justjames
My, my, here come the fuzz.
How Far Will Ron Paul Go?
politics| |
Meanwhile, Paul also has another nomination on his mind — for re-election to his congressional seat. This year, he drew an opponent for the Republican nomination in Friendswood City Councilman Chris Peden.
How long will he run?
For the time being, Paul said he for sure will remain in the 2008 presidential campaign until the Super Tuesday primaries Feb. 5, when more than 20 states will have their primaries.
“I think Feb. 5 is a good target point,” he told one reporter in New Hampshire.
After that, he would have to evaluate his financial standing and the level of support he has received before continuing his campaign, he has said.
Many supporters and analysts also wonder if Paul will run as a third-party candidate if he does not win the Republican nomination, given the amount of money he has received from a broad spectrum of voters.
Campaign spokesman Jess Benton said Paul constantly is asked about how far he will take his quest to win the White House.
“He’s probably been asked that 1,000 times,” Benton said. “The answer’s always the same.”
The second front
While he’s campaigning for president throughout the nation, Paul also is fighting to keep his congressional seat here at home in the 10-county 14th District along the Texas Gulf Coast.
His congressional campaign will have no conflict with his running for president, said Mark Elam, Paul’s congressional campaign manager.
“Under Texas law he is allowed to run for Congress and president at the same time,” Elam said. “There are some states that don’t allow it.”
Paul has represented the area in Congress since returning to the U.S. House in 1996. He previously served in Congress from 1976-84.
Paul also is not the first person to run for the White House while also trying to hold onto his incumbent spot in Congress. The Texas Legislature passed a law in 1959 allowing then-Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson to run as John F. Kennedy’s running mate in 1960 while also campaigning for his spot in the Senate. Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen used the law to do the same thing in 1988 while the running mate for Democrat Michael Dukakis.
Most recently Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., ran on the ticket with Al Gore in 2000 while also running for his spot in the Senate.
All three were able to keep their incumbent congressional spots; only Johnson won the vice presidency.
As to whether Paul’s presidential bid will help or hurt his congressional campaign, Elam said he wasn’t sure. Those who don’t know much about Paul either will like him or dislike him because of his Libertarian-leaning views, he said.
“He gets more national exposure,” he said. “It’s probably pretty much a wash.”
Peden was not available for comment late Friday, but his Web site declares he chose to run because Paul does not do a lot for his local district because of his ideals.
“We need someone who understands not just the theory of conservative politics, but the practice of conservative government,” he said. “We need a congressman who is known for results and not just rhetoric.”
Whether Paul will choose to remain in the national campaign or put his full focus on remaining in the House is still in question, and the results of the Republican primaries might not provide the final answer.
Independent streak
Paul repeatedly has said in interviews he would not run for president as a third-party candidate because he’s too focused on winning the Republican nomination.
He has run before as the Libertarian Party candidate in 1988 and said it was hard to do simple things such as get on a ballot or participate in a debate.
“It was difficult and it was tedious,” he said. “It’s easier with a major party.”
Responding to their own supporters, the Libertarian Party even drafted a resolution asking Paul to run on its ticket should he lose the Republican nomination. Paul refused.
There isn’t any kind of scenario in which Paul could envision himself running, he said. If he gave his supporters an arbitrary amount of money to raise for running a third-party campaign, they likely would raise that amount, he said with a laugh.
He’s said in the past he’s 99.9 percent sure he would stop his campaign with the Republican nomination.
If he would run as a third-party candidate, he said, he likely would do it as an independent rather than as a Libertarian.
“There’s too many people we’ve brought together,” Paul said of his many kinds of supporters. “I have a lot of Democrats who express interest in what I’m doing,” with foreign policy.
Paul’s supporters are mixed on whether they would want him to run as a third-party candidate.
John Goes, a volunteer for Paul in Iowa and South Carolina, said he wants Paul to win the Republican nomination because it would give him a better chance of winning the presidency.
“I don’t care to influence it one way or the other,” he said. “Most of the donors, they want to win.”
Though he didn’t think a third-party candidacy would be a good idea in the long run, he likely still would support Paul if he chose to continue his bid outside the Republican Party, Goes said.
Paul volunteer Shelly Roche joined Paul’s campaign after a friend’s brother, who had served in the military in Iraq, shot himself. She said she would support Paul’s campaign whether he was running for the Republican nomination or if he was running on his own.
“I think that would be great if it came to that,” she said. “The more exposure he gets, the more opportunity there is for people to learn.”
Whether or not Paul becomes president, he and his supporters say his campaign is the start of something that could continue into future campaigns. There will be more candidates who push the same ideas of limited federal government and less foreign intervention, they said.
“This is going to be the beginning of something very, very big for this country,” Paul said.
The Fans
One less thing...with numerous others to tackle - My original part of the paper is finally fucking done!!!...
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