-
belongs in one
Posted on 02/27/2008 11:37:11 PM PST by anymouse
US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), 72, has represented the 14th District in Texas for 20 years, and while he has faced some serious Democratic challengers in the past, this year he is confronting a major battle in the Republican Primary. His opponent is Chris Peden, mayor pro tem of Friendswood. Whether or not the race is close is a matter of conjecture. No independent polls have been released and both camps claim their internal surveys show them with comfortable leads. Mark Elam, Paul’s congressional campaign manager, blogging on the Lone Star Times website, contends Paul is leading by about 60% to 20% and that this result has been confirmed by their voter ID phone calls. Peden’s camp claims their polling shows Peden with a 43%-32% lead over Paul. Paul is currently running radio ads across the district. (Peden’s campaign issued a release claiming one ad, which contends the Congressional Quarterly had once named Paul one of the 50 most effective members of congress, was erroneous.)
Journalists and other observers of the district’s politics are uncertain how close the race will be. “Every election cycle people criticize [Paul] for the same things he’s saying his presidential campaign and he always gets re-elected,” says The Quorum Report’s Harvey Kronberg. But “it’s a race,” says another insider; “Chris Peden is really taking advantage of the opportunity with Ron Paul running around the country and not paying attention to his home base.” Paul, however, has in recent weeks shifted his attention to his campaign for re-election to Congress.
Despite his political eccentricities, Paul is “something of an institution,” writes Galveston County Daily News reporter Marty Schladen. An obstetrician by profession, Paul’s major claim to fame is his stalwart belief in a libertarian philosophy of government. In 1988, he was the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee and has espoused that same philosophy in his current campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. While this has drawn him considerable notice and support across the nation, it often puts him at odds with the needs of his district. Although he gets good marks for his constituent service, some of the local business and political establishment is less pleased with his principled neglect of obtaining “pork” for the district. And one local observer says that a number of Republican activists in the district have indicated their displeasure with Paul, in part because of his attacks on President Bush’s policies.
Chris Peden, 43, is a CPA and as a local official, has a record of cutting taxes in Friendswood, a city of some 34,000. Peden, a strong conservative, is criticizing Paul for straying from the GOP line more than any other member of Congress and for neglecting the needs of his district. One Peden campaign press release alleges that Paul “does not support fighting the Global War on Terror” and has not supported federal funds for NASA, which is a major employer in the district. And Peden, noting that the district has more ports than any other district in the nation, is calling for more federal funds for shoreline security measures. Peden has been endorsed by the Victoria Advocate and the Galveston County Daily News, and is getting favorable commentary from radio talk shows on KSEV-AM.
As of December 31, 2007, Paul had $66,000 cash on hand to Peden’s $144,000. Paul is not allowed to use his presidential campaign funds in his congressional races, but, according to Elam’s blog, has raised an additional $1 million for his 14th District campaign in the last several weeks.
The district stretches along the Texas Gulf Coast from Beaumont to Corpus Christi and is characterized mainly by small towns and rural areas. There is no Democratic candidate for this seat so the Republican Primary on March 4 is tantamount to election. Early voting started on February 19 and according to news reports has been much higher than in past years.
Peden Ping
Probably would break a lot of old 60s hippies hearts.
Ron Paul deserves better.
Ron Paul should drop out of the presidential race, and ask people to give to his congressional campaign, instead.
I think he has suspended pointless POTUS activities but not officially “dropped out”.
I like him in congress, he’s the only one who always votes against every piece of crap they churn out.
Ron Paul deserves better.Texas's 14th deserves better. And so does the GOP.
He used to be one of the BIGGEST Heros on FR and an ideal Republican candidate for YEARS.
Now that people disagree with him, he becomes an enemy.
Too narrow minded in my view.
People have to be allowed to breathe and disagree and charges of Treason should be reserved for those who actually commit it, such as Klintons handing over the missle guidance technology to China over the objection over their own Defense Dept. just because their biggest donor was putting pressure on them.
Ron Paul is not anti-American. He was and still is a great Aemrican, who is not afraid to disagree with the masses.
I never even heard of him until last year.
And what I heard turned me off fast.
Pulling all our troops out globally everywhere,
courting 9-11 truthers,
Iran has no military,
Three subs could protect the US,
Bizarre economic ideas
That we live in a near police state.
Fuggetaboutit.
Now that people disagree with him, he becomes an enemy.So we're supposed to support someone who no longer agrees with us?
If someone doesn’t agree with your view point they are traitors? You have some devine knowledge?
Ron Paul may just regret running for President. It might just be his downfall.
I disagree with him. He wants to bring troops home as soon as possible. That doesn’t make him a traitor. He has his view of what is best of America and he fights for that view.
This you are with us or against us nonsense has gotten pretty much everyone against us.
Unless we can respectfully agree to disagree we won’t have anything left to fight for.
Treasonous? What took you so long?
He wants to bring troops home I assume. He obviously doesn’t want 150,000 US soldiers left without supplies and perish in the desert. To assume that is just nuts.
You are the one assuming that he doesn’t want to leave 150,000 US soldiers to perish in the desert without supplies.
Because it sure looks that way to me when he votes to do exactly that in the House.
Strike two.
You want to take one last swing at it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.