Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign

Ron Paul
File:IMGP2586RP.jpg Ron Paul speaking at a campaign event at the Nashville War Memorial in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 6, 2007.
President of the United States
Personal details
Political party	Republican

Ron Paul is a 10th-term Congressman, a physician (M.D.), and a 2008 presidential candidate from the state of Texas, seeking the nomination of the Republican Party.

Candidacy

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Ron Paul's campaign slogan, "Hope for America"

On January 11 2007, Representative Ron Paul filed papers to form an exploratory committee for the 2008 presidential race. He formally declared his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination March 12 2007 as a guest on Washington Journal on C-SPAN.

This is Paul's second bid for the presidency. In 1988, he ran as the nominee of the Libertarian Party. He placed third in the popular vote (with 431,750 votes - 0.47%), behind Republican George H. W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis.

The Associated Press reports:

Kent Snyder, the chairman of Paul’s exploratory committee and a former staffer on Paul’s Libertarian campaign, said the congressman knows he’s a long shot.

Snyder said Paul is running to win, not just to make a point or to try to ensure that his issues are addressed. Snyder said that Paul and his supporters are not intimidated by the presence of nationally known and better-financed candidates, such as U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona or former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney.

“This is going to be a grassroots American campaign,” he said. “For us, it’s either going to happen at the grassroots level or it’s not.”

(Paul later surpassed McCain in cash raised.)

On January 22 2007, Reason Magazine Senior Editor Brian Doherty interviewed Paul about his presidential bid. When asked about what issues he would emphasize, Paul responded:

Everything I’ve talked about for twenty years! I think the biggest thing for Republican primary voters is that most Republicans are turned off right now. They’ve had a beating and are reassessing their values. They have to decide what they believe in. The Republican Party has become about big government conservatism, and Republicans need to hear the message they used to hear: that conservatives are supposed to be for small government.

Paul also indicated that his grassroots campaign will attempt to take full advantage of the Internet. On February 20 2007, Paul's exploratory committee posted a formal video of him explaining his reason for running on YouTube. At the 2007 New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Ron Paul received the endorsement of the 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik.

Internet popularity

After the first debate, ABC News noted that Paul has a "robust online presence." U.S. News has reported him to have an increasing on-line popularity: "…his supporters have flocked to the Internet with such enthusiasm that Paul is now showing up among the much richer candidates in various measures of Internet traffic." According to USA Today, Ron Paul is an "online natural". TIME magazine labels Paul "the new 2.0 candidate" in reference to "his success recruiting supporters through new social media channels".

Rankings

"Ron Paul" has been measured as the top Internet search term by Technorati which ranks popularity in the blogosphere. Some have claimed that these rankings are skewed by a small number of supporters who are intentionally inflating search counts. However, Aaron Krane, a spokesman for Technorati, has stated his company's position that Ron Paul's search popularity is genuine to the best of their knowledge.

Beyond the blogosphere, Paul has shown strength across other top Internet sites. Alexa.com data shows Paul's campaign website receiving more traffic than Rudy Giuliani, John McCain or Mitt Romney. Hitwise ranks Ron Paul as the most frequent candidate search term, by a significant margin over Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Kate Kaye of ClickZNews reports that Ron Paul has "rocketed from fifth place to first" in their Republican Candidates' Site Traffic Market Share and Rankings report. By September 2007, his Wikipedia article has risen to 182nd on Wikicharts, a measurement of Wikipedia's most-viewed pages— the only other Presidential contenders on the list were Fred Thompson (34th) and Barack Obama (459th).

Traders in on-line prediction market inTrade bet in September 2007 on Paul having higher than a 5% chance of becoming the Republican presidential nominee, ranking fourth among the contenders. Oddsmakers at betting exchange Sportsbook.com changed Paul's odds for becoming president from 200-1 to 15-1 in May 2007, then to 8-1 in August 2007 and to 6-1 in October 2007.

Another trading market, World Sports Exchange (http://www.wsex.com) slashed his payout potential in half from $2,400 to $1,150 for a $100 bet, confirming his continuing uptrend.

Social networking

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Man looking at a Ron Paul pamphlet at a rally

In addition to his search popularity, Ron Paul has become popular on a variety of social networking websites. Paul has over 67,000 "friends" on MySpace. He also has strong support on Facebook, with over 27,000 supporters as of September 30, 2007. In a Facebook presidential poll, Elections 2008, he ranks second among Republicans, with 7% of the vote among all candidates, slightly behind Rudy Giuliani. However, when compared to Democratic candidates as well, Paul was fourth, just behind Hillary Clinton and far below the overall leader, Barack Obama, who has nearly three times as many votes as Guiliani, the next highest candidate.

On YouTube, Paul has the most viewers of all presidential candidates. Ron Paul can also claim the most YouTube subscriptions of all presidential candidates, having surpassed Barack Obama on May 20, 2007. As of October 7, 2007, Ron Paul's YouTube channel was one of the top 40 most subscribed of all time, with over 30,000 subscribers .

As of September 30, 2007, Ron Paul has the largest distributed grassroots organization on Meetup.com of all candidates, with over 49,241 members in 945 Meetup groups. In comparison, Barack Obama—who has the second largest Meetup organization among active candidates—has just over 4,000 members among 70 Meetup groups. Ron Paul has also earned the attention of sympathizers outside of the United States, who cite his honesty and sound foreign policy as the aspect that draws them the most.

Fundraising

Practically all of Paul's campaign money comes from individual contributors, with almost half (47%) of the funds raised from small contributions of $200 or less.

Ron Paul raised more money in New Hampshire in the first quarter of 2007 than presumed Republican front-runners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. As of March 31, 2007, Paul had raised $639,989 for his campaign nationwide. Of that, he had spent $115,070, giving him $525,919 cash-on-hand.

In September 2007, Paul was reported to have received more donations from actively serving armed service men and women than any other Republican Presidential candidate.

As of the end of the second quarter 2007, Ron Paul had over $2.4 million in the bank, which was more than John McCain, who had $2 million. He outraised every second-tier candidate, and was fourth in fundraising among the Republicans, behind the three frontrunners.

On September 2, 2007, Paul's campaign reported receiving donations in excess of $100,000 during a fundraiser held Labor Day weekend.

On September 24, the Paul campaign began an internet funding drive on the RonPaul2008.com website with the goal of raising $500,000 online by September 30th. By September 27, the goal had been surpassed. Paul released a statement on his website saying "Frankly, I'm floored. And very, very grateful." The goal was raised to $1 million by midnight September 30th. This goal was surpassed on September 29, with 25 hours to spare; eventually raising slightly over $1.2 million by midnight September 30 in seven days.

On October 3, the campaign produced a press release stating that it had raised $5,080,000 in the third quarter, an increase of 114 percent from the second quarter. The campaign pointed out that the Republican candidates conventionally deemed "front-runners" had large decreases in fundraising during the same time period. The campaign reported cash on hand of $5.3 million.

Polling

In a CNN telephone poll conducted in February 2007, Paul was the candidate with the least name recognition besides John Cox, leading poll watchers to report that he has the most room to grow if his Internet popularity can expand to voter support. A Gallup poll conducted in July 2007 showed 3% of Republicans and Independents who lean Republican having Paul as their first choice for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. With one-fourth of people under 30 years old without landline telephones, some bloggers speculate that Paul's polling numbers underestimate his level of support.

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Ron Paul rally poster in Nashville, Tennessee

A July 2007 Gallup analysis of the relationship between religiosity and preference among the Presidential candidates indicated that Republicans and Republican-leaning voters seldom or never attending church are several times more likely to favor Paul than those in the same group attending church regularly.

Paul drew 3% support in New Hampshire in a May 2007 Zogby poll, fifth among possible Republican contenders. Paul also came in second in fundraising in Montana (the sixth least populated state) and at the head of the pack of "second-tier" candidates in 14 other states.

In polling conducted at the Utah GOP convention on June 9, 2007, Paul placed second behind Mitt Romney. Paul also placed second in the straw poll conducted at the National Taxpayers Union conference, following Fred Thompson. Ron Paul placed second, polling 17%, in a Cobb County GOP straw poll on July 4, 2007. Ron Paul won the Coalition for New Hampshire Taxpayers straw poll with 65% of the vote. Rudy Giuliani placed a distant second with 8%.

Ron Paul placed third in the Illinois Straw Poll on August 16, 2007, with 18.87 % of the vote, polling just 0.4 % behind undeclared candidate Fred Thompson. Unlike the Ames Straw Poll, there was no cost for voting in the Illinois Straw Poll. Paul dominated the similar West Alabama Republican Assembly 2007 Presidential Preference Straw Poll on August 18, 2007, capturing 216 of 266 votes (81%), far ahead of distant second Mitt Romney, who won only 14. On August 18, Paul also won the Strafford County, New Hampshire, straw poll, with over 70% of the votes. Paul won the South Sound Ronald Reagan Republican Club's straw poll on August 21 in Snohomish County, Washington, with 30 percent of the vote, with Fred Thompson coming in a close second with 27 percent.

According to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll in September 2007, Paul has support among 5% of New Hampshire registered Republicans and independents who plan to vote in the Republican Primary.

Campaign developments

March 20, 2007 - American Freedom Pledge

Ron Paul signed the American Freedom Agenda Pledge. He is one of the few presidential candidates to have done so.

March 31, 2007

Ron Paul said he raised $639,989 and had $524,919 on hand.

April 10, 2007

Gallup/USA Today released a poll in which Ron Paul stood fifth among Republican presidential candidates, with 2%.

June 30, 2007 - Iowa candidates forum

In Des Moines, Iowa, Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance held a presidential candidates forum. Six candidates appeared—Romney, Brownback, Gilmore, Huckabee, Thompson, and Tancredo. Other than Paul, all Republican presidential candidates featured in the party's debates were invited. Paul campaign manager Lew Moore called ITF Executive Vice President Edward D. Failor, Jr. for information about the event. Failor, a senior advisor for the McCain campaign, told Moore that Paul was not invited and would not be allowed to participate because he was not considered a credible candidate.

In an interview with host Jan Mickelson of WHO News Radio 1040, Kent Snyder, chairman of Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign, and Edward Failor Jr., Failor said that Ron Paul was excluded because the schedule was "set in stone" a month ago. However, the schedule had been changed on June 8 to replace Jim Gilmore with Duncan Hunter. Mickelson mentioned that he had received an "amazing response" of "hundreds of emails" in protest at the decision after the radio interview, with the feedback nearly crashing the radio station's servers. Mickelson said he thought that Iowans for Tax Relief's decision reflected poorly on the state of Iowa and that to persist in barring Paul made him look "self-destructive" and "intractable" and to continue to bar him made it seem like a "personal thing".

Fellow Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who was invited to the event, had asked for Paul to be included.

To protest his exclusion from the candidates' forum, Paul planned a competing rally in the same location as the forum, beginning directly afterwards. Paul's rally attracted an estimated 1,200 people, roughly twice the attendance of the presidential candidates forum.

July 3, 2007 - Publicity blitz

On the night of July 3 and into the morning of the Fourth, Paul's supporters conducted a nationwide campaign to put up thousands of fliers, posters, and leaflets. The campaign was mostly organized through Meetup.com groups and was not conducted by request of the main campaign office. The goal of the campaign was to bypass a perceived media blackout and bring Paul's campaign directly to the American people on a day that would already have Americans thinking about liberty and freedom.

August 11, 2007 - Iowa straw poll

Paul participated in the Ames Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. He ranked 5th out of 11 candidates, receiving 9.1% of the votes. According to John Fout, on TheStreet.com, Paul "shocked people in Iowa" by receiving more than 9% of the vote after only making three trips to Iowa, releasing ads only one week before the poll, and for beating out Tommy Thompson, who visited all 99 counties in Iowa. Some Paul supporters are questioning the results of the vote, which was administered through controversial Diebold voting machines. A grass-roots operation called "Operation Spooner" had been held by Paul's supporters to call all voters in Iowa to ask them to support Ron Paul, in order to campaign for the straw poll in Ames on August 11. 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."

September 29, 2007 - New Jersey straw poll

Early reports say Paul won the unofficial Garden State Straw Poll with 73%, of around 200 attending and paying $18 each, in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Next were 12% for Fred Thompson and 1% for each of these five: Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, and Duncan Hunter. The last four each got 0%: John McCain, Sam Brownback, Alan Keyes, and John Cox.

September 30, 2007 - End of quarter fundrising drive

The week-long on-line fundraising drive initially set $0.5mil goal, but after that goal was reached after only two days, the goal was doubled to $1mil, which also was successfully met, raising about $1.2 million in only seven days. The innovative real-time funds meter allowed to observe sizes of the donations, which appeared to be less than $50 per donation on average, indicating the large size of the donor group and Ron Paul's appeal to people with medium and lower incomes. It also means existence of a large pool of donors who could contribute in the future, being short of the $2,300 per-donor maximum.

2008 GOP Presidential Debates

Main article: Republican Presidential Debates, 2008

May 3, 2007: California

Ron Paul participated in a presidential debate at the Reagan Presidential Library at Nancy Reagan's invitation. Paul appeared on Tucker Carlson's show hours before the debate. Nine other Republican candidates debated along with Paul. MSNBC moderated and televised the 90-minute debate, which was also simulcast by Politico.com to give viewers the opportunity to submit questions online. MSNBC's online votes showed Ron Paul standing out from the other candidates. As of May 4, 2007, Ron Paul was ranked first for "Best one liner," "Who stood out from the pack", "Most convincing debater", and "Who showed the most leadership qualities?" In all four, he had at least 29% of the total vote and was winning the "rating and comparing candidates" question. Since these were votes limited to self-selected online viewers of the debate, they may not reflect the views of the entire debate audience. The media faced criticism for largely ignoring Ron Paul's performance.

May 15, 2007: South Carolina

On Tuesday, May 15, Paul debated again—in the 2007 First-in-the-South Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate, televised live by FOX News Channel from the University of South Carolina’s Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina. Fox News Channel Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume moderated the debate and FOX News Sunday Anchor Chris Wallace and White House Correspondent Wendell Goler asked questions of the candidates. In a phone text message based vote among viewers after the debate, Paul finished second with 25% considering him the winner of the debate.

He won the voting on vote.com and MSNBC.com. He appeared on Your World Cavuto before the debate and Hannity & Colmes after the debate.

During the debate, Congressman Paul commented that America's history of interventionism in the Middle East has led to an unpopular view of the U.S. in Middle Eastern countries. Agreeing with what has previously been asserted by the 9/11 Commission Report and the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) specialists on al Qaeda, Paul stated that the CIA removal of an elected Iranian leader (the 1953 removal of the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohammed Mosaddeq in Operation Ajax) and the bombing of Iraq in the 1990s, culminating in the ongoing Iraq war, has led to increasing anti-American sentiment in the Middle East. He went on, stating that these events have also led to terrorists developing such a hatred for America that they're willing to die in suicide attacks and are able to recruit others for their cause.

When asked whether he thought the logic of a non-interventionist policy had changed after the September 11th attacks, the following exchange between Paul and fellow candidate Rudy Giuliani occurred:

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Paul and Giuliani

PAUL: No, non-intervention was a major contributing factor. Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for ten years. We've been in the Middle East [for years]. I think [Ronald] Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. Right now, we're building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting.

MODERATOR: Are you suggesting we invited the 9/11 Attacks, sir?

PAUL: I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it, and they are delighted that we're over there because Osama bin Laden has said, "I'm glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier." They've already now since that time have killed 3,400 of our men, and I don't think it was necessary.

GIULIANI: That's really an extraordinary statement. That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don't think I've heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th. And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn't really mean that.

MODERATOR: Congressman?

PAUL: I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the Shah, yes there was blowback. The reaction to that was the taking of our hostages, and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem. They don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free, they come and attack us because we're over there. I mean what would we think if other foreign countries were doing that to us?

While the confrontation was given some media attention, it was largely cast as a win for Giuliani, and Paul's remarks drew strong criticism from some pundits from the political right (particularly FOX News commentator Sean Hannity and GOP spokesman Michael Steele). Nevertheless, widely available information, including official US documents such as the 9/11 commission report, supports Ron Paul's assertions.

Former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer, said of Paul's statements: "Last week, Representative Paul did all Americans an immense service by simply pointing out the obvious: Our Islamist enemies do not give a damn about the way we vote, think, or live.... We are indeed hated and being warred against because we are 'over there,' and not for what we are and how we live. Our failure to recognize the truth spoken by Mr. Paul – and spelled out for us in hundreds of pages of statements by Osama bin Laden since 1996 – is leading America toward military and economic disaster.... And no matter how you view Mr. Paul’s words, you can safely take one thing to the bank. The person most shaken by Mr. Paul’s frankness was Osama bin Laden, who knows that the current status quo in U.S. foreign policy toward the Islamic world is al-Qaeda’s one indispensable ally, and the only glue that provides cohesion between and among the diverse and often fractious Islamist groups that follow its banner."

As cited in the 9/11 Commission Report, Osama bin Laden's 1996 fatwa called "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places," published in Britain, reveals his anger with American policies as his reason for declaring a fatwa. In his fatwa, bin Laden cites the reasons for attacking America. In order, they are:

1. American involvement in the Middle East
2. Palestine, and
3. Sanctions on Iraq

The Nation detailed how the CIA's former bin Laden and al Qaeda specialist, Michael Scheuer, told CNN, "We're being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live." CIA analyst, political scientist, and author Chalmers Johnson spoke of blowback in regards to the September 11 attacks in October 2001 and has written books on the subject.

In a press release following the debate, Paul's campaign chairman Kent Snyder said in response to Giuliani, "It is clear from his interruption that former Mayor Giuliani has not read the 9-11 Commission Report and has no clue on how to keep America safe" and on May 16, 2007, during an appearance on The Situation Room with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Paul asked for an apology from Giuliani and suggested that Giuliani should read the 9/11 Commission's Report.

Andrew Sullivan, early supporter of the Iraq War was led by Rep. Paul's remarks to conclude that:

The question serious supporters of a real war on terror must now ask is: will continuing the fight in Iraq help reverse this trend or cement it for decades to come? Is the war making us less secure and the world much less safe? Would withdrawal or continued engagement makes things better? At the very least, it seems to me, this question should be on the table in the Iraq debate. And yet the Republicans - with the exception of Ron Paul - don't even want to talk about it. Until they do, they are not a party serious about national security.

In the debate, only Paul and McCain did not endorse torture. Paul labeled the phrase enhanced interrogation techniques used in the debate to be Orwellian newspeak for torture. He has earlier stated that "the American people and government should never abide the use of torture by our military or intelligence agencies".

Since the debate, Ron Paul and his position have also been defended by Lew Rockwell , Pat Buchanan , Accuracy in Media , the John Birch Society and other conservative and libertarian commentators.

Accuracy in Media, a conservative media watchdog, has raised questions about a conflict of interest in Fox News' co-sponsorship of the May 15 Republican debate, pointing out that News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, is a client of Giuliani.

June 5, 2007: New Hampshire

Ron Paul supporters, mostly young, outnumber supporters of other candidates at a pre-debate rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on June 5, 2007.

Ron Paul participated in this Republican debate in New Hampshire hosted by CNN. Responding to what the most pressing moral issue in America is, Paul answered that it is America's rejection of a Just War policy in favor of a preemptive military policy:

We in the past have always declared war in the defense of our liberties or go to aid of somebody,” he said. “But now we have accepted the principle of preemptive war–we have rejected the Just War theory of Christianity. "We have to come to our senses about this issue of war and preemption and go back to traditions and our Constitution and defend our liberties and defend our rights."

CNN gave Paul fewer than six minutes out of the two hours, giving candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani over ten minutes each. In the CNN post-debate online vote, Paul received the highest marks in all categories except "snappiest dresser."

August 5, 2007: Iowa

Congressman Paul participated in ABC News's Republican presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Time Magazine's Mark Halperin evaluated Paul's performance "crowd-pleasing," and added, "if the Republicans nominated a candidate based on who most moved the applause meter, Paul would be giving his acceptance speech next summer."

According to an on-line poll at ABCNews.com, Ron Paul won the debate with 63% of votes. Paul's vote total was nearly eight times as many as the second-place Mitt Romney.

September 5, 2007: Durham, New Hampshire

Supporters outside of the Fox News debate on September 5, 2007

Paul appeared in a live Republican debate hosted by Fox News at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire. Congressman Paul heatedly argued with candidate Mike Huckabee over the war in Iraq, which exchange many news reports cited as the highlight of the debate. Directly challenged by Huckabee, Paul retorted that the war had contributed to the Republican Party's poor performance in the 2006 elections. Paul won Fox News' "public text-messaging" poll: more than 33%. Huckabee, Giuliani, and McCain got 18%, 15%, and 14% respectively. Sean Hannity said the poll results had been unduly influenced by Paul's supporters, despite that being unlikely for technical reasons, because multiple votes from the same phone number were rejected.

Returning from a two-week vacation, satirist Stephen Colbert blamed himself for the incident, due to his having both Huckabee and Paul on The Colbert Report numerous times and giving them the "Colbert bump". Indeed, the last time Huckabee had appeared on the program, shortly after coming in second in the Ames Straw Poll, Colbert in reference to observations that Huckabee may no longer be a "second-tier" candidate, asked who was most likely to "go after" him to became "the next Mike Huckabee" and Huckabee had answered Ron Paul. In his post-debate analysis, the faux-neoconservative Colbert declared Huckabee the "winner" of the exchange. However, he compared Huckabee's statement satirically to Richard Nixon's statement to leave Vietnam "With peace and honor."

September 17, 2007: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Ron Paul was in the first-ever Values Voters' Presidential Debate, this one for the GOP candidates, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was broadcast live on Sky Angel Television, the American Family Association Web site, and many Christian radio stations, including the VCY America network. Six other Republicans attended–John Cox, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, and Tom Tancredo. The official site for the debate says that, in an immediate straw poll of 340 delegates, Huckabee won with 63%, Paul in second at 13%, and Keyes third at 7%.

• official site, no transcript or video provided

A similar event was planned for the Democratic candidates on September 24, but none would confirm their participation. For a different debate which was previously announced for this date, see November 28, 2007, below.)

September 27, 2007: Baltimore, Maryland

Paul participated in a debate hosted by PBS television at Morgan State University with a panel exclusively of journalists of color. The organizers put empty podiums on the stage in the names of the absent candidates. Answering questions were Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Alan Keyes, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo. The first few questions concerned how some perceive the Republican Party to be racist. It was live on PBS and on www.pbs.org.

• PBS Transcript PBS Video, Audio and downloadable Podcast

October 9, 2007: Dearborn, Michigan

Ron Paul will participate in the debate sponsored by CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The debate will be aired on MSNBC at 9 pm ET.

November 28, 2007: Florida

Paul and McCain had been the only candidates who agreed to the Republican CNN-YouTube debate originally scheduled for September 17, 2007. When it appeared that McCain might withdraw, UPI said, "The GOP version of the YouTube debate ... could end up with U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, debating himself." The event was finally rescheduled to November 28. So far, Ron Paul, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee have agreed to the new date.

Submit video questions by November 25, 2007, to http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate.

Notable campaign appearances

March 21, 2007

Ron Paul was invited for a brief interview for a segment entitled "Because You Asked."

March 29, 2007

Ron Paul was in Arizona, where he was welcomed by Barry Goldwater, Jr., the torchbearer of the Goldwater Conservative movement.

April 11, 2007

Ron Paul was in Iowa.

April 20, 2007

He was invited back to Fox for a longer interview for a program segment on Fox News Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.

April 23, 2007

Paul appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight to talk about free trade for two minutes, followed by questions and answers.

May 16, 2007

Paul appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

May 19, 2007

Paul appeared at fundraisers in Brenham, Texas, and Austin, Texas, at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

May 20, 2007

Paul appeared on CNN's The Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.

May 21, 2007

Paul was interviewed on Fox News Radio's "Brian & the Judge."

May 24, 2007

Paul and Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA Bin Laden Unit, hosted a press conference to "educate" Rudy Giuliani on foreign policy. Paul and Scheuer explained why Giuliani is wrong on security and foreign policy, providing documentation about the unintended consequences of interventionism - known to many in the intelligence community as "blowback". They assigned Giuliani a reading list of foreign policy books, including Dying to Win, Blowback, Imperial Hubris, and the 9/11 Commission Report.

May 25, 2007

Paul appeared again in studio on Real Time with Bill Maher.

May 27, 2007

Paul was interviewed by Rick Sanchez on CNN Sunday Night Spotlight.

May 30, 2007

Paul was interviewed by Dennis Miller

June 4, 2007

Paul was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

June 5, 2007

Paul was interviewed by Laura Knoy on New Hampshire Public Radio.

Ron Paul signs autographs as campaign manager Kent Snyder (center) looks on at a rally after CNN's June 5, 2007, GOP debate.

June 6, 2007

Paul was interviewed by Tucker Carlson as the first segment of >Tucker.

June 12, 2007

Paul is believed to be the first presidential candidate interviewed in a college dorm room–by Georgetown student and YouTube analyst James Kotecki. Paul spoke about foreign policy, Congress and the Constitution, and personal liberties.

June 13, 2007

Paul was the guest of Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report.

June 14, 2007

Paul was again interviewed by Tucker Carlson on >Tucker.

June 14, 2007

Paul appeared as a featured speaker at the opening reception of the National Taxpayers Union Annual Conference in Washington, DC, as a featured speaker along with Congressman Jeff Flake and fellow Republican presidential candidate, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

June 15, 2007

Paul appeared in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Uptown Theatre at a Meetup.com event, where he spoke to 800 supporters.

June 16, 2007

Paul arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, to a welcome rally at Sky Harbor International Airport and then spoke at the Arizona Republican Assembly's convention.

June 19, 2007

Paul was interviewed on Hardball with Chris Matthews at 3:30 pm ET

June 20, 2007

Paul was interviewed on Bloomberg News

June 21, 2007

Paul was interviewed on NPR's "On Point".

June 22, 2007

Paul was (for the third time in the campaign) in New Hampshire.

June 26, 2007

Paul was interviewed on Fox News's "Neil Cavuto Show."

June 26, 2007

Paul was interviewed on G4TV's "Attack of the Show."

July 2, 2007

Paul was in Chicago, IL, on WGN Radio at 1:05 pm CT; in San Antonio, TX, on KTSA Radio at 5:35 pm CT; and on Fox Radio with Alan Colmes at 10:15 pm ET.

July 7, 2007

Ron Paul's son Rand appeared in Concord, New Hampshire, at the Coalition for New Hampshire Taxpayers Picnic and Straw Poll.

July 8, 2007

Ron Paul was interviewed for 15 minutes by ABC News' chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos on the program "This Week."

July 11, 2007

Ron Paul was interviewed by Tucker Carlson at on MSNBC, mostly discussing how he had amassed more cash on hand than John McCain, and briefly touching on foreign policy and Iraq.

July 13, 2007

Paul spoke to an overflow crowd at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

July 14, 2007

At 10 AM, Paul spoke in Charleston Park (1665 Charleston Road) in Mountain View, California. Charleston Park is immediately east of Google headquarters, near the Shoreline Amphitheater.

August 5, 2007

He appeared on The Big Story in an extended interview. He explained his position on Iraq, social security, and immigration and stated explicitly that he does not believe in 9/11 conspiracy theories.

August 18, 2007

Paul participated in the "Not My Job" segment of the NPR show Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!

September 10, 2007

Paul appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel.

September 11, 2007

Paul delivered the keynote address at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies forum, "Foreign Policy: A View from a Presidential Candidate."

September 14, 2007

Paul spoke at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, "I think we should be saying 'yes' to something very positive–'yes' to liberty and 'yes' to the Constitution." The gathering was set up by the school's law students.

October 3, 2007

Paul appeared on ABC's World News after raising over 5million dollars in the 3rd quarter.

October 4, 2007

Paul appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer after raising over 5million dollars in the 3rd quarter.

October 6, 2007

Paul appeared on ABC's Good Morning America after raising over 5million dollars in the 3rd quarter.

Scheduled appearances

October 4-6, 2007

Paul is scheduled to appear at Americans for Prosperity's "Defending the Dream Summit 2007", alongside candidates Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, and Sam Brownback.

October 5-7, 2007

Ron Paul will speak at the 22nd Annual Gun Right Policy Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Drawbridge Inn and Convention Center. Other speakers include Alan Gottleib of the Second Amendment Foundation, Joe Tartaro, Wayne LaPierre, John Lott, Massad Ayoob, David Kopel, and John Snyder. Also represented will be the Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, National Shooting Sports Foundation, KeepAndBearArms.com, and National Rifle Association.

October 12-13, 2007

The Ludwig von Mises Institute 25th Anniversary Celebration in New York City. Ron Paul, Andrew Napolitano, Lew Rockwell, Walter Block, Thomas Woods, and Robert Higgs are speakers. Paul's address is "Changing the World."

Endorsements

Individuals and organizations endorsing Paul's presidential campaign include:

Academia

• Walter Block, Ph.D. - professor of economics at Loyola University* and fellow at the Mises Institute*
• Jack Chambless, Ph.D. - professor of economics at Valencia College*
• Joe Michael Cobb, Ph.D. - retired professor of economics, Orange Coast College* and Saddleback College*
• Gary Galles, Ph.D. - professor of economics at Pepperdine University*
• Walter E. Williams, Ph.D. - professor of economics at George Mason University*
• Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D. - author and resident historian at the Mises Institute*

*Affiliations listed for informational purposes only.

Entertainers

• Bill Dumas - Hollywood film producer
• Glen Jacobs - WWE wrestler "Kane"
• Bill Maher - comedian.
• Sean Morley - WWE wrestler "Val Venis"
• Aaron Russo (1943-2007) - Hollywood film producer
• Doug Stanhope - Comedian
• Jimmie Vaughan - Blues guitarist
• The Evolutionaries - New York industrial music group
• Virtuopath - Acoustic musician
• David Letterman endorsed Paul in 1988
• Rockie Lynne - Country music artist

Media

• James Bovard - Author and Columnist
• Vox Day - Columnist
• Marc Emery - Radio Station Manager
• Devvy Kidd - political columnist.
• Texe Marrs - Pastor, Author and Radio Host
• Ilana Mercer - Columnist
• Paul Mulshine - Journalist
• Peter Schiff - Financial consultant and Fox News contributor
• Gary B. Smith - Fox News Economics commentator
• Joseph Sobran - Columnist
• G. Edward Griffin - Author and Film Producer
• L. Neil Smith - Author

Organizations

• Jefferson Republican Party
• United Republicans of California

Government officials

• Karen Kwiatkowski - Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel
• Andrew Napolitano - Political Commentator and former New Jersey Superior Court Judge
• Michael Scheuer - Former Head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden Unit

Elected officials

• Barry Goldwater, Jr. - Former Member of Congress
• Jim Guest - Missouri State Representative
• Barbara Hagan - right-to-life activist and former New Hampshire state representative.
• Paul Ingbretson - New Hampshire State Representative
• Tom Langlais - former New Hampshire State Representative
• Dick Randolph - former Alaskan State Representative

Other political

• Michael Badnarik - 2004 Libertarian Party Presidential candidate
• Chuck Baldwin - 2004 Constitution Party Vice-Presidential candidate.
• Jim Clymer - Constitution Party National Chairman
• Frank Gonzalez - 2008 Independent Congressional candidate in Florida
• Stephen P. Gordon - former National Libertarian Party Communications Director
• Larry Kilgore - 2008 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas.
• Steve Kubby - 2008 Libertarian Party Presidential candidate
• Michael Peroutka - 2004 Constitution Party Presidential candidate
• Justin Raimondo - 1996 Republican congressional candidate in California and Editorial Director of Antiwar.com
• Michael Charles Smith - 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.
• Theodore Terbolizard - 2008 Republican Congressional candidate in California
• Kinky Friedman - 2006 Texas gubernatorial candidate

Other

• Pastor John Killian - Maytown Baptist Church, Maytown, Alabama

Comments by observers

• On February 20, 2007, prior to Paul formally announcing his candidacy, Radley Balko of Foxnews.com wrote an article titled "Ron Paul, the Real Republican?" Balko concludes the piece with: "Of all the candidates so far declared, only Paul can credibly lay claim to the legacy of the Reagan-Goldwater revolution. How well he does, how long he lasts, and who ends up defeating him will reveal whether there's any limited government allegiance at all still stirring the Republican Party."

• After the May 3, 2007, debate at Reagan Library, Pat Buchanan told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that Ron Paul came the closest of all the candidates to classic conservatism. Donald Luskin told CNBC that Paul was his "pro-stock market candidate."

• On the May 16, 2007, episode of ABC's The View, co-hosts Joy Behar and Rosie O'Donnell, both known for expressing liberal views, praised Paul's critique of U.S. foreign policy in the May 15 South Carolina debate.

• Bill Maher, professional comedian and talk show host, referred to Paul as his "new hero" in response to the Congressman's anti-war comments during the May 15, 2007, South Carolina debate. In the same show, he asked his guest, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Christopher Dodd, why Dodd couldn't be a "truth-teller" like Paul.

• Andrew Napolitano, Fox News analyst and former New Jersey Supreme Court judge, has praised Paul's stances in Congress, calling him "the Thomas Jefferson of our day."

• In an interview in June 2007, former presidential candidate Ralph Nader praised Ron Paul and fellow candidate Democrat Mike Gravel.

• Democratic congressman John Larson (CT-1), who is not known for praising those outside his party, gave a speech in the House of Representatives in which he said:

"Meanwhile, while [Republicans] dither, we lost more than 23 soldiers this past weekend. How much longer can the insanity continue here without a strategy that provides us with the strategic withdrawal to an over-the-horizon force as has been advocated on this floor by colleagues on both sides of the aisle? Why is it that Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who has the nerve on the Republican side to talk about it without fear of being called unpatriotic or in fact booed in an audience?"

• Syndicated columnist Joseph Sobran wrote of Paul in June 2007: "He may have become at last what he has always deserved to be: the most respected member of the U.S. Congress. He is also the only Republican candidate for president who is truly what all the others pretend to be, namely, a conservative."

• The Economist noted Paul's rising poll ratings and Internet popularity, and pointedly asked the question: "Is this would-be president brave or crazy?" (July 19, 2007 )

• Robert Novak noted on July 27, 2007, that "Republican leaders report that the most enthusiasm among grassroots activists is for Gingrich and libertarian Representative Ron Paul."

• In August 2007, Fordham University communications professor and commentator Paul Levinson gave a talk to the New York City Ron Paul Meetup group concerning what he called the media's bias against Paul.

• Kinky Friedman appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on October 5, 2007. When he was asked which candidates he liked in the presidential election he stated, "I think Ron Paul is probably telling the truth; nobody's listening."

• George Will said in a roundtable discussion on ABC's This Week on October 7, 2007: "Where's my man Ron Paul?... There's a certain purity and clarity to the man, and people like that."

See also

• Political positions of Ron Paul
• Ron Paul
• Republican presidential debates, 2008
• Republican Liberty Caucus
• U.S. presidential election, 2008
• Opinion polling for the Republican Party (United States) 2008 presidential candidates

External links

Official sites

• Presidential Campaign Website
  • Meetup
  • YouTube
  • MySpace
  • Facebook
  • Eventful
  • Straw poll results http://www.ronpaul2008.com/straw-poll-results/

Other sites

• Ron Paul Library, more than 900 articles and speeches by Ron Paul
• Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Grassroots Campaign
• Support Ron Paul for President in 2008 Podcast
• Ron Paul's Weekly Audio Address Podcast
• May 2007 Republican Debate Transcript, New York Times
• Ron Paul 08 Blog
• Ron Paul for President 2008 Up to date News, Videos, Forums and more for Ron Paul
• Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign at Curlie
• Ron Paul Wiki
• Ron Paul Ranking in Spartan Internet Political Performance Index
• Ron Paul's headquarters in Second Life
• Daily Paul.
• USA Straw Polls.

Grassroots sites

• Ron Paul 2008
• Ron Paul Online
• Ron Paul Forums
• Becoming a Delegate for Ron Paul