a long shot candidate. Now we get the candidate you chosen for us- we demand accountability if it ends in another disaster like Bush.

Regards from Germany

[Dave]

I have to admit, this made me laugh. I can appreciate some self-deprecative humor once in awhile. The really funny thing though, is that some of the tongue in cheek comments are actually true.
(The Federal Reserve does bad things.)
Yup.
(The banks and oil companies are in collusion and tell newspapers what to print.)
Again, yes, although in a top down orginizational structure, it's not like Mr. Malcolm has an agent of the new world order standing with a gun to his head.
Rather, it is editorial direction, and journalism that appeals to a certain way of talking about issues and elections that is perceived to be in line with the mainstream. Of course, this perception is subtly created from the top down. Like for example, if someone had been working at enron, they wouldn't necessarily know their bosses were cokking the books. But by working on the projects assigned, they were actively participating in the fleecing, even though they were not actually aware of it. This is how all the globalist institutions like the CFR and WTO work. Only the top tier have a coherent picture of the goals and power structure. The lower members just fall in line to increase their own influence within what they legitimately perceive as the power structure.

[voiceofthepeople]

That's right. Privacy rights' advocate Ron Paul lives and big government, do-gooder Huckabee's endorsement of anyone played backwards indicates he is well you know. Poof (Puff). Hallelujah! Cigarettes won't be banned in all 50 states. Live Free or Die.

[Brian]

Just think if the Federal Reserve was controlled by our government. Our government could collect all that interest and maybe pay off the debt, issue free health care, schooling.. soo on!!!

After McCain is exposed of his corruption, and not being born in the states, default now goes to Ron Paul. At least Ron will be heard and the people can choose for themselves.

Go Ron Paul

[DJ]

C'mon, Mr Malcom! I've lurked through quite a few of your blogs and even though I must thank you for at least reporting something about the campaign, you and I both know very well that Ron Paul has got the shaft from the MSM. I'm only kidding, but...

"Do you take your marching orders from Al-Qaeda?"

(Uh, no. Definitely not. Pls see my nearby explanation I think it may be below here. I can never rememeber how these nearly 20,000 comments stack themselves. It's not as evil as you think, although I understand the impact is adverse anyway. All we can do is all we can do, write our own items and pay attention to the subjects that we think are interesting and important, which is why we unlike so many blogs have paid so much attention to the Paul phenomenon, especially his followers, who are admirable. You might notice in the subject "cloud" to the right here that Dr. Paul is the only candidate so far to have his own subject line because we've written so much about him. Click on it and you can go back to last summer to see the items if you want. And we intend to continue to write about him and the campaign. So if some evil corporate giant is sending us secret messages to ignore him, they ain't getting through. Thanks for coming and reading and your patience.)

[Christina]

Mr. Malcom,
I love you.
Marry me!
LOL
Chris

[David A.]

Hi gentlemen. Enjoy your coverage on Ron Paul, even if your sarcasm is biting.

Is it possbile you, who are part of the MSM, don't have a grasp on your own ability to shape perception ?

Even the act of choosing not to write news reports on certain persons or events, is a volitional act of the will. (and if those persons or events were truly newsworthy, would constitute a 'sin' of omission, would it not ?)

I won't repeat the prior posts, who did a great job showing how the MSM's collective decision, at a crucial juncture, to ignore Ron Pauls acheivements led many to believe he was no longer running.

This definetly had the effect of demoralizing those who cheered his message.

We have beome a nation of sheep.

The Lord Jesus Christ, in the gospels, referred to the masses as 'sheep, without a shepherd'. And we Christians (yes there are a devoted number amongst RP supporters) are also called the Lord's sheep.

This analogy might be lost upon our urbanized culture, but it's not a compliment he was giving us.

Sheep are dumb, easily frightened, easily mislead, practically defenseless. (OK, maybe they're cute, too...) But the point is, we are too easily satisfied with pat answers that confirm us in our comfort zones.

So a man like Ron Paul comes along, and plays the role of "Prophet" and to some degree, 'shepherd' - but we dumb sheep desire neither.

We are pretty comfortable in the old familar pastures. We've heard tell, rumors, of the greener, taller grass beyond the far hills, but we all think it's a fairy tale. Not worth the effort. Unverifiable.

And the media, verify for us, most of our perceptions that keep us there - they question the sanity & veracity of the 'Prophet' - they deny the existance of other pastures, or the possibility of lush green, tall grasses.

(Of course they do. Their paychecks come from the men who maintained the fences & grazing contracts on the old pastures, right ?.....)

(Well, I don't know much about livestock, but I can tell you that speaking for myself, believe it or not, at neither of the two large news corporations I've worked at for some 40 years has anyone ever told me what to write. Especially here on the blog we have incredible freedom to write what we want when we want about whatever subject. My experience in life in and out of journalism suggests that whenever you smell a conspiracy, more likely the accurate explanation is simple human stupidity. And it's coincidental. Fact is, Dr. Paul's staff were not always as savvy as some about attracting attention to him. And until you get inside the campaign's sympathizers and hear their passion and eloquence, it can seem like a loony effort. And some of Dr. Paul's commenters in certain places add to that reputation. Not here because we made the effort. And I can see what you see. I'm not trying to convince you, just explain it from my inside perspective.)

And we being sheep, go along, by staying put.

Only by following a true shepherd (s), and ignoring the false or misleading ones, can we ever leave these barren pastures.

I'm not deifying Dr. Paul.

I am recognizing that his conclusions & solutions can generally only be embraced by those who desire to repent of wrongdoing - and not just in religiously 'safe' ways. Our culture is awash in false shepherds with false & misleading messages.

(Honestly, It is even OK to have a personal type of repentance, as long as it is safely locked away inside us. However, when it dares to leave us personally, and threatens to bring change to the system....then the offensiveness of True repentance is manifest.)

One way to spot a false shepherd & message is that it will promise us 'change & personal benefit, without costing you, personally'.

A true shepherd & message will point out that there is a firm, transcendent standard of right & wrong & our pain is a result of trying to violate that Standard. Our healing consists of changing our ways to conform to that standard, so that we're in harmony with it & can benefit by that harmony.

The first is a pleasureable mirage, but deceptive denial of reality.

The second is nothing less that admitting reality itself - and the futility of fighting it.

Which shepherd & message we are commited to will determine the direction of the nation.

"A nation of sheep will in time beget a government of wolves"

David Alan

[ART DEKKO]

REMEMBER TO TELL YOUR GRANDCHILDREN HOW, IN 2008, FOR THE VERY 1ST TIME, A FINE, HONEST, US PRESIDENT RON PAUL, WAS ELECTED IN THE TRULY "DEMOCRATIC" WAY.....BY WRITE-IN VOTE.

AND JUST THINK.....

YOURS AND MINE WERE TWO OF THEM!

[Karl]

Gold tops $1000, the dollar loses 55% of its value vis-a-vis the euro, the house projects Iraq war to cost 2.4 trillion...hooray let's vote for global depression and a 100 year war in 2008. WE CAN DO IT! Vote Barack McClinton '08.

[Agent Smith]

"These fans fervently scour the Internet at all hours for stories like this to comment on"

I've been on for 5 minutes browsing for a story, to see what's new. Don't flatter yourself.

(Never. But you found us. And so did a ton of others so far today. Thanks to you and them for the visit.)

[Robespierre]

Very droll, Mr Andrew Malcolm -- and I write that affectionately as someone who became a libertarian at the U of Chicago most likely around the time that you were still in diapers! In an age of irony & cynicism it's refreshing to encounter a young person getting involved in civil discourse in such a witty & positive manner. Nonetheless, Ron Paul still did a great job of carrying the message of individual liberty, personal responsibility, fiscal prudence, and an anti-imperialistic foreign policy to a nation of voters whose tolerance for political unconventionality is essentially nil.

(And I will repeat here my salute to you and the others for your profound involvement in the political process. So many people seem to be just cheerleaders when it's convenient but I've found over the months the Paul supporters to be genuinely involved and engaged and we thank them here at The Ticket for sharing their insights-- o.k., sometimes some are mad -- with us. Hats off. I also love your online name. Very historic! Please don't knife us.)