Posted on 01/11/2007 6:06:07 PM PST by Rodney King
Texas Congressman Ron Paul files for GOP presidential bid
HOUSTON -- Ron Paul, the iconoclastic nine-term congressman from southeast Texas, took the first step Thursday toward launching a second presidential bid in 2008, this time as a Republican.
Paul filed incorporation papers in Texas on Thursday to create a presidential exploratory committee that allows him and his supporters to collect money on behalf of his bid. This will be Paul's second try for the White House; he was the Libertarian nominee for president in 1988.
Kent Snyder, the chairman of Paul's exploratory committee and a former staffer on Paul's Libertarian campaign, said the congressman knows he's a long shot.
"There's no question that it's an uphill battle, and that Dr. Paul is an underdog," Snyder said. "But we think it's well worth doing and we'll let the voters decide."
Paul, of Lake Jackson, acknowledges that the national GOP has never fully embraced him despite his nine terms in office under its banner. He gets little money from the GOP's large traditional donors, but benefits from individual conservative and Libertarian donors outside Texas. He bills himself as "The Taxpayers' Best Friend," and is routinely ranked either first or second in the House of Representatives by the National Taxpayers Union, a national group advocating low taxes and limited government.
He describes himself as a lifelong Libertarian running as a Republican.
Paul was not available for comment Thursday, Snyder said.
But he said the campaign will test its ability to attract financial and political support before deciding whether to launch a full-fledged campaign. Snyder said Paul is not running just to make a point or to try to ensure that his issues are addressed, but to win.
Paul is expected to formally announce his bid in the next week or two, Snyder said.
Snyder said Paul and his supporters are not intimidated by the presence of nationally known and better-financed candidates such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona or former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
"This is going to be a grassroots American campaign," he said. "For us, it's either going to happen at the grassroots level or it's not."
Paul limits his view of the role of the federal government to those duties laid out in the U.S. Constitution. As a result, he sometimes casts votes that appear at odds with his constituents and other Republicans. He was the only Republican congressman to vote against Department of Defense appropriations for fiscal year 2007.
The vote against the defense appropriations bill, he said, was because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, which he said was "not necessary for our actual security."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not b
Explosions in our Athens embassy...time to leave this fun thread and go to the action.....
Did you actually read what I've been consistently posting? Try it.
Our primary goal in Iraq wasn't nation building.
In a field full of potential candidates rapidly filling up, he'd be better off staying in the House where he could do his constituents, this country and Conservatism in general a lot of good.
Correct-o-mundo. But there are complications such as: who'll control the flow of oil in the aftermath? It should be us (given the sacrifice) where it'll remain a market commodity rather than a ransom held over the world's head--it is an 'earth' commodity afterall (Greenies of the world, UNTIE!).
Arabs didn't invent it, they just happened to pitch their tents above it. If they're incapable of entering into a market economy, then yes, back to the stone-age for them. Next!
That's all you got?
That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure you would agree that unconstitutional gun laws, on their face, would be supported by most Americans.
Personal debt is individual responsibility, that's why it's called "Personal debt". If you maxed out your credit card, that's not Uncle Sam's fault, or mine either.
Nor should it have been or continue to be. We needed to keep up the killing and destroying until we eliminated any possibility of resistance in Iraq and we didn't. Now it's all but too late and maybe we can strike the "all but." That's what you get when you try to be "compassionate." The law of Unintended Consequences bites us in the collective a$$.
Remember what the goals were in WWII? And remember what we had to do to achieve them? Apparently Dubya never learned that lesson, either. Any more than his daddy did during Gulf part one.
No, getting too wrapped up on domestic issues when you're in the middle of an international war that threatens your very society is dangerous. To try and ignore the fact that Ron Paul is openly calling for us to surrender in that war does nothing to legitimize him.
And forget about '12; we want to keep the damned Dems out of power in '08!
Ron Paul is a LIBERTARIAN, who couldn't win a dog catcher election as one, so now runs as a Republican. Though he has a few followers on FR, he has NO backing in the real world, outside of his district. He votes with the Dems more often than he votes with the GOP and he voted against the WOT and tax cuts. He walks to a different drummer and is out of step with this century.
LOL that's what I get for having three windows open. Don't take it personal. :o)
All of the other candidates are pro-abortion and anti-2nd Amendment. There are a lot of people like me who will not settle for that. Duncan Hunter is by far the most pragmatic guy you can get behind. Anyone else will be a waste.
You wanna bet?
Ron Paul...the great white hope of the Cindy Sheehan wing of fringe conservatives.
Not that old canard, pulled out,yet again. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeesh!
The way they've been behaving and acting since Bush was elected, they deserve to be out of the White House for a generation or more.
Their anti-American rhetoric is galling. They should be ashamed of themselves every time they look in the mirror. I expect that sort of behavior from this country's worst enemies, but good Lord, these are American's we're talking about.
They have no shame, no decency, and most of all, no honor.
That's Rudy's position as well.
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