Posted on 03/16/2007 8:13:30 AM PDT by OrthodoxPresbyterian
Ron Paul announces White House bid
Texas Republican says Nation has strayed from Constitution
Posted: March 12, 2007
2:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican known for his libertarian views, today announced he will vie for the GOP presidential nomination next year.
"We have lost our way and strayed from the free society our Founders secured for us in the Constitution, but there's no reason the principles that made us the greatest nation ever can't be restored," he said.
"We merely need to respect and follow the rule of law – the U.S. Constitution – and elect leaders determined to stand firm in its defense," he said.
Paul, 71, who ran for the office in 1988 under the Libertarian Party ticket, made his announcement on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program and immediately afterward filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
He said he will pursue lower taxes, to protect the United States from the threat to its independence that various international agreements provide, to secure its national borders, to protect citizens' privacy from government intrusion and to reverse the trend of government taking private property from citizens.
"My concerns for the future of our country are deeply held. The Republican Party has floundered in its effort to shrink the size of government and restore our constitutional republic," he said. "Instead, in recent years our deficits have exploded, entitlements are out of control and our personal liberties are threatened. We have embarked on a dangerous and expensive foreign policy, acting as the world's policeman and nation builder."
Paul, said the U.S. very simply no longer can "afford the extravagance of this ever-growing and intrusive government, both at home and abroad."
"Last year alone our long-term obligations increased by $4.6 trillion dollars," he said.
The problems are not particularly complex, however, Paul insisted.
"Liberty once again must become more important to us than the desire for security and material comfort. Personal safety and economic prosperity can only come as the consequence of liberty. They cannot be provided by an authoritarian government. To expect the government to take care of us from cradle to grave undermines the principles of liberty," he said.
He said the nation's current direction is completely wrong.
"Returning to the dark ages of dictatorship is no substitute for resuming the most modern and grandest experiment known to Man – promoting Human Liberty by strictly limiting the arbitrary power of Government," he said.
ONE DAY after Ron Paul officially annouced, here are the numbers...
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. March 9-11, 2007. N=401 registered voters nationwide who are Republicans or lean Republican. MoE ± 4.9.
"Please tell me which of the following people you would be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for president in the year 2008. . . ." Names rotated
(http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08rep.htm)
| Rudy Giuliani | 34% |
| John McCain | 18% |
| Newt Gingrich | 9% |
| Mitt Romney | 9% |
| George Pataki | 3% |
| RON PAUL | 2% |
| Jim Gilmore | 2% |
| Sam Brownback | 2% |
| Chuck Hagel | 2% |
| Mike Huckabee | 1% |
| Tom Tancredo | 1% |
| Tommy Thompson | 1% |
| Duncan Hunter | 0% |
| Unsure | 17% |
RON PAUL -- Already the LEADING Candidate amongst True Conservatives? Not bad for only being officially "in the Race" for ONE DAY! Constitutional Conservatives must get behind ONE Pro-Life, Pro-Borders, Pro-Guns, Pro-Constitution Candidate in 2008 or else we will be rail-roaded by the GOP Establishment AGAIN.
RON PAUL is the MAN! The Biggest Tax-Cutter in all of Congress, the only Republican Candidate with an A+ rating from the Gun Owners of America, the Darling of the Pro-Life Constitution Party, and the Hero of the Libertarians... RON PAUL is the last, best hope of the REAGAN REPUBLICANS!
"The greatest champion of conservative principles we have seen in Congress in the past quarter century."
(David T. Pyne, Esq., Vice President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.)
Ron Paul is a cheese-eating surrender monkey when it come to the War on Terror.
None of what Paul supports will matter a whit if the Islamofascists win. They will impose their taxes, their law and their religion on us -- and nothing Ron Paul says will change that.
If you want to join the Ron Paul lemming-run to dhimmitude be my guest -- but don't expect any support from me or mine. We can fix what's wrong with this country once the Islamofascists are beaten and we won't have a country to fix if they win.
I debated whether I respond intellectually at what you posted or laugh at you. I chose the latter because it is an insult to my brain to respond intellectually.
We disagree. Actually, Paul is an extremely effective team player on specific issues. Because he uses principle, rather than knee jerk partisanship, as his guide, he has become adept at working with such diverse colleages as hard-core conservatives and flaming liberals on a wide range of issues. For this reason, he has won the respect of many people on both sides of the aisle who know where he stands and respect him. If anyone had the ability to cross the ideological divide and "work with your other people" it is Paul.
See post #35.
Absolutely wonderful, Ron Paul polling at a powerful 2% of the votes! I think we should all have a group mental orgasm. (sarcasm beyond belief).
Hunter's my third choice... Tom Tancredo is my second choice, as he is FAR superior on Fiscal Conservatism (in National Taxpayer Union ratings, Ron Paul has ranked from #1 to #3 in all of Congress, whereas Tancredo has ranked #4 to #13 -- still pretty darn good out of 435 congresscritters! Hunter is usually amongst the worst of the Republicans in terms of Fiscal Conservatism).
But who cares? As much as I like Tancredo, I'm not voting for "Mr. Second Best" at this point, and I'm certainly not going for "Number Three" Hunter yet... it's the Primaries, and Ron Paul is already beating them both. I'm voting for Ron Paul -- The BEST OF ALL!
A decade ago, Ron Paul made sense, he is now totally off the reservation. And now it looks like in addition to explaining to the Rudyites that this is a conservative site, we will have to explain to the Paulines that it isn't a libertarian site.
Excellent post.
Hmm....this old recyled stuff again. Your original post misleading implied that Mohammed had confessed to getting Iraqi help. If you are looking for AQ ties, the best candidate was always the Saudi monarchy (our ally) rather than a maverick secular nationalist like Saddam.
I vehemently disagree with him on trade and immigration.
Everything else, I would say we are in complete accord on.
To me, the purpose of nominating a candidate is to win. So if a candidate has no chance of winning, I am not going to support him, regardless of how closely his views are to mine.
After working and spending my heart out for Santorum and Swann last year, it is clear to me that no social conservative can win in PA. It appears the same is true in OH, MO, VA. So until I see evidence to the contrary, Giuliani is my man.
I vehemently disagree with him on trade and immigration.
Everything else, I would say we are in complete accord on.
To me, the purpose of nominating a candidate is to win. So if a candidate has no chance of winning, I am not going to support him, regardless of how closely his views are to mine.
After working and spending my heart out for Santorum and Swann last year, it is clear to me that no social conservative can win in PA. It appears the same is true in OH, MO, VA. So until I see evidence to the contrary, Giuliani is my man.
Well, if it is of any comfort to you, be assured I shall be deeply grieved by your absence.
Ron Paul leading...? ROTFLMAO!!
RON PAUL is the RIGHT Candidate on Illegal Immigration.
Best, OP
You imply that Ron Paul has somehow changed his views (e.g. no longer "makes sense") but you do not provide a single example. This is quite revealing.
Ten years ago, many conservatives agreed that Paul's opposition to nation/building Wilsonian wars like Kosovo "made sense." Now, they want to attempt the same goals in Iraq. Through it all, Paul has consistently "made sense" by sticking to principle on this issue and others. Paul hasn't changed, but perhaps you have.
He's already leading over Hunter and Tancredo.
Not bad for being, officially, only ONE DAY in the race.
OrthodoxPresbyterian said: "Hunter is usually amongst the worst of the Republicans in terms of Fiscal Conservatism".
You will need to source that other than his ONE detractor, the Club for Growth, which isn't conservative but does have an open border, cheap labor trade at any cost agenda.
According to Citizens against Government Waste, 'pork' is defined as :
A "pork" project is a line-item in an appropriations bill that designates tax dollars for a specific purpose in circumvention of established budgetary procedures, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.
http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_earmarks.
They don't list Hunter as a 'porker'(earmarks). Please show us, other than spending on military for this war, where you find that Hunter is a porker or big spender.
Here's the list from 2001 of the porkers of the month. Lots of R's and D's there, but no Duncan Hunter or House Armed Services Committe, which he headed . They do show as porkers among many: Tommy Thompson, Sen. Robert Bennett, Sen. Joe Lieberman , Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison , Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) , Sen. John Thune,Reps. Tom DeLay , Sens. Hillary Clinton , Sen. Larry Craig
http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=news_porkerofthemonth_hallofshame
Also, don't forget that Saddam activiely supported HAMAS homicide bomber strikes against Israeli civilians by subsidizing the bombers' families to the tune of $25,000 per clip.
No Saddam was definitely a BIG part of the interlocking global terrorist networks, and he needed to go down hard. Ron Paul, therefore, is just plain wrong about the war and its goals.
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.