Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign
In early 2007, Ron Paul, a congressman from Texas, announced his candidacy for the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States in the 2008 election. Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed him 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.
During the fourth quarter of 2007, Paul was the most successful Republican fundraiser, bringing in approximately $20 million. He also received the most money from the armed services of any candidate in the fourth quarter. His campaign set two fund-raising records: the largest single-day donation total among Republican candidates and twice receiving the most money received through the internet in a single day by any presidential candidate in American history. Paul's run for president is also noted for its grassroots social networking, facilitated by the Internet. Paul's enthusiastic supporters were noted by the media, who called them "Paulites". Paul received most of his contributions from individuals, at ninety-seven percent, compared to other candidates.
As of February 5, 2008, Paul had won sixteen delegates to his party's National Convention, placing him last among the four Republican candidates still in the race at that time. The campaign projected on February 6 to have secured at least 42 delegates to the national convention. On March 4, 2008, McCain earned enough pledged delegates to become the Republican presumptive nominee, but Paul decided to continue his run. 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 the top bestseller among political books on Amazon.com and The New York Times nonfiction list.
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. Although he suspended his campaign, he appeared on the ballot in Montana and Louisiana in the 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.
Campaign developments
These are events related to Ron Paul's official 2008 campaign. For events related to the independent grassroots movement around him, see Grassroots campaign efforts.First quarter 2007
Paul formed a presidential exploratory committee on January 11. He also acquired data on public interest in his running for president around February 19. Based on the results from the exploratory committee and polling, Paul officially entered the race on March 12.In a February CNN landline opinion poll, Paul was the candidate with the least name recognition besides John H. Cox. In March, Paul signed the American Freedom Agenda Pledge.
Second quarter 2007
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. In July, The New York Times wrote that Paul's "message draws on the noblest traditions of American decency and patriotism."Third quarter 2007
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. 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. 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."During the Straw Poll his 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.
Fourth quarter 2007
On October 25, work began among his supporters to commemorate the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, starting with the website TeaParty07.com. In support of the rally, Paul supporters purchased a blimp to display campaign messages to observers. On December 16, 2007, Paul supporters re-enacted the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor by tossing banners that read "Tyranny" and "no taxation without representation" into boxes that were in the harbor. His supporters also gathered in several other cities as part of the Tea Party re-enactment, including Strasbourg, France, Santa Monica, California, Maui, Hawaii, and Freeport and Austin, Texas. Paul himself tossed a barrel labelled "Iraq War" overboard at the Tea Party Re-enactment in Freeport, Texas. The Austin Police Department estimates 2000 to 3000 attendees at the Austin Tea Party.Paul's first major television campaign began November 8, at a total cost of US$1.1 million, started advertising in New Hampshire.
Mid November, 2007 Operation: Live Free or Die, An effort to bring volunteers to campaign door to door in New Hampshire was started by Google employee Vijay Boyapati. His idea to rent a few houses to hold volunteers turned into 14 houses with over 600 people arriving in New Hampshire to knock on doors, organize marches, phone bank at the Concord and Nashua Headquarters. Paul visited OLFD volunteers at a local restaurant owned by a member of the Free State Project called Murphy's Pub, a frequent establishment for FSP members, to thank them in person for their dedication.
On January 7, 2007, many of these volunteers worked at polling stations across the state and later held a party which he attended and spoke. Many of these volunteers, including Vijay went on to other states to continue the efforts.
On December 1, 2007, the Los Angeles Times declared Paul a player in the presidential campaign. The Libertarian Party adopted a resolution on December 9 urging Paul to run on the Libertarian ticket if he does not get nominated by the Republican Party.
In December 2007, the Associated Press reported that Paul kept a US$500 donation from Don Black, operator of Stormfront, a white nationalist organization website. Paul's campaign stated that "If someone with small ideologies happens to contribute money to Ron, thinking he can influence Ron in any way, he's wasted his money," responding that they would spend the money on spreading "the message of freedom" and "inalienable rights".
CBS News reported on December 21 that "Ron Paul can no longer be dismissed as the favorite of the fringe".
Many presidential candidates released apolitical Christmas-themed advertisements. Paul was the first nationally recognized candidate to post such an ad on YouTube. In the ad, Paul's family sings a rendition of "Deck the Halls" amid a brief narrative from Paul wishing the viewer "an absolutely great 2008". CBS News described it as portraying Paul as "warm and fuzzy", with fewer religious overtones than other candidates'.
Paul was questioned on Meet the Press by Tim Russert for asking that US$400 million in previously earmarked funds be directed back to his district for water projects, a nursing program, to expand a hospital cancer center and US$10 million to promote Texas shrimp. On Meet the Press, Paul defended his bid for the earmarked funds saying he never voted for an earmark in his life. Russert said Paul's statement was like saying, "you voted for it before you voted against it." Congressman Paul responded,"I put them in because I represent people who are asking for some of their money back,... I'm against the tax system, but I take all my tax credits. I want to get their money back for the people."
First quarter 2008
On January 7, Paul's campaign launched an eight-state TV ad campaign for California, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, North Dakota, Louisiana, Maine and Florida. That was in addition to the campaigns in New Hampshire and South Carolina.Also on January 15, James Giles, writing for The Bulletin of Philadelphia, said that Paul represented "the dominant foreign policy consensus in the Republican Party from 1920 to 1952."
Paul campaigned heavily in Nevada, more than Mitt Romney, the only other candidate to go there. On January 17, Paul's Nevada campaign representatives warned state GOP officials that thousands of caucus-goers had been given wrong caucus locations. A correction was put onto the Nevada GOP website that morning, two days before the caucuses. Then Paul's campaign criticized inconsistencies, confusion over rules, and a shortage of ballots in some counties. They asked the state Republican Party to consider postponing the vote because of those problems and others, such as unclear rules on who could vote.
In January, Paul released an and named Peter Schiff and Don Luskin economic advisors to the campaign. The National Taxpayers Union found that among the remaining presidential candidates, only Paul proposed sufficient federal spending cuts to more than offset new spending plans.
In February, suicide terrorism expert professor Robert Pape joined the campaign as foreign policy advisor; Ivan Eland and Leon Hadar also joined Paul's foreign policy team.
After Romney left the race in February, leaving John McCain strongly favored to win the nomination, Paul e-mailed his supporters on February 8 and stated that he was refactoring his presidential campaign to be "leaner and tighter" and would devote a significant portion of his time specifically to his campaign for reelection to the U.S. House, representing Texas's 14th congressional district, where Paul is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Friendswood mayor pro tem Chris Peden. Paul recognized a nearly zero chance of a brokered convention. He was determined to continue in every caucus and primary remaining and promised not to campaign for president for another party. Staffer Dan McCarthy clarified in a on February 9 that Paul's presidential campaign "is not ending, not being suspended, and not even drawing down", stating that " few news sources are misreporting Ron Paul's e-mail from last night."
On February 11, Paul posted a video via YouTube and his campaign website in which he states that he would like to organize a march on Washington in order to show the support he has received and give his campaign a boost in the presidential race.
On March 4, John McCain earned enough delegates to become the Republican nominee. Mike Huckabee dropped from the race as a result, but Paul decided to continue his run, having successfully defended his congressional seat.
On March 8, Paul released a video to his supporters acknowledging that he would not be able to win the nomination, interpreted by some news sources as a hint that the campaign was over. His son Rand Paul publicly denied the allegations and stated the campaign "will continue to contest the remaining primaries." On March 10, Paul appeared on CNN's American Morning to explain that he has not withdrawn from the race and he will keep campaigning to keep his ideas in the arena, and to fulfill an obligation to his supporters in states that have not yet held primaries.