Posted on 02/24/2008 9:07:08 PM PST by anymouse
TIKI ISLAND, Texas – It's tough to think of a political endeavor more audacious than trying to unseat a 10-term member of Congress – except, perhaps, to attempt a jump from the U.S. House to the Oval Office as an anti-war Republican.
Voters in the 14th District get to choose between two such dreamers – Rep. Ron Paul, the odd man out at one GOP presidential debate after another, with his call for a return to the gold standard, an end to the drug war and a radically shrunken federal government; and a challenger who has forced him to divert time and money into protecting his seat by painting him as ineffective, overly idealistic and out of touch with local issues.
The challenger, Chris Peden, portrays himself as everything the incumbent isn't: a loyal, mainstream conservative Republican. Dr. Paul is determined to keep his seat, pleading for support in part to ensure that critics can't paint a loss as a rejection of his ideas.
"You can send a message with your presidential vote, I don't care," Mr. Peden told a couple of dozen voters the other night at a clubhouse on Tiki Island, a fishing village across the causeway from Galveston. "But this district demands representation. It demands aggressive, conservative, hard-working representation."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Peden ping
Peden ping.
So did Republicans until they took power. Shows how far to the left the Republican Party has gone on budget and state's right issues.
Peden catching Paul in CD 14.
Wishful thinking. Notice there is no poll #s in this article.
I hope for Texas’s sake that Peden is successful...
Peden’s from earth. Paul is from mars.
Houston PING
The only reason Paul's not running 3rd party is because he wants to stay a Republican. He wants to stay a Republican, so he can be in Congress. You throw him out of Congress, then all bets are off.
Personally, while I wouldn't want Paul as President, we need someone like him in Congress. You may not agree with the way he interprets the Constitution, but at least he gives a hoot about it.
January 12, 2007, a Texas city councilman named Chris Peden told the Galveston Daily News, “I have an immense amount of respect for Ron Paul. Politics has a way of forcing people to go against their core principles for political gain. That has never been the case for Ron Paul.”
You say that now but how long before Peden turns RINO?
Interestingly enought both Paul and Peden share the same idea when it comes to abolishing the IRS.
Based on how quickly he went from praising Paul and promising to not run, to just running against him, to smearing him, I’d say he turns RINO pretty quickly in the unlikely event he beats Paul.
Yup, if Paul loses his congressional seat, I would expect him to run as a 3rd party in the general which would almost guarantee a Democratic victory. The Republican Party couldn’t blame anyone but themselves for that. I’d vote for Paul in the general over McShamnesty if he’s forced out of his seat by the powers that be in the Republican Party.
If conservatives, republicans, constitutionalists, libertarians and even some democrats want a return to a constitutional (and limited) federal government, we need to work to elect 535 Ron Paul, John Hosteller, John Duncan, Joe Scarborough, Helen Chenoweth, Tom Coburn, Bob Smith Republicans to the House and Senate. Chris Peden’s views on elimination of the IRS, while probably well intended, won’t reduce taxes or reduce the size of the federal government, especially if he wants to introduce a national sales tax as a replacement. Guess what, we’ll end up with BOTH a national sales tax and an income tax, just as Bush’s recent commission on taxation recommended! As far as I am concerned, the proposed “fair tax” would be worse than the current system for this reason.
Want funding for local projects? The state government, local government and private entities should handle most of them. That’s what the Constitution is supposed to protect, and it is the law of the land! Want to change it? Amend the Constitution.
We Republicans have a death wish if we expect to send more Bush Republicans to Washington and retain Congress or the White House. I don’t know anyone (R, D or I) who wants to vote for big government republicans, and we are heading for a massacre in the fall elections if we do not select principled limited government candidates.
“Catching”? Last In heard Peden had a double digit lead.
Previous polls have shown Peden winning fairly handily.
Find me 1.
That poll supposedly comes from a source inside the paul camp with nothing to back it up except some site that hates Paul that started that rumor. Ron Paul’s campaign manager stated on the houston chronical sites that the last internal poll showed paul with 60%+ and Peden at around 20. Like I said, find me a real poll.
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