Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Ron Paul to withdraw from presidential race

By Rick Morris

UPDATE: This was published as a straight news story, devoid of any editorializing. However, in response to many of the know-nothing reactions that this story has engendered in many quarters, we have created an FAQ section so that people may at least choose to avail themselves of basic facts and not embarrass themselves with baseless assertions.

Troubled by internal polls showing insurgent challenger Chris Peden having pulled ahead shockingly in the Texas 14th congressional district, Congressman Ron Paul will be pulling out of the Republican presidential race in advance of his home state's March 4 primary, The FDH Lounge blog has learned. This news comes from a source with access to Paul's congressional campaign and it parallels a recent move on the Democratic side of the White House run as fellow party establishment irritant Dennis Kucinich was forced to abandon his efforts in order to focus on a threat to his congressional seat. The key difference? Longtime Kucinich ally North Olmsted mayor Thomas O'Grady entered the race to split the vote, while Paul's refusal to engage in such tactics has backfired on him.

Peden's lead is extremely surprising given the vast disparity in resources between the campaigns, a divide that will only grow as Paul is able to divert funds contributed by his large base of small contributors to his presidential race back into the House of Representatives campaign. Over the past year, Paul's libertarian-based platform struck the most fiscally conservative note of any of the Republican aspirants, but it also contained an isolationist streak that put him at odds with the party base -- and those foreign policy views are currently the biggest problem for Paul in an extraordinarily conservative district. The irony is that Paul positioned himself as a determined upstart out to topple the powerful national establishment, but he himself has been the Goliath of the Texas 14th until very recently -- when the district's David, Chris Peden, amazed the world by forcing an end to his crusade for the White House, dubbed by his followers The Ron Paul Revolution.

8 comments:

Kathianne said...

Let's hope Paul's millions will not save him. He can go back to his newsletters and run as a nazi in 2012.

Kelton said...

Kathianne , you are an ignorant trash-talker.

Ron Paul is not a racist. He never wrote anything racist. The comments from his newsletters (by other writers) were lifted out of context as part of a smear campaign.
The New York Times recently admitted to printing fabricated comments about him that were posted by a leader in the American Socialist Party.

How dare you call him a Nazi! An amazing and brave supporter of civil rights and peace is being challenged and harmed by supporters of warrantless searches, and never-ending pre-emptive war.

Unknown said...

Sorry this article it pure bunk. I confirmed with the campaign just now that Congressman Ron Paul is INDEED still in the race. Amazing what people will right in order to get hits on their site. It worked with me, see?

Do yourself a favor, don't believe the hype.

Anonymous said...

Clearly your hatred is causing you to spread propaganda.

He did not pull out of the race.

Unknown said...

Campaign responds to rumors about Ron Paul leaving the race:

http://people.ronpaul2008.com/campaign-updates/2008/02/13/neocon-wishful-thinking/

Clayton Slade said...

WOW! Someone lying about Ron Paul? Shocked!

Rick Morris said...

For many, the facts will never get in the way of a good story, and so it goes for anyone looking to disparage us for our report. However, be advised that the stupidity of anyone looking to attack our motives will now be on full display with our FAQ section on the story.

http://thefdhlounge.blogspot.com/2008/02/ron-paul-withdrawal-story-faq.html

Additionally, although I haven't had to disallow any comments yet, now would be a good time to remind everyone of our zero-tolerance policy on profanity and over-the-top personal attacks. We'll take shots from anyone as long (as the comments thus far prove), but just keep adhering to the basic and generous guidelines as everyone has so far and we'll keep approving the comments.

--Rick

Fredo said...

Ron Paul would have been the best choice for this 08 election.

Ron paul/Mike gravel would be a dream.

here are some interestin links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIPQFs45lE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClNTr-3R_dE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-wYkob6Kg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gQfz8GC0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ1XlIf7MAk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk-RKJNF-iw