President 2008,  Ron Paul

Ron Paul Scales Back his Presidential Campaign

Republican presidential hopeful, Rep. Ron Paul, waves during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, in Washington.

Ron Paul is apparently leaving his Presidential campaign to concentrate on his re-election to his Texas Congressional seat. Paul who raised a good deal of money for his Presidential campaign has never caught on with the GOP voters and trails John McCain and Mike Huckabee in GOP delegates.

The Texas congressman wrote on his Web site Friday that he is making cuts to his national campaign staff and that he also must stay focused on not losing the primary for his House seat.

Paul began today with only 14 delegates for the Republican nomination that John McCain, with 719 delegates, has all but officially secured. Mitt Romney dropped out of the race Thursday, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has 198 delegates. A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the GOP nomination.

“With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero,” Paul wrote. “But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining, and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get.”

Paul could transfer his Presidential campaign generated funds to his Congressional account and may need to do so to beat back a GOP challenger, Chris Peden in a Texas GOP primary election.

Paul will probably suspend his campaign, transfer most of the funds to his Congressional account and win re-election to the House (there is no Democrat opposition in his Congressional District) then return to be a gadfly at the September GOP convention.


4 Comments

  • Wiseburn

    Flap,

    Here’s a recap on Paul’s announcement from
    http://www.dailypaul.com/node/36849

    which comments on a story in the Houston Chronicle containing an interview with Paul Spokesman Jesse Benton.

    *** No Third Party Run For President

    *** Paul Concentrating on Primary Campaign in Texas District 14 because he is being challenged.

    *** National Presidential Campaign Staff is being reduced from 150 to 50 after Super Tuesday primaries.

    *** Jesse Benton and other national staff are being transferred to RP’s Congressional Re-election Operation.

    *** $700,000 worth of Radio and Cable TV ads will begin running this week in the Houston, Austin and Dallas-Ft. Worth markets ahead of Texas’s March 4th Presidential Primary.

    *** Jesse Benton stated that Ron Paul still has about $6 million in his presidential election account, which he cannot transfer to his Congressional Campaign unless he terminates his presidential effort, which he does not intend to do.

    The article can be found at:
    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5528537.html

    Two of the Three markets mentioned above [Houston and Austin] include his congressional district, so he can hit two birds with one stone with the aforementioned advertising. Paul is focusing on winning the Texas Presidential Primary next month. He will remain in the race as long as is supporters are behind him. We’ll be there through the convention in September.

    Paul’s congressional campaign has already raised $271K so far this quarter. Paul’s challenger is not really serious. Not counting loans, Peden (Paul’s primary challenger) has raised $12K.
    Peden does have the endorsement of disgruntled former Paul staffer Eric Dondero, so anything could happen. 🙂

    Remember, Paul won reelection in 2006 with 66% of the vote against a well funded Democrat challenger, and also won a primary challege against the internationalist attorney Cynthia Sinatra.
    This district loves Paul’s message of Freedom.

    The media is just trying to create the impression that Paul is no longer running for present. Worked well in NY state where some precincts had removed Paul from the ballot. Just turn off the TV, use your newspaper to line your bird cage, and keep up to date online.

    Paul is the ONLY conservative left in the race. He finished close behind Huckabee in WA where many voters had already mailed in their ballots before Romney “suspended”.

    Steve

  • Flap

    Ron Paul has NO chance to win the GOP nomination and might as well transfer the money to his Congressional account. But, he will do so after the November election when he is safely re-elected to Congress. And, so he can be a gadfly at the September GOP Convention.

    Paul more than likely will serve a couple more terms in Congress and then retire.

  • Ken

    Ron Paul has accomplished way more than a Ross Perot type could ever imagine. His ideas for a smaller government and more civil liberties have been ridiculed by the status quo since he first opened his mouth. But now the ideas are out there…and that is progress.

    Ken