Monthly Archives: January 2014

The Ron Paul presidential campaign of 2008 began in early 2007 when Congressman Ron Paul of Texas announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States. Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled. In 2008, Paul's support among Republican voters remained in the single digits, and well behind front-runner John McCain.[1]

During the fourth quarter of 2007, Paul was the most successful Republican fundraiser, bringing in approximately $20 million.[2][3] He also received the most money from the armed services of any candidate in the fourth quarter.[4] Ron Paul's campaign set two fund raising records: the largest single day donation total among Republican candidates and twice receiving the most money received via the Internet in a single day by any presidential candidate in American history.[5] Paul's run for president is also noted for its grassroots social networking, facilitated by the Internet.[6] Ron Paul's enthusiastic supporters were noted by the media, who called them "Paulites".[7][8] Paul receives most of his contributions from individuals, at ninety-seven percent; compare to other candidates.[9]

As of February 5, 2008, Paul had won sixteen delegates to the Republican National Convention, placing him last amongst the four Republican candidates still in the race at that time.[10] The campaign projected on February 6 to have secured at least 42 delegates to the national convention.[11] On March 4, 2008, John McCain earned enough pledged delegates to become the Republican presumptive nominee, but Ron Paul decided to continue his run.[12] Ron Paul released The Revolution: A Manifesto on April 29, which collected essays based on thoughts that arose from his experiences running for president in 2008. The book went on to be a #1 bestseller among political books on Amazon.com[13] and the New York Times nonfiction list.[14]

On June 12, 2008, Paul announced that he was ending the presidential campaign, investing the more than $4.7 million of remaining campaign contributions to build up the new advocacy group Campaign for Liberty.[15] Although he suspended his campaign, he appeared on the ballot in Montana[16] and Louisiana[17] in the 2008 general election. He was also listed in some states as a write-in candidate. He received over 47,000 votes, giving him the eighth highest popular vote total in the election.[18]

These are events related to Ron Paul's official 2008 campaign. For events related to the independent grassroots movement around him (the "Ron Paul Revolution"), see Grassroots campaign efforts.

Ron Paul formed a presidential exploratory committee on January 11.[19] He also acquired data on public interest in his running for President around February 19.[20] Based on the results from the exploratory committee and polling, Paul officially entered the race on March 12.[20][21]

In a February CNN landline opinion poll, Paul was the candidate with the least name recognition besides John H. Cox.[22] On March 20, Paul signed the American Freedom Agenda Pledge.[23][24]

On June 30, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa, Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance invited all Democratic Party candidates and all Republican presidential candidates except Paul to a presidential candidates forum. Six candidates appeared: Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo.[25] In July, the New York Times wrote that Paul's "message draws on the noblest traditions of American decency and patriotism."[26]

Paul participated in the Ames Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa on August 11. He ranked fifth out of 11 candidates, receiving 9.1 percent of the votes.[27][28] According to John Fout, on TheStreet.com, Paul "shocked people in Iowa" by receiving more than 9 percent of the vote after making only three trips to Iowa, releasing ads only one week before the poll, and for beating Tommy Thompson, who visited all 99 counties in Iowa.[29] In an interview about the results of the straw poll, fellow candidate Mike Huckabee, who placed second, said that Ron Paul was the candidate most likely to overtake him nationally, saying, "I'm keeping an eye on him."[30]

During the Straw Poll Ron Paul supporters gathered to form a parade, that marched hundreds of people many of whom bore colonial costumes and drum and fife instruments, flags and other around the ISU grounds for hours chanting back and forth slogans that would later be used in many marches and events throughout the campaign.

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Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008 - Wikipedia, the free ...

The Fed's decision to reduce its massive asset-buying program by $10 billion this month was not a "serious move," Paul said, because the Fed had also given assurances about maintaining ultralow interest rates. That policy helped the stock market achieve record gains in 2013, which seemed to be the intent, he added.

"They think the stock market will translate into a healthy economy," Paul said. "I don't happen to believe that, and most of the people who are unemployed, the lower third of our population, don't believe that."

(Read more: Six years post-recession, a tale of two Americas)

Often described as dovish, Yellen doesn't seem poised to reduce the Fed's nearly $4 trillion balance sheet, he said.

"She is really an inflationist," Paul said. "All the market has to do is say 'boo' and there will be no more tapering and interest rates will stay at zero until the the market overwhelms this mismanagement and central economic planning by the Federal Reserve."

(Read more: For Yellen, headaches are only starting)

Continue reading here:
Paul: Fed vote reveals cracks in economy

I see Colorado recently legalized marijuana. Good for them. It should improve the scenery next time I drive through.

In 2009, I decided it might be fun to drive to California to visit my brother. It was a great trip across this great country, but one thing marred it. As I made my way west, I saw lots of billboards warning of the dangers of meth. Nothing quite spoils the view like a 10-foot-tall photo of a speed freak whos lost her hair and teeth.

After I got to my brothers house in Oakland, I decided it might be useful to do some research into the recreational drug most popular in California. Thats sold in various "clinics" as "medical marijuana."

I use the quotations advisedly. The young hipsters scoring at the coffeehouse I visited did not look the least bit ill. But so what? Marijuana wont rot their teeth. You wont find me crying in my beer at the local brewpub if the coffeehouse down the block sells pot to potheads.

The feds felt differently, however, and in April of 2012, agents descended on the "Oaksterdam University" complex that ran the coffeehouse and hauled off the teaching materials.

As a conservative, I got a good laugh out of that. All of those agencies are under the control of a president who used to smoke pot when he was young. And I would imagine most of the customers at the coffeehouse voted for Barack Obama.

Some young people are smarter than that, however. Four days after that raid, about 8,000 of them showed up at the University of Californias Berkeley campus for a Ron Paul-for-president rally. In 2012, the Texas Republican was the only candidate in either party who called for the federal government to get out of the drug enforcement racket.

It should be no surprise that a conservative Republican would oppose the war on drugs. The war traces back to the expansion of federal power under Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, when the Food and Drug Administration was charged with regulating pretty much everything Americans ingest.

For the remainder of the century, the only meaningful objection to this sort of thing among major political figures came from conservative William F. Buckley. In debates over drug policy, Buckley would get politicians of both parties sputtering by saying things such as: "If every American who had ever taken a proscribed substance were put in jail, there would be almost as many beds in American jails as there are beds in American homes."

Buckley also pointed out what might be called the Golden Rule of Smuggling: the more difficult the government makes it to bring big things into the country, the more likely the smugglers are to import small things. The federal government started out in the 1960s trying to cut off the supply of weak marijuana from Mexico. They largely succeeded, but by the 1980s the smugglers switched to cocaine, creating the crack epidemic. Meanwhile the meth producers started cranking out cheap speed.

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Ron Paul was right; there are cracks in the argument of the Drug War crowd