Posted on 07/13/2011 11:26:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
After serving a total of 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) has announced that he will not be seeking another term in the House so that he can concentrate fully on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
USA Today reports: "Paul, 75, told a local paper in his congressional district that he didn't want to be distracted by running two campaigns at once. The libertarian-thinking candidate, who has a devoted following among supporters of his small government views, is running in his third White House campaign."
In an interview with local Texas newspaper The Facts, Paul clarified, “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election. It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”
Paul, who currently serves as chairman on the panel that oversees the Federal Reserve Board, in addition to his announcement with The Facts, also announced in a post on Facebook. “I have decided not to seek re-election for my House seat in 2012 and will focus all of my energy on winning the presidency.”
According to Paul, by making his announcement to retire from the House early, he is providing enough time for qualified candidates to consider succeeding him in the 14th District. “I didn’t want to hold off until December. I thought it shouldn’t be any later than now,” he explained.
However, those considering succeeding the long-time Texas Representative will have some big shoes to fill, as he has been the most consistent candidate for the White House with a record of voting strictly according to the Constitution.
Paul’s son Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said of his father’s record,
History will record the legislative record of Ron Paul as an extraordinary one — perhaps unparalleled. There probably has never been a more consistent believer in limited government in Congress.
Congressman Paul was first elected to Congress in 1976, serving four terms. He then made an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in 1984. After taking a break from politics to focus on his medical practice, Paul then sought a libertarian nomination for President in 1988. In 1996, he defeated incumbent Greg Laughlin for a GOP nomination for the House and, as noted by USA Today, “has been easily re-elected to the House ever since.”
In the 2010 midterm elections, Paul easily fought off three Republican challengers in the primary before defeating Democrat Robert Pruett in the general election.
Grateful for his constituents in the 14th District, Paul observed, “The people in the area have supported me for many years.”
Paul’s announcement to concentrate solely on the presidential bid reflects his optimism. He told The Facts that he feels his chances for a 2012 presidential bid are significantly better than they were in 2008, even though he set an Internet-driven record that year for fundraising.
“We have a lot more support right now,” said Paul. “Things are doing well for us.”
Paul’s message of limited government, reduced spending, personal liberties, and a non-interventionist foreign policy has garnered a great deal of support in recent years. But some fear that if he does not serve in Congress, that message will no longer be heard.
Paul attempts to assuage those concerns: "I have been talking about this for years. I will always be doing that. But not in the U.S. Congress.”
Libertarian political commentator Lew Rockwell voiced similar sentiments in his blog regarding Paul’s announcement:
There are sad aspects to this, of course. He has been the greatest congressman in American history, by many leagues. But I predict that he will have even-more and even-more-lasting influence as he uses his moral authority for teaching freedom, peace, and Austrian economics outside of politics.
As Paul continues to pursue the GOP 2012 presidential nomination, there appears to be reason for his optimism. The most recent Iowa caucus poll shows that he has made significant gains among likely voters. Commenting on the recent poll, Paul posted on his Facebook page, “The hard work in Iowa is paying off. We were at 3 percent in this poll last time and now we are at 14 percent.”
The 75 year old geezer loves the lifestyle, and as long as fools will send him millions, he will go out in style.
Has anyone said that they plan to run for his house seat yet?
1) Does this mean, there will never be an audit of the Fed ?
2) Whats he going to do after he is eliminated in the elections ? He doesn't seem like the retiring type.
He could get that off of turnout because his followers are dedicated cult fans for the most part. They accept no alternatives. You see that in this article: Calling Ron Paul the greatest Congressman ever is simply preposterous. Of course, with friends like Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul needs no enemies.
1) Rand will work on auditing the Fed. Rand Paul seems to be much more sane than his father, probably because he grew to political age in the Reagan era and was not influenced as much by Ron Paul’s close friend Lew Rockwell. Rand acts a lot differently than his father in Congress so far. Rand prefers to work with DeMint and the Tea Party Caucus, whereas Ron prefers to work only with fellow radicals, which is why the Bachmann-Paul alliance that seemed to be brewing for a while fell apart. With Rand in Congress, I haven’t seen Ron working with Republicans much at all. He seems to use his son as an intermediary for his ends.
Say what you want about Paul, but at least he is honest. He believes what he says, and he has been a staunch defender of our Constitution.
Do I agree with everything he says, no, but I respect him for fighting for what he believes in.
He is the only member of Congress that has my respect and I’ll be sad to see him go.
Call me old-fashioned, but that doesn't sound too honest to me.
He’s certainly the greatest congressman since 1937. Or do you dispute the link in post #8? Who has a more conservative record, pray tell?
He should add that dude from “The Rent is to Damn High!!!” party to his ticket.
For one, to have a conservative voting record means little. All Ron Paul does, for the most part, is vote no. Anyone can do that. Has Ron Paul accomplished much for conservatives? He has done two good things that I give him great credit for: Changing Republican attitudes on foreign policy (though they are still not radical enough for him) and opening up talks about the Federal Reserve. One of those was as a Presidential candidate, not a Congressman, and the other was ineffective since a full audit the Fed bill has yet to become law, and probably will not become law while Ron Paul is a congressman.
At this point, I couldn’t care less about his voting record. He has his own reasons for voting, mostly, the way I would. I much prefer accomplishments.
I'm not sure if Rand will ever get that chance, more sane or not, It took years before Ron Paul got this subcommittee assignment, and Rand isn't even in sniffing distance of any of the major finance committees that would allow him an opportunity, plus, its beyond unlikely that the current RINO minority leader would ever let him in the same time zone as one of those assignments, where he could even try for an Audit (and we're talking about just getting on the committee, not even being chairman of it).
I may not be a Paulite, or Pauler or whatever the term is for his supporters (Paulamaniacs ? Paulaholics ?) but I did want him to do that audit, and was hoping that he could and would be the guy to go after the Fed (since both the GOP and the Rats seem more inclined to either bloviate or kiss up to the FED).
I'm guessing this might mean, any chance of transparency with the Fed is going to go down the tubes until some day (maybe) in the far off future.
If he tells voters he will defend traditional marriage, and he does it, then he is being honest, even if he personally believes it’s not the states business.
To be honest, I don’t know his voting record on marriage, because it’s not one of my major issues.
His defense of the Consitutiton is the major reason I respect him. I do think he is almost nutty on a few issues, but I don’t agree with ANY politician on all issues.
A conservative GOP President could easily force an audit bill through. If Rand Paul and Jim DeMint went to a Pres. Palin, then I have little doubt that she (or any of the other conservatives that might be in the race) would put that bill on her legislative agenda. The bill is so popular with the American people it would pass with only token protest.
Ron Paul is a NUT!
Did he mean state as in the US gov't or state as a single US State. I agree with the first but not the second. I think DoMA works quite well.
This means that son Rand will begin running in 2016.
It would surprise me very much if Rand ran for president in 2012, I don’t think that he is a nutcase like his father.
He means at all. His stated position was that we could have a definition of marriage personally, but the courts should recognize everyone’s definition (or something to that effect). The position was absolutely absurd.
Personally, it’s not my biggest issue, and I could tolerate a different position than my own. Like I pointed out on another thread, the reasons I abandoned Ron Paul are numerous. So many things added up that I came to the conclusion that Ron Paul certainly lacks the judgment necessary to be President, and probably is more in line politically with radical libertarianism than conservatism of any form, which is backed up by his political associations and influences. The reason I was on his side to begin with is because I thought he was the only one standing up for the Constitutional Conservatism, and I do not believe that is the case anymore. I am not entirely certain that he even believes that are Constitution is good. His anarchist advisers certainly don’t.
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