Notes
Second Presidential Campaign
On March 12, 2007 on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," Dr. Ron Paul formally announced his second run for White House.  Almost twenty years earlier, in the 1988 general election, Paul was the Libertarian nominee.  Then 53 years old and a former congressman he obtained about 431,750 votes nationwide (about 0.47%), finishing a distant third behind Vice President George H.W. Bush (R) and Gov. Michael Dukakis (D) in what is now recalled as one of the less edifying presidential campaigns in recent decades.

Paul was returned to Congress in 1996 representing Texas' 14th Congressional District (South and Southwest of Galveston including Galveston) as a Republican, and he has been re-elected five times since by his contituents.  His congressional website notes that, "Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution."  "He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a return to constitutional principles," the site states.

Freedom
Although he is now seeking the Republican nomination, Paul's is very much a libertarian philosophy and has changed little from that 1988 campaign.  The key word in Paul's lexicon is "freedom."  The title of his 1988 book?  Freedom Under Siege.  The title of his 2007 book?  A Foreign Policy of Freedom.  His congressional site lists six "freedom principles":

• Rights belong to individuals, not groups.
• Property should be owned by people, not government.
• All voluntary associations should be permissible -- economic and social.
• The government's monetary role is to maintain the integrity of the monetary unit, not participate in fraud.
• Government exists to protect liberty, not to redistribute wealth or to grant special privileges.
• The lives and actions of people are their own responsibility, not the government's.

Paul's campaign has been doing well on the Internet.  On July 12 the campaign announced it had achieved 20,302 YouTube subscribers and 20,677 Meetup group members.  By comparison, according to Pauls campaign, the next leading campaign of either party was Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat, with 8,807 YouTube subscribers and 5,327 Meetup group members.  In an online straw poll conducted by FreedomWorks from July 31-Aug. 2, Paul easily won with 9,297 votes (56.2 % of the 16,371 votes cast); former Sen. Fred Thompson, not even a declared candidate, finished second with 2,674 Votes (16.2 %).  On September 4 the campaign reported that, "There are currently 40,213 Ron Paul Meetup members while Barrack Obama, the candidate with the second best Meetup organization, has 5,801 members."

In the second quarter of 2007 Paul's campaign raised almost $2.4 million in contributions, the fourth highest amount among the Republican field.  Further, the campaign spent relatively little of that, putting Paul at third among Republicans in available cash on hand for the primary campaign.

Can Dr. Paul Deliver?
As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered over 4,000 babies.  He will likely need a different sort of miracle if he is to gain the 2008 nomination of the Republican Party, and then go on to deliver the White House to the GOP for a third term.  Paul's decidely libertarian philosophy is at times is out of sync with the views of the broader Republican Party.  He is the second oldest "major" candidate running for president in 2008 (only former Sen. Mike Gravel (D) is older), and he has a very low key demeanor.  Nonetheless the type of campaign Paul is running makes it likely he will be able to continue to campaign long after other high profile candidates have dropped out.

Readings

Ron Paul.  June 2007.  A FOREIGN POLICY OF FREEDOM.  Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education. Ron Paul.  1988. FREEDOM UNDER SEIGE.  >   See also: Christopher Caldwell.  "The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul." New York Times Magazine.  July 22, 2007.

Photos
Oct. 19, 2007-Washington Briefing 2007: Values Voter Summit.
July 6, 2007-After taping an appearance on ABC News' "This Week."
June 5, 2007-In the spin room following the CNN/WMUR-TV/Union Leader Republican Debate at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH.
May 24, 2007-Press conference to make the case that "50 years of interventionism in the Middle East has compromised the security of America."
March 20, 2007-Event to sign American Freedom Agenda's Freedom Pledge.
 

Finances

	Contributions	Transfers/Loans	Total Receipts	Total Disbursements	Cash on Hand
Year to Date Totals	$  8,240,610.11	--	$  8,268,452.68	$  2,824,785.63	$  5,443,667.05
3rd Q 2007 (July 1-Sep. 30)	$  5,233,718.50	--	$  5,258,455.73	$  2,169,644.00	$  5,443,667.05
2nd Q 2007 (Apr.1-Jun. 30)	$  2,366,347.61	--	$  2,369,452.95	$     539,517.01	$  2,354,855.32
1st Q 2007 (Jan. 1-Mar. 31)	$     640,544.00	--	$     640,544.00	$     115,624.62	$     524,919.38

Note: Nov. 5, 2007 campaign press release:

"ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul beat all online primary fundraising records at 4:00pm today.  In 16 hours, the Ron Paul campaign brought in over $2.7 million in online contributions, making it the largest single-day online primary fundraising effort by a presidential candidate in United States election history.  Approximately 21,000 Americans made online donations thus far. Today’s efforts surpassed John Kerry’s record $2.7 million online fundraising efforts two days after the 2004 Super Tuesday primaries, and Republican John McCain’s $1 million online following the New Hampshire primaries in 2000."
 

On the Web

www.ronpaul2008.com (June 10, 2007)	(May 14, 2007)	(March 17, 2007)	(Jan. 17, 2007)
.
unofficial sites
www.dailypaul.com	www.ronpaulpresshub.com	www.ronpaulhq.com

 
 

Copyright © 2006, 2007  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action