Dr. No has said no once again: Ron Paul on Sunday was offered the top spot on the Libertarian presidential ticket but declined to accept the invitation. Dr. Paul has been saying for weeks that he is not interested in another third-party run, citing ballot access and limited visibility as particular problems in running outside the two major parties. He's won 10 terms on a Republican ticket so far as a congressman from Texas, as he is quick to mention when thrown this inevitable question by reporters who pick up on his cross-party support. "Freedom is popular" is one of his favorite ways of describing the phenomenon of getting Ron Paul Democrats on board, much like a Ron before him.

Obviously Paul must be encouraged by his record-breaking $4.2 million haul in November's successful grassroots fundraising event which netted him the hefty sum in a single day of mostly on-line donations. There is even a blimp emblazoned with "Google Ron Paul" set to sail the skies for New Hampshire next week. Rival and GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani is starting to take notice of Ron Paul, recently commenting to reporters that Ron Paul's supporters are everywhere. John McCain has begun to attack Ron Paul in debates, and used the tactic widely viewed as desperate of resurrecting Hitler's name in the Florida YouTube debate. The Iowa Independent has predicted that Ron Paul will place third in the Iowa caucus, ahead of Giuliani and McCain. He's made the rounds on The Tonight Show and even women's morning talk show The View, which he managed to survive. Ron Paul is getting noticed, and this is sure to happen again in a big way on December 16, day of the Tea Party 2007 celebration in which supporters plan to send another moneybomb his way of several million dollars.


Is Ron Paul smart to stay in the GOP race? I think so. Even if he doesn't win the Republican nomination, which I would not rule out by any means given his ever-increasing momentum, there is always the Constitution Party. On paper Ron Paul seems to fit in well with its members. The Constitution Party also recently eclipsed the Libertarian Party as the nation's third-largest political party. Still, I hope the GOP will come to its senses and fast. I've been a Republican since I was 18 and could vote. If the Republican Party doesn't nominate Ron Paul I am seriously considering leaving it. I know many other conservatives who feel the same way and wish for the GOP to return to its fiscally responsible, pro-liberty, pro-life, and non-interventionist policy. As Dr. Paul often points out, what ever happened to "no nation-building"?

Source:Colette von Hessen
Nolan Chart

Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.