UPDATE: Hold on! Ron Paul did NOT quit the GOP presidential race

(UPDATE: Though Ron Paul stopped short of telling supporters in Texas Thursday night that he was quitting, his campaign website posted a statement overnight that he is indeed packing it in. "It is time now to take the energy this campaign has awakened and channel it into long-term efforts to take back our country," Paul said.)

Throughout yesterday afternoon and evening news reports flashed all over the Internet that Republican Rep. Ron Paul was going to officially end his hopeless presidential campaign.

ABC News said the campaign, "a pugnacious, ideological crusade against big government and interventionist leanings in the Republican party, will officially end Thursday at a rally outside the Texas GOP's convention."

A European wire service that we won't identify (we'll call it AFP) said: "Maverick Republican White House candidate Ron Paul, a rival to his party's presumptive nominee John McCain, announced late Thursday he is dropping out of the U.S. presidential race."

A certain Washington blog about the campaign Trail reported last night: "Texas Rep. Ron Paul is officially ending his presidential campaign." Even keen observer and enthusiastic Ron Paul supporter Lew Rockwell appeared to give up hope.

But just you wait one Texas minute! We know better than that here at The Ticket.

Once before, three months ago, Paul put out a video message to his hundreds of thousands of supporters saying he was "winding down" his campaign. And we fell for that one, hook, line and libertarian sinker. We wrote that the 72-year-old, 10-term congressman "appears to be....

... -- this is so hard to write -- if not quitting, then almost certainly sort of stopping his race for the Republican nomination for president. Probably."

But hundreds of Paul supporters -- see, we didn't call them longshot Paultards -- descended on The Ticket's comment area and informed us of the error of our words. That we were not only wrong but dead wrong. We didn't know anything. Neither did our parents. Or anyone at the leftist neocon L.A. Times, especially our editors. We kind of agreed with some of that.

They said Dr. Paul will never give up. And lo and behold, he didn't. The videotape was a trick. Paul kept campaigning and selling his new bestselling book all over while his operatives kept maneuvering at county and state GOP conventions to gain control of grass-roots operations and boost their delegates, which the Associated Press puts at 24.

Yes, yes, that's more than 1,000 short of ambushing McCain's nomination victory. But you see, we now understand, thanks to many instructive and yes, well, blunt and, OK, even crude comments, that the Ron Paul Revolution isn't really about winning, as strange as that may seem in normal political terms.

Nor is it about Paul, we've been taught.

It's about changing the long-term way Republicans think, away from being a political party that simply wears better suits than Democrats into one that truly believes in smaller government, less foreign intervention, canning the Federal Reserve and abandoning the United Nations.

Our perceptive Times colleague, Scott Martelle, knew that too as a loyal Ticket reader and guest blogger. In his news story for this website and today's print editions, Martelle notes astutely that Paul's rambling speech stopped short of actually saying he was quitting his campaign.

He talked instead about "shifting gears" and "a technical change" to launch a vigorous new effort, the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty, using the nearly $5 million left from his successful $34.5-million presidential fund-raising effort over these last 17 months.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Paul actually raised more money than millionaire Mitt Romney, who seems to print the stuff in the basement of one of his many homes.

True, Paul's old website carries an obviously counterfeit message claiming Paul is ending his presidential campaign. But that site has clearly been hijacked by neocons and other dastardly demons determined to undermine libertarian unity, to confuse Paul's 1,400 meet-up groups and to build that somehow subversive highway across Texas that could maybe undermine American sovereignty like a sinkhole and cause Canada to take over all 50 states. (57, if you're an Obama Democrat.)

First, if Paul officially quit the campaign, he'd lose control of his delegates under party rules, the one little pocket of power that might give him some leverage for platform phrasing or a speaking spot at the Republican National Convention in early September in St. Paul (no relation).

Second, if Paul was giving up like those better-known Republican wusses from Arkansas and Massachusetts, he would likely be endorsing McCain as a gesture of party unity, something that simply ain't gonna happen, if only because Paul opposes everything about the Iraq war, wants an immediate withdrawal and those resources spent on America's own pressing needs. Wait a minute, that sounds kind of, dare we say it, Democratic.

And fourthly, no thirdly, if Paul was really quitting, why would he also announce a parallel gathering of the Paul gang -- possibly 11,000 strong if they fill the Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Sept. 2 during the Republican convention across the Mississippi River?

He also wants to register by then 100,000 members of his new liberty campaign, which may not be too hard since he received 1.1 million votes during GOP primaries this election season.

Paul will have plenty of time to gather those new members at grocery stores and carpet outlets because he is unopposed in his House district for election to his 11th term on Nov. 4.

Texas Democrats may be divided over Hillary and Barack, but they're not dumb enough to challenge a septuagenarian former ob-gyn named Ron Paul, who acted worried this spring and only got 70% of the GOP primary vote.

In the end, whether one Ron Paul campaign stops or another begins may matter more to nonbelievers than to -- what shall we call them? -- Paulites, Paulers, Paulicans.

"We will be a permanent presence on the American political landscape," Paul vowed Thursday evening. "That I promise you. We're not about to let all this good work die."

And, by golly, The Ticket  will be there too with full, often fair coverage.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo Credits: Associated Press / Jim Cole; RonPaul2008.com

Comments

[scott]

Only you and Scott Martelle got it right so far. I wonder whether the media is getting frustrated with never getting the Ron Paul story correct. From my count the media has announced four times Ron Paul was dropping out of the race, which goes to show the laziness in media today. If you listen to his speech Ron Paul expects to increase number of his delegates at the Republican convention. I hope you're there to report on that event as well.

[TPMalone]

Thank you for opening up our hearts and eyes Dr. Paul.
You have forever changed the lives of millions.

Though the candidacy for President has ended. The movement has just begun.

[Eric]

Thank you. Thank you for finally writing a piece about possibly the greatest friend you, I and all of america could ever hope for. I have learned that it would be wise to never underestimate the human instinct to be free. Never. Never find yourself at the opposite end of that effort.

[Mark]

I wish him much luck... (can you say Ralph Nader?)

[spinnikerca]

You are a cruel man.

Dammit, he quit the campaign.

Doesn't mean nothing could ever prevail to change his mind and come back differently by November....and if Baldwin let him in, he'd have partial ballot access.... (still spinning, here...)

Joined his new (not party, what, caucus?). Definitely in in for the long haul.

Thanks for your coverage.

Up to us to give you something to cover.

Stay tuned.

[Sandra]

Just call us Patriots and members of the Campaign for Liberty. We have a platform, it's called the Constitution - surely you remember it?

[Darla]

What are you up to Andrew? I don't detect the usual condescension to Ron Paul and his supporters in this column. Have you done your homework? Have you seen Aaron Russo's America: From Freedom to Fascism? Do you finally understand that democracy is slavery and that America was founded as a constitutional republic? That democracy is a concept shoved down the throats of ignorant Americans by neocons running Washington who belong to both parties?
I hope so... if Americans don't use liberty they'll lose liberty. Ron Paul has made many aware that we live in a republic and not a democracy where the majority rules.

[Jon Iscream]

Don't be surprised if McCain is not the Republican party's candidate. If he is, don't be surprised if a 3rd party candidate wins this race. Eventually America is going to get tired of the 'communist' media trying to steal their way of life. Eventually may be now!

[Ben]

Funny article, but what we Paultards are fighting for is of deadly import to this country. Words have meanings, and the definition of liberty is a concrete thing: the sovereignty of your individual self, and the power to live your own life without someone charging you a tribute or demanding you ask them permission. Liberty is something drastically different from what we have today.

If you need government permission to start a business, drive a car or even get married (three things that require a "license" from the government -- look up the definition of license), that is the definition of a police state. And we pay for that police state with half of what we produce, in the taxes we pay to the various levels of government. This might be a very comfortable country to live in, but that only makes it a very comfortable police state. Is stability so dear, is comfort so sweet to be bought at the price of chains and slavery? I find that notion repugnant.

[Charles]

Mr. Malcolm,

I very much enjoyed your article and your sense of humor.

Best regards,

Charles

[Dan]

Have you figured it out yet? The official campaign and the groundroots campaign are not coordinated. They have different minds and intentions of their own, and neither really knows what the other's intentions are. Not to mention that groundroots campaign is decentralized too, so there is no unitary goal. There is just a lot of different people doing a lot of different things, and somehow it gels together for the maximum impact.

[dharper]

Ron Paul is one of only a handful of politicians, of either stripe, since Barry Goldwater to truly voice what conservative government actually should envision.

The problem is that a vast number of our citizens don't subscribe to that viewpoint simply because living off the government would come to a halt.

The greatest loser would be the IRS system since almost all of those parasites would be put out of work.

We R.Paul masses can't win the nomination but Ron Paul can and will make an indelible impression during the convention. The Republican Party cannot afford to have his supporters "stay home" at election time in November and allow the Dems to prevail.

Let's return to a Constitutional America and bring a halt to "political correctness" to salve every bleeding heart who perceives that they are being ignored and who require "Big Brother" to solve their problem.

[z]

Don't be ridiculous. Paul, just as McCain and Obama, have ALL ended their campaigns for the PRIMARIES for presidency by default. There are no votes left for wich they could campaign. The primaries are over you see. In light of this fact, the bulk of this article is rendered useless information.

[AndrewKilla]

Muffled (old,cheap, for hire) Hit machine
I thinks that's what best describes you. Yours is the worst kind of journalism that can be bought in the market nowadays, and so is your (toilet) paper LATimes. They reminds me of the 'tub girl'

Would you like to have a alternate 'hompage' like this one.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=bill_oreilly

but the only problem is people don't read you that much and hardly know anything about you. I'll ask for you opinion regarding the layout/design of the website as work progresses.

[KeyserSoze]

Wow, thank you. Thank you for finally giving Ron Paul a fair shake. I will end by saying, that I always knew Ron Paul couldn't win. I always knew he would have to withdraw. All I wanted was to let the GOP know I am not a party man. I have one final trick up my sleeve to prove it to them. I will be writing Dr. Ron Paul in. Hopefully then Jesus Obama Christ will get elected and the whole country will slide into the toilet, and in 2012 the GOP will be forced to pander to us Paultards.

[Morgan Hancock]

I think your peace sign is cool.
And thats all.

[LC]

The real question is... Will Malcom continue to cover RP just to keep his readership up?

You can't deny the avid, and often over-zeallous behavior of Dr. Paul's supporters. He gives us something to believe in again. With talk a freedom and liberty, he gives us a genuine reason to relate to each other.

There is no compariason. This movement is not about the short term, it never was.

[Zanshin]

Yes, a new campaign for liberty has been launched, but the 2008 Presidential Campaign is over. Official announcement on the campaign web site splash page here http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

[Jim]

He is the only reason I registered to vote, the only person that appears to have integrity, the whole voting system is an american scam!

[Korver]

gonig on 12 hours and my grassroots orgnization site is still hijacked. Get this message out people,

[Zephram Stark]

You can call us 'United States Citizens' and those in Washington D.C. who are trying to undermine the Constitution of the United States 'Domestic Enemies'.

[Paul Furlong]

Well, who cares how he does it, just as long as he does. One might call Dr. Paul sneaky in the way he runs his campaign, but how sneaky was mainstream media by ignoring him when he was upfront?

Freedom has a ring to it. This old coot is ringing hell out of it. Besides, Who else is qualified to be president? Certainly not the three stooges. Let Freedom Ring!

[belle]

I have been voting since 1972 and Ron Paul has excited me like no other candidate. I will never vote for ObamcCain. Not since 1988 have I voted for a Republicrat. I vote on principle and refuse ever again to hold my nose while voting.

Maybe if other media people had reported on Ron Paul like the LA Times blog, it would have been different. But so it is and I've always believed the r3VOLution is more than about one man. It is a grassroots movement of ordinary, concerned Americans like me. And you can't kill it. Long live the r3VOLution!

[Adam]

Ron Paul was the only person to ever get me interested in Politics, and for that I thank him, all other politicians appear to be exactly the same when compared to Ron Paul. I know who I'm voting for in the general election..Ron Paul

[carolinanc]

we all know that hillary didn't end her campaign...she's just waiting for that perfect sniper fire for bomama and his baby's mama...hehehe....

may all the demoncrats rot for their bomama votes