Ron Paul Rules Out 3rd Party Run, Scales Down Campaign
From Dr. Paul:
“Whoa! What a year this has been. And what achievements we have had. If I may quote Trotsky of all people, this Revolution is permanent. It will not end at the Republican convention. It will not end in November. It will not end until we have won the great battle on which we have embarked. Not because of me, but because of you. Millions of Americans—and friends in many other countries—have dedicated themselves to the principles of liberty: to free enterprise, limited government, sound money, no income tax, and peace. We will not falter so long as there is one restriction on our persons, our property, our civil liberties. How much I owe you. I can never possibly repay your generous donations, hard work, whole-hearted dedication and love of freedom. How blessed I am to be associated with you. Carol, of course, sends her love as well.
“Let me tell you my thoughts. 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. But with so many primaries and caucuses now over, we do not now need so big a national campaign staff, and so I am making it leaner and tighter. Of course, I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican party, so there will be no 3rd party run. I do not denigrate third parties—just the opposite, and I have long worked to remove the ballot-access restrictions on them. But I am a Republican, and I will remain a Republican.
“I also have another priority. I have constituents in my home district that I must serve. I cannot and will not let them down. And I have another battle I must face here as well. If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, 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 the presidential race and the congressional race, I need your support, as always. And I have plans to continue fighting for our ideas in politics and education that I will share with you when I can, for I will need you at my side. In the meantime, onward and upward! The neocons, the warmongers, the socialists, the advocates of inflation will be hearing much from you and me.”
February 8th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
It is time for those who feel strongly about our our freedom to get out there and make a difference on a local and state level…I’m going to figure out how to run for something, and make a difference. We all can do the same locally and protect ourselves and our blind nation from those who want to destroy us from within.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:07 am
i would only add that McCain is on his last legs. he is a real nutjob, and his health is poor, and i wouldn’t expect him to hold up well over the next 7 months now that he is front and center. he also has many skeletons in his closet that will come out to haunt him. McCain will go down, and Paul may very well be the last man standing.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Well, Dr. Paul sure knows how to take them to the dance and then leave with the other guy!
Now let’s see if the LP can actually capture any of that movement.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Gary Johnson needs to bribed, flattered, cajoled into running as soon as possible.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:42 am
I feel for all the Paul supporters.
Well, from going from an election year full of promise to another round of tedium so quickly. I mean, I assume now that Bloomberg and Paul are out. And if Obama gets the Dem nod, and there are no other “big name” indie/third party candidates, I can not imagine McKinney would want to run. No one wants to be another Ralph Nader! Ooops!
February 9th, 2008 at 1:03 am
A bit disappointing, but I’m still looking forward to continuing supporting this campaign, and rejoining the LP.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Come on Ron, please change your mind!
February 9th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Great. Now we can get on with it and get behind someone who will actually be on the ballot.
February 9th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Praise the Lord! Finally Free of Ron Paul! He cops to being a republican & determined to work within that party for his ideas. & run for reelection to Congress & not run third party. So now everyone can start supporting the REAL libertarian candidates. &...I told you so!
February 9th, 2008 at 6:02 am
I’ll give him a round of applause. He fought hard, he fought admirably. I wonder though what the reaction will “I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican party… I am a Republican, and I will remain a Republican.”
I’m sure there will be many who feel betrayed by those comments. Nonetheless, he gave it a good shot but he will be looking for the exit soon. His remaining schedule shows that he wrapping it up with big lapses in between activities.
I’ll probably buy his book when it comes out.
February 9th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Hey, RP told everyone repeatedly that he had no intentions of running again as a third party candidate, so why are people acting surprised and hurt? The man did what he said he’d do, which is what he does. I wish he’d run as a Libertarian, but I never thought he would.
So what do Libertarians do now? As of today, I’d estimate that there’s about a 35% chance we will wind up with Wayne Root as our Presidential nominee, a 25% chance that it will be Steve Kubby, 15% Christine Smith, 15% George Phillies and 10% someone else. Those odds could change rapidly, especially if someone else enters the race, but right now that’s my best guess. I urge all Libertarians to visit each candidate’s website and get behind whomever they find most appealing.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:06 am
What else is there to say….RP is a republican. At our local level we have supported RP, been a part of the meetup groups, canvassed neighborhoods, bought literature and signs, and generally helped out in any way we could. At the same time we have always introduced ourselves as Ron Paul Libertarians not republicans, we have always softly debated the border issue and tried to let people know that the border issue is better solved thru ending the welfare system, not taking taxpayer dollars to blow on eminent domain and funding a “fence to nowhere”. Some get it, some don’t…. we have tried to recruit the ones we can. Good Luck to RP and we will support him in any future endeavors that we can, but now is the time to focus on LP business. I personally have warm feelings for Goldwater, Reagan, and now Paul kind of goes into that category. RP has done alot for the freedom movement and for that I am personally grateful. It should be our duty as libertarians to now elect a candidate that embodies our total beliefs….I believe that at the front of our movement candidates such as Kubby, Phillies and possibly Smith can step up and make us proud. Until Mr. Root disavows himself of the pro war rhetoric and takes the N.A.P seriously I will personally not support him in any way even if he is our nominee. The convention in Denver will be important, in many more ways than just the election of our presidential candidate. I look forward to meeting people that I see posting on here often especially Mr. Holtz and Capozzi. Although we do not agree on what the direction of the libertarian party should be…I respect the process and their input. Also, a big thanks goes out to Steve for providing a forum to shed light on our issues and the issues of all third parties.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I hope this web site with Ron Paul’s announcement he will not run as a Third Party candidate will stop with the rumors or do you not believe Ron Paul. He only said he won’t run like a million times in this campaign so far. I commend Dr. Paul as always for being consistent and true to his word. Boy, I hope Ralph Nader runs to provide more voices and more choices. I just can’t vote for McCain or Hillary.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Methinks what you’ll see is Ron Paul running his presidential campaign hard all the way to the convention and trying to woo as many Romney and Huckabee delegates as possible. There are STILL 950 delegates out there to be won at the polls!
PLUS, he’s got Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and various other Right-Wing mouthpieces bashing both McInsane and Huckadoodle.
Then, if he doesn’t win the GOP nomination, I predict he will put his weight (& campaign re$ource$) behind either the Libertarian or Constitution Party nominee so as to direct the anti-McCain vote that way. Whichever 3rd party it is will RISE and make this a very interesting 3-way race in November.
*** PLEASE PRAY FOR N-CEL: No Electronic voting or counting!!
February 9th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I thought it would go the other way, in large part because Paul had refused to say “no, I won’t run third party” for so many months. Glad to see him finally address it without keeping the possibility open and leaving himself wiggle room.
I don’t know why anyone would feel betrayed or disappointed by Paul saying he’s a Republican. He’s said that over and over and over throughout his campaign, at one point even characterizing his 1988 LP candidacy as having merely “taken a year off” from his lifelong Republicanism.
Looks like all that’s left is an extended period of divvying out the loot.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Ron Paul has made it clear that he has no intention to run for any third party. My question is, “Is he being a detriment to the growth of the Constitution Party?”. He states that he has worked to remove the ballot access restrictions on the third parties in the past. However, he is still a Republican, and will remain a Republican.
I suggest that the Constitution Party members help support the national party to gain ballot access on as many states as possible before November and support their state parties by being candidates for them.
I, also, think members of the Constitution Party should go to the National Convention and support our party by being there to vote for our candidates for President and Vice President. Michigan has been given 28 delegates the right to vote at the National Convention. Please consider being one of those delegates if you are from Michigan. I am; and many of my friends are going to be in attendance at Kansas City, Missouri on April 24 through 26. Bear in mind that Ron Paul is a Republican first even though he agrees with our entire platform.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’m very disappointed. I was hoping that the LP cold finally run a candidate that could have a significant impact on the election.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Gotta love that “Eric Garris spin.” He’s putting the best face on this. The NY Times and Politico.com are being much less sympathetic this morning. The Times is even suggesting that Paul will hang around just so he can spend the money he’s raised.
Politico is explicitly saying that Paul is bowing out of the race.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Tom, what choice does he have? Chris Peden is hammering Paul down here for not being a “real Republican.” If he wants to keep his Congressional seat, he has to play up the “No 3rd party/I’m totally Republican” angle.
As the NY Times implied this morning, (or maybe it was Politico?) he’s choosing the safety of incumbency over, some nascent 3rd party effort.
Plus, Paul would not be assured of winning the Libertarian Party’s nomination. Wayne Root, Steve Kubby and George Phillies are way out front. And only Kubby would be likely to step aside if Paul were to declare.
As fickle as LP Convention goers are, Paul would not be “assured” of a victory in Denver, particularly against two guys who are running balls-to-the-wall efforts like Root and Phillies.
What an embarrassment that would cause for Paul were he to lose the nomination of the LP.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am
If I was a Libertarian Party partisan, I’d be super pissed off at Ron Paul right now. What he did was to “take all the LPers to the dance (i.e. GOP), and then to leave them there stranded.”
He coaxed tens of thousands of LPers to re-register and join the GOP, and then to leave them hangin’. Some of them can’t even re-register with the Libertarian Party in some states til the next election cycle. They’re stuck as Republicans for the next two years.
As a Libertarian Republican, I’m finding this all quite amusing.
A conspiratorialist could almost make the argument that Paul was on the payroll of the RNC to get LPers to switch to GOP.
Doubt this? Remember back in 2000 when Ron Paul signed a letter to registered Libertarians in the California Congressional Districts of incumbents James Rogan and Brian Bilbray, urging them to vote for the Republican and not “throw their vote away” on the 3rd party Libertarian candidates. Caused quite a stir in Libertarian circles back then. I was there. That effort was all contrived by the RNC. And Ron happily went along with it.
Is this much further removed from the Bilbray/Rogan Letter incident?
February 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Eric,
I expected Paul to retire from the House, so I didn’t see that as being a concern of his. As far as I was concerned, his continued declared intention to run for his House seat again was just by way of keeping his age out of being an issue in the GOP presidential race.
Anyone who thinks Paul would “not be assured” of winning the LP nomination if he sought it is living in a fairy tale land. No likely opponent or combination of opponents would be able to push him under 75-80%. If Kubby dropped out in his favor, more like 90% (although I doubt Kubby would do that—his endorsement was specific to the GOP race). I wouldn’t support Paul for the LP nomination, but I’m not silly enough to pretend or imagine that the majority is with me on that.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Eric:
If Paul had stayed in you’d attack him, now that he drops out you attack him. Petty. Perhaps you need to take another trip to Mexico to blow off some steam.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Those who attack Paul for ruling out a third party are really a strange group. For Christ’s sake, he is dropping out in February….thus giving his backers plenty of time to find another candidate. Would the Paul bashers be happier if he waited to September?
February 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I think Kubby and Root are clearly the two front-runners (based on how I think LP members would vote at the convention) right now and I could support both of them, although I have issues with both of them.
I look forward to seeing how they perform next weekend in Las Vegas.
I think a new candidate still has a chance.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
As part of a very large family of former Republicans turned Libertarians, I will express my personal opinion and hopes for the future.
First of all, we have changed from affiliation with the Libertarian party to the Constitution Party and we try to attend Institute on the Constitution meetings as often as we can. The Constitution Party has been more steadfast to the constitution than the Libertarian Party, and it shows in its rapid growth.
We must fight hard to win Ron Paul enough delegates to prevent McCain from winning the nomination outright. We must try hard to bring the fight to the National Convention. Romney was such a hypocrite to say that he’s stepping out of the way of McCain for the good of the country. Ron Paul is right on in saying that he will continue to fight, because it’s right.
If Ron Paul does not win the nomination, then we should look to him to endorse a candidate. We have seen his voting record, and we know that he’s rock-solid. We can assume that his endorsement would be just as constitutional. He wouldn’t pick McCain simply because he’s a Republican. He wouldn’t pick the third party candidate that he thinks has the best chance. He would pick the remaining candidate that is most closely aligned with the constitution. And then, we must fight on.
There’s one important factor on our side. Almost everyone who hears him speak supports him, and almost nobody leaves. This shows that he is truly enlightening, and we need to continue teaching people.
I’ve been very impressed with the Constitution Party candidates, and I think Mr. Paul is, too. But we must continue to fight toward the National Convention, because there is still a chance. As a few journalists have noted, sign-waving and bumper stickers don’t convince anyone. You have to give out pamphlets, mail letters, and call people. It’s hard work, and it’s not glamorous, but it’s very effective. People who know Ron support him, and you can’t know him by simply seeing his name, but many people are receptive to hearing about him.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
did i read something different than everyone else?... you all sound like he quit… i caucus for him today.. ron paul supporters are much more dedicated than you think.. when we get done with washington on the 19th, were going over to portland to help them in oregon.. its a revolution that does’nt end with the presidential election, if we can’t save our country from the top down, we’ll save it from the bottom up.. people are lining up to run for all kinds of positions supporting the ron paul message.. i’m even thinking about it… this is’nt the end, its only the beginning
February 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
“Plus, Paul would not be assured of winning the Libertarian Party’s nomination. Wayne Root, Steve Kubby and George Phillies are way out front. And only Kubby would be likely to step aside if Paul were to declare.”
LOL! Ron Paul would beat Wayne Root, Steve Kubby, George Phillies, and anyone else who is currently seeking the LP nomination in a landslide.
“As fickle as LP Convention goers are, Paul would not be ‘assured’ of a victory in Denver, particularly against two guys who are running balls-to-the-wall efforts like Root and Phillies.
What an embarrassment that would cause for Paul were he to lose the nomination of the LP.”
Yes, the LP does have some politically stupid losertarians who will no doubt show up in Denver, but in spite of this I still think that Ron Paul would win the LP nomination in a landslide.
“If I was a Libertarian Party partisan, I’d be super pissed off at Ron Paul right now. What he did was to ‘take all the LPers to the dance (i.e. GOP), and then to leave them there stranded.’
He coaxed tens of thousands of LPers to re-register and join the GOP, and then to leave them hangin’. Some of them can’t even re-register with the Libertarian Party in some states til the next election cycle. They’re stuck as Republicans for the next two years.”
I’m not pissed at Ron. Yes, I’m going to be disappointed if he doesn’t run third party or independent, but that’s not the same as being pissed off at him. This Ron Paul for President campaign has been the biggest and best pro-liberty outreach program that I’ve seen in my lifetime. Ron’s campaign has woken up a lot of people and it has also gotten a lot of people who were already pro-liberty “off the couch” by getting them active again. So by this measure the Ron Paul for President campaign has been a smashing success.
“A conspiratorialist could almost make the argument that Paul was on the payroll of the RNC to get LPers to switch to GOP.”
I don’t think that this arguement has any validity. The GOP would not want people who believe in the issues that Ron Paul has pushed – as in anti-war, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-IRS, anti-Patriot Act, anti-War on Drugs, anti-pork barrel spending, anti-New World Order, etc… – to join the Republican Party. From their perspective, Ron Paulites are a cancer to the Republican Party.
Also, it is not as though the Libertarian Party was going anywhere when Ron Paul entered the race for the GOP nomination. In anything, the Libertarian Party was going down the tubes and Ron Paul’s campaign for the Republican nomination has actually helped the Libertarian Party by getting the word “libertarian” out in the public and motivating people to activism. I’ve talked to several Ron Paul activists (and these are people who are new to political activism) who plan to join the Libertarian Party.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
“David F. Nolan Says:
February 9th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Hey, RP told everyone repeatedly that he had no intentions of running again as a third party candidate, so why are people acting surprised and hurt? The man did what he said he’d do, which is what he does. I wish he’d run as a Libertarian, but I never thought he would.
So what do Libertarians do now? As of today, I’d estimate that there’s about a 35% chance we will wind up with Wayne Root as our Presidential nominee, a 25% chance that it will be Steve Kubby, 15% Christine Smith, 15% George Phillies and 10% someone else. Those odds could change rapidly, especially if someone else enters the race, but right now that’s my best guess. I urge all Libertarians to visit each candidate’s website and get behind whomever they find most appealing.”
Out of the candidates who are currently seeking the LP nomination, I’d still support Steve Kubby, however, I’m wondering if it would have a greater positive effect to have a write-in vote campaign for Ron Paul, even if Ron doesn’t say that he wants the nomination. Ron could pick up a record number of write-in votes in the November election, quite possibly more votes than Steve Kubby or any of the other candidates who have declared for the LP nomination would by having their names on the ballot.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
As a member as the Constitution Party I think I owe Dr. Paul my gratitude for all the work he has done to renew and direct attention back on freedom and the US Constitution, and release us from any delusion as to his direction for the rest of 2008.
With great anticipation we now will go ahead with the growth of our party an make certain that there is a Constitution Party selection on the ballot in all 50 states in November!
As Gary Olden recently wrote There is still hope for America…the Constitution Party! Also in the words of former New Hampshire Senator, Bob Smith, from the conclusion of his recent exclusive article for the Constitution Party national website: “We can take our republic back. Are you ready? I am! Let’s do it!”
February 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
By the year 2012, if Rep. Ron Paul is still a Republican, he and I will both belong to minor-sized political parties. I look forward to his company!
Phil Sawyer, Member
Sacramento County Central Committee
Peace and Freedom Party of California
Former Activist and Electoral College Member
Committee for a Constitutional Presidency/McCarthy ‘76
February 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
i can’t believe that the LP is’nt running full speed ahead for ron paul.. back in the day, the republican party was libertarian.. they strayed so far from thier original values that the libertarian party was created.. no third or independent campaign will ever win anything in this country. we finally have a man with our values in a party that can actually win.. then the word republican keeeps people from voting for him. but you all can’t wait for him to go libertarian so you can waste your vote on him.. thats insane.. the party does’nt matter.. who cares what you call it. the message is whats important. i’ve been a republican all my life, but what they term ultra ultra conservative.. i won’t vote for anybody but ron paul. he’s the only one with my principles. so i’m going to have to stay true to my heart. i can’t believe the LP did’nt endorse him right out of the gate.. ron paul and the constitution needs your help. you like him?, but only if he comes to your side where theres no hope of winning anything. i like to make a statement as much as anyone does, but at the end of the day, it accomplishes nothing.. you still lost
February 9th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Andy, Wayne Root is a far more attractive candidate than Ron Paul. Root has millions to spend on the race. He’s a regular on Fox News, CSNBC, MSMBC, Fox Sports, ESPN, because of his Sports Gaming gig. People know him. Especially in the Sports World. And that’s a community that the libertarian movement desperately needs to reach out too. Much more so than obscure Goldbugs, and John Birchers.
Root would garner even more votes than Ed Clark did in 1980.
He’s fantastic on TV. Have you seen the videos on his site of his performances?
February 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Quick response:
Why not a Root/Kubby ticket? They’re both Jewish. One lives in California, the other in Nevada. They’re close to the same age. Hell, both of them are also ski enthusiasts. Bet they’d get along just fine.
Plus Kubby represents a more leftwing “Knappian” approach, Root a more “Rightwing” Bruce Cohen-esque approach. Perfect ticket.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Dodsworth, why do I still attack Ron Paul? Cause he’s done severe damage to the reputation of the libertarian movement. He’s given us a “Lyndon Larouchie/911 conspiracy/Alex Jones” sort of reputation. He’s also managed to associate our movement with the likes of blatant racists like David Duke, Don Black, David Macko, and Nazi StormTroop Front. Surely you can’t think that’s a good thing?
February 9th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
“Andy, Wayne Root is a far more attractive candidate than Ron Paul. Root has millions to spend on the race. He’s a regular on Fox News, CSNBC, MSMBC, Fox Sports, ESPN, because of his Sports Gaming gig. People know him. Especially in the Sports World. And that’s a community that the libertarian movement desperately needs to reach out too. Much more so than obscure Goldbugs, and John Birchers.”
Funny, considering that I doubt your average Joe Schmo on the street would know who Wayne Root is, which is the implication that you are trying to make.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Dondi:
Sigh….Now, your’re calling Ron Paul a Nazi. Why didn’t say anything about it until 2007? Funny, you didnt’ have a problem working for this Nazi until well…..we won’t go there.
If I were to indulge in your slimy smear tactics (such as your sly implication that Paul is some sort of Nazi), one could easily argue that you want to associate our movement with fascists regimes of Pakistan and Afghnistan (which is now executing journalists) as well as with mass murder in Iraq, drug wars and wars against porn in the U.S. (your hero Rudy)
February 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Gee! Let me see if I get the thrust of what he is saying. He announces why he won’t be spending moeny on his presidential campaign but still wants the donations to roll in. He has more than enough to fund his congressional campaign several times over. He collects more than he spends or, I suspect, ever intended to spend. If he were serious in his presidential race he would have spent heavily up front in the key races. He sat on the money for the most part even though he had a healthy treasury. This is how he’s done it from the start. More and more it looks as if the presidential campaign of Ron Paul was a fund raising venture for something else. And what about the millions he has in the bank? FEC allows unspent campaign funds to go to a 501©3 just like the one Paul runs. And if that is too close to home he can still give it to his buddy, and the editor of his racist newsletters, Lew Rockwell and his paleoconservative, very unMisesian institute. In my view, libertarians were punk’d.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Ron Paul supporters should consider aiding the Libertarian Party in insurgent Congressional campaigns. The average local meetup group willing to commit approximately 100 signatures per member, as well as some aggressive fund raising, could mount a serious threat to the neocons, socialists and ‘xenophobes’ in nearly all the districts in the country.
We may not win, but your presence will be felt as much as Dr. Paul was in all the debates he was invited to. Peace, Prosperity and Freedom. Make it a bigger tent by all means.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Well, the good news is I never have to type n-e-w-s-l-e-t-t-e-r-g-a-t-e again!
It’s great that RP has given some clarity to the situation. Like the Knappster, I do wonder about all that “loot.” But I gave a small amount, not enough to personally feel “taken.” Heck, RP gave us some great moments in the debates and TV, so there’s that. And maybe did some consciousness raising.
Root would look a HECK of a lot better to me if he reassessed his position on the Iraq War.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Dana,
You write:
“back in the day, the republican party was libertarian.. they strayed so far from thier original values that the libertarian party was created”
The Republican Party has always been a party of big government, even more so than the Democrats, ever since its formation (it was formed for the primary purpose of imposing a protective tariff). It occasionally talks small government top win votes, but it never, ever, ever delivers.
Even in 1932, Herbert Hoover ran on what eventually became the New Deal, while FDR ran on a platform of cutting the size of the federal government by 25% and balancing the budget. FDR was elected as a small-government Democrat and presided as a Herbert Hoover Republican.
February 9th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
exlp:
If RP was truly the Dr. Evil character you make him out to be, he would have continued his public campaign full bore thus motivating more people to give money in the hope he will run third party. Because he has scaled back, the contributions will dry up.
RP always said he didn’t want to run third party. By telling us now, rather than later, he has given us time to find another candidate. He has been completely honest about this and has done as anyone could predict who listened to him.
February 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I voted for Badnarik in 2004. If Root or Phillies win the LP nomination I will put my vote to either the GP or CP even though I’m a libertarian. I’m hoping Kubby gets the nomination right now out of the current crop of candidates.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I could deal with Root, though I’d be happier with Kubby or even Smith. If Phillies wins I’m voting down-ballot.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Any of the current hopefuls for the Libertarian nomination lack the credentials to be credible candidates, and the resources to wage a credible campaign. Same for the Constitution Party, only moreso.
Libertarians and limited government antiwar conservatives need to focus on Congress. Even if you get a couple percent protest vote for President, either a welfare state Democrat or a warmongering Republican will be elected President. We need an opposition in Congress to the welfare-warfare state,
Send contributions to Murray Sabrin for Senate www.murraysabrin.com or check out the Liberty Congress site www.libertycongress.org to find other campaigns to back.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Not that Dr. Paul actually HAD a shot at the GOP nomination but it is sad that he downsized expectations. His continued presence in the House of Representatives is a very good thing and perhaps after his renomination is secured he will look again at other alternatives. If I am not mistaken he has no opposition in the general election… he just has to be somewhat concerned about the primary. Perhaps if the Libertarians AND Constitutionalists BOTH nominated him anyway with different Veep nominees (who would do the actual campaigning if he chose not to) there still would be a significant third party vote in November. Just a thought from someone looking to be able to cast a vote in November that would feel good!
February 9th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
BTW, perhaps Bob Barr as the VP nominee on the LP ticket and Alan Keyes on the CP ticket. That woluld be interesting!
February 9th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Quoth Gene Berkman:
“Any of the current hopefuls for the Libertarian nomination lack the credentials to be credible candidates …”
So does Ron Paul [1], but that hasn’t stopped you from supporting him.
Regards,
Tom Knapp
[1] Only one US president (James Garfield) has ever been elected to the presidency from the US House of Representatives, and that was nearly 130 years ago.
February 9th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
If Ron Paul was REAL smart, he would of thrown his hat into the CONSTITUTION PARTY ring. Staying in the corrupt, monopoly , globalist-ridden Republican party is really a waste of time. ALL the Ron Paul Revolution types, young and old, constitutionalists, and concerned American voters who jumped on the Ron Paul bandwagon…WHERE is all that PASSION and ACTIVISM going to go??? Hey Ron Paulers…you have a home in the CONSTITUTION PARTY! Exactly what Ron Paul stands for…the Constitution party stands for. It is all about the CONSTITUTION,stupid!
Get it done! Lead, follow or get out of the way!
-Larry Breazeale, Msgt.(ret.) USAFR
National Veterans Coalition
of the Constitution Party
www.nvets.org
February 9th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
“Eric Dondero Says:
February 9th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Andy, Wayne Root is a far more attractive candidate than Ron Paul. Root has millions to spend on the race. He’s a regular on Fox News, CSNBC, MSMBC, Fox Sports, ESPN, because of his Sports Gaming gig. People know him. Especially in the Sports World. And that’s a community that the libertarian movement desperately needs to reach out too. Much more so than obscure Goldbugs, and John Birchers.”
LOL! Wanye Root isn’t nearly as good a candidate as Ron Paul. First of all, I don’t think that Wayne is as libertarian as Dr. Paul is, and I also don’t think that he’s as knowledgable about the issues as Dr. Paul is.
Second of all, he’s not nearly as big a star as you are making him out to be. Between the two of them, Ron Paul is clearly more well known and is also more respected. Also, Ron has a much larger political following.
Also, from what I’ve read, Wayne Root is worth about $10 million. While that certainly qualifies as being rich, it is not even close to being rich enough to make a real difference in a Presidential race, and from what I’ve heard Wayne does not plan to pour much of his own money into the race anyway.
“Root would garner even more votes than Ed Clark did in 1980.”
I think that you are dreaming here. Ed Clark had been a former LP candidate for Governor of California where he recieved 10% of the vote, and his Vice Presidential running mate was from the mega-rich Koch family (who were so rich even back then that they make Wayne Root look poor by comparison).
“He’s fantastic on TV. Have you seen the videos on his site of his performances?”
I’ve seen some of Root’s videos and I’ll say that he was decent in interviews, however, this doesn’t overcome his other shortcomings as a candidate.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
“Eric Dondero Says:
February 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Quick response:
Why not a Root/Kubby ticket? They’re both Jewish. One lives in California, the other in Nevada. They’re close to the same age. Hell, both of them are also ski enthusiasts. Bet they’d get along just fine.
Plus Kubby represents a more leftwing ‘Knappian’ approach, Root a more ‘Rightwing’ Bruce Cohen-esque approach. Perfect ticket.”
I listened to an episode of Steve Kubby’s show on Blog Talk Radio where he said that he is Jewish. I didn’t know that prior to this.
Anyway, Steve Kubby may be Jewish, but he’s not a Zionist, or if he is a Zionist he’s a voluntary Zionist and doesn’t let that get in the way of libertarian principles. It seems to me that Wayne Root is too cozy with the Zionist Lobby which is why he’s sympathetic to the phony “War on Terror” and why he donated $1,000 to the campaign of the socialist, gun grabbing, police state loving, warmonger, pro-Israel-first supporter, Joe Lieberman in 2006.
So I could vote for Steve Kubby but I couldn’t vote for Wayne Root, at least not for a federal office. Maybe if Wayne Root were running for a state or local office I could support him. I just have a hard time supporting a guy for political office that would send a donation to Joe Lieberman.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
“Eric Dondero Says:
February 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Dodsworth, why do I still attack Ron Paul? Cause he’s done severe damage to the reputation of the libertarian movement. He’s given us a “Lyndon Larouchie/911 conspiracy/Alex Jones” sort of reputation.”
What’s wrong with Alex Jones? He’s the best political talk radio host in the country in my opinion.
“He’s also managed to associate our movement with the likes of blatant racists like David Duke, Don Black, David Macko, and Nazi StormTroop Front. Surely you can’t think that’s a good thing?”
It’s not as though Ron Paul invited the support of David Duke, Don Black, etc… They support he’s one of the few candidates that opposes the Zionist Lobby (AIPAC, etc…), although Ron doesn’t oppose them because he hates Jews, but rather because they pay off politicians to do things that violate the Constitution. They also like him because he wants to cut off welfare to immigrants and prevent criminals from entering the country, however, it should be noted that Ron has never advocated going as far as they would go in regaurds to immigration (as in preventing all non-whites from entering the country period). They also like the fact that he opposes Affirmative Action as well as the fact that he opposes “Hate Speech” laws. David Duke, Don Black, etc…, do not agree with Ron Paul on every issue, it is more a case of politics making strange bedfellows.
It is funny how other candidates have associations with racists, and some actually actively solict racists, yet they get given a free pass. For instance, a few months ago it came out that Hillary Clinton has a member of La Raza (a racist Mexican group) working in a high level position on her campaign.
Most of the other candidates (outside of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich) take money from the racist Zionist Lobby and have Zionists working in high level positions on their campaigns. Of course they all get a “free pass” when it comes to their blatant racism.
And then there is John McCain who still refers to Vietnamese people as “gooks”. Yeah, I know that he was in a Vietnamese prison camp, but still, the war is over and “gook” is a racist term, yet he gets a free pass for this.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
“Also, from what I’ve read, Wayne Root is worth about $10 million. While that certainly qualifies as being rich, it is not even close to being rich enough to make a real difference in a Presidential race, and from what I’ve heard Wayne does not plan to pour much of his own money into the race anyway.”
10 million? G_E proved that his crowning business empire was worth drumroll 1.5 million.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
“The Republican Party has always been a party of big government, even more so than the Democrats, ever since its formation (it was formed for the primary purpose of imposing a protective tariff). It occasionally talks small government top win votes, but it never, ever, ever delivers.”
Yes, this is true. There are some instances where there were SOME Republicans who really were for less government, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. The Republican Party was formed as a big government party and has been a big government party for most of its history. Most of the talk about Republicans being for limited government is primarily that, just talk.
“Even in 1932, Herbert Hoover ran on what eventually became the New Deal, while FDR ran on a platform of cutting the size of the federal government by 25% and balancing the budget. FDR was elected as a small-government Democrat and presided as a Herbert Hoover Republican.”
Ironically, the Democrats actually were a party of limited government at one time. Too bad they didn’t stay that way.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
“10 million? G_E proved that his crowning business empire was worth drumroll 1.5 million.”
I must have missed that part of GE analysis of Wayne Root’s net worth. I thought that he had assets totalling around $10 million (which would include his house, bank accounts, etc…). Whether he’s worth $1.5 million or $10 million he’s still rich, but NOT nearly rich enough to effect a Presidential race.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Andy – My score on that test is now 106. Is that better?
There were some suspicious valuations and fuzzy accounting for Root’s company. I think his share was worth $1.5 million. I should do another accounting, post-deal.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:31 am
http://www.ronpaulhive.com/hive/?p=201
RP wins (delegate count) in WA state.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:56 am
You all must be joking. The Libertarian Party is not going to amount to very much this year (just as in past years) unless it changes its extreme positions and you people stop talking about Wayne Root (and others that hardly anyone has ever heard of) for president.
As it looks right now, the race will between the Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and possibly an independent candidate.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:26 am
I am glad it is over. Those of us who have been involved in the Libertarian Party for many years must stay vigilant. Those of us who have served the Libertarian Party as officers, candidates, delegates, registrants, financial and in kind contributors, ballot access signature gatherer’s, . . . must stay vigilant. Those such as myself who have given our blood, sweat, and tears in support of the Libertarian Party must stay vigilant.
You see there are those that want to see the demise of the Libertarian Party. There are those that believe the Republican Party can be reformed (it can’t), there are those who believe the Republican Party can be taken over by outsiders in the libertarian movement (it won’t happen), there are those that believe Republicans will welcome us (they won’t). There are those that believe Republicans will fight for the causes we hold dear . . . Gay rights, a non interventionist foreign policy, the abolition of the welfare state. They will not. They have worked to deny Gay’s their rights, they have started wars abroad resulting in the death of thousands of Americans, and they have increased the welfare state.
We have had the biggest growth and spending in the history of our constitutional republic. And who was President? A Republican. And who controlled the Senate? Republicans. Who controlled the House of Representatives? Republicans. Who has a majority in the Supreme Court? Republicans.
In 2006 Marry Starrett was the Constitution Party candidate for Governor in Oregon. Ron Saxton her Republican opponent took a page from the Richard Nixon playbook of dirty politics by attempting to have her dropped from the ballot. He failed. He labeled Marry Starrett an “extremist”. I guess supporting the Constitution makes someone an extremist. He attempted to hide his big government credentials but his words and actions prior to the election showed otherwise. Ron Saxton is the Republican Party. What Ron Saxton did and believes is in the DNA of the Republican Party. And no amount of wishing will make it otherwise.
What about the election? Ron Saxton did not get elected and Marry Starret had a hand in that.
In the Presidential election of 1896 the Populist Party was debating whether they should support and endorse the Democratic candidate, Williams Jennings Bryant. There were some who argued against it. They said we are Populists not Democrats. They knew the support of Williams Jennings Bryant would lead to the demise of the Populist Party. One member in a impassioned plea said,
“The burning question of today is, shall we fuse with the Democrats? Shall all the reform elements of this country drop every other reform issue, except free coinage of gold and silver, join hands with the free silver Democrats and fight the common enemy—plutocratic republicanism?
If the Democrats would do half of the “fusing,” I for one would say yes. But do the Democrats offer the reformers one single concession? I fail to see it yet.
. . . We forced them into making free coinage the issue; shall we drop all other reform issues and run to meet them with open arms? Shall the outraged girl, who forces her seducer to marry her at the point of a revolver, drop her mother, sisters and brothers at his command, in order to make the marriage perfect and happy?
. . . No my brother; the Democratic Party cannot swallow me down unless it swallows all the populist reform issues. There are two many horrors fresh in my memory—to many scenes of poverty and want, at which a Democratic administration turned a deaf year.”
We must make sure we never again discuss supporting a candidate of another political party. We must cease any talk of becoming Republicans. If we go against those two principles the same thing that occurred to the Populist Party will occur to us. The Libertarian Party will cease to exist. Paraphrasing Vice-presidential [1] candidate Tom Watson I will say:
“Don’t ask me after all my service with the Libertarian Party to kill it know. I am going to stand by it and I want no man to say I was the man who stabbed it in the heart.”
Now is the time for us to look at the views of the candidates seeking the nomination for President of the Libertarian Party. We should decide who we will support and get involved in assisting that person get the nomination.
end1. Tom Watson Candidate for the Vice-president (1986 election) said, “Don’t ask me after all my service with the People’s party to kill it know. I am going to stand by it till it dies, and I want no man to say that I was the man who stabbed it to the heart . . .”
February 10th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
So Mr. Rittberg, if you call yourself a “libertarian Republican” isn’t that what Ron Paul is too?
If supporting pro-libertarian Republicans like Brian Bilbray and urging other libertarians to do so is what Ron Paul does, aren’t these the same actions the Republican Liberty Caucus does? (By the way, they’ve asked you to quit telling people you associte with them, because it like, embarasses them).
You advocate a certain amount of fluidity between Republicans and Libertarians instead of rigid party lines Mr. Rittberg, why can’t Ron Paul?
Running as a Republican, RP may very well get more votes than Ed Clark did when its all said and done and got far more media time as well. One can make the argument Ron Paul has done more to advance his ideals than he did running for President on the LP ticket back in 1988. On Super Tuesday alone he gained over half a million votes, far better than he did in an entire election.
Ron Paul brought together Libertarians, Constituionalists, Greens, a whole gamut of non-major party activists into his campaign and their work for him was far more productive than their prevous presidential efforts for their respective parties. Without it, I dare say RP would have done a lot worse. If they stick with it, Ron Paul supporters will have esconcsed themselves in many local GOP organizations across the country. Go to Ron Paul Forums.com (www.ronpaulforums.com) and see for yourself what RP supporters did in district conventions in Alaska this past weekend to change the party platform to call for legalized gambling and the legalization of hemp.
The LP and CP and Greens will now nominate persons for president. And they will get their customary shares of the vote as per usual. Hopefully the biggest impact RP’s campaign has had on non-major party activists is the realization that the LP, CP and Greens can work and do things on the LOCAL and STATE levels with highly organized parties. They can change things by running for local office. But on the NATIONAL level, the two major parties rule the roost and always will short of a cataclysmic disaster. Fine then. But that also means such activists and non-major party bases can work for a major party candidate like Ron Paul in the future and help them get off the ground and work to get delegates, especially in caucus states who can influence the direction of both major parties. They’re already talking about how difficult McCain will find it to get the Ron Paul vote (in Forbes magazine’s online edition) which is about 6% of the GOP electorate, give or take. There’s no reason , especially after what may very well be a landslide like defeat in November, that portion of the party cannot grow in the future. If it does, it will provide more opportunities for alliance and coalitions to be built between the GOP and the LP and CP, exactly what such activists like Mr. Rittberg, the RLC and others have been looking for.
You know, this isn’t Soviet Russia. The way people talk about how sancrosant the “party” is and “party lines” makes me wonder if I’m surrounded by communists some times. This is America dammit! Since when did parties by themselves take on such concrete features? The Founding Fathers never envisioned political parties forming to begin with and you see how such factions can become dogmatic and destructive when they take on such holier-than-thou and puritanical features in the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, or the Nazi and Fascist takeovers.
Ron Paul’s GOP nomination was a long shot, we knew that right from the beginning. But it was a shot worth taking given the political environment. Given the outcome, I’d say it far served its purpose a lot better than the other option, which doing whatever we’ve been doing for the past 30 years and getting absolutly nothing out of it. Ron did not have to run. In fact he was reluctant to do so. But having run, he got more out it than he thought possible and so did the non-major party community.
A salute then to brave one, Ron Paul, for having the courage to run and hopefully chagning politics as a result.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Some interesting math notes on the impending third party, the Republican Party.
There are suggestions that McCain is close to inevitable, and this is actually not so simply the case.
Romney delegates are bound to Romney until they withdraw, at which point they are free. Once they are free, they vote for whomever they want. Until then, they are bound to Romney.
McCain needs another 480 or so delegates to win. There are somewhat over 1100 Republican delegates unawarded. In order to win, McCain needs to win over 40% of the remaining delegates, and it is not obvious that he will certainly achieve that, especially if his remaining opponents cut a deal state by state. Romney may be staying in the race on the guess that he gets a chance to play king maker, meaning that the person he anoints agrees in public and in advance to make him the candidate for Vice President.
February 10th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I wrote:
“1. Tom Watson Candidate for the Vice-president (1986 election) . . .”
My mistake. He was candidate for Vice-president in the 1896 election.