Because I Said So…

The fiery Republican with a libertarian streak, Ron Paul, survived a strong challenge to his day job in Congress on Tuesday, besting well-funded (and well-liked) Chris Peden.

Paul, ran for the White House as a libertarian in 1988 but gained more of a following this year as a Republican.  Though he has been a long shot candidate throughout his presidential campaign this year, he did not drop-out of the race.  He was forced to scale back his national operation to focus on the race for his Congressional seat in Texas when his constituents started getting fed-up with being neglected by rock star Ron Paulmania and the Maniacs.

Republican primary challenger Chris Peden said of Paul: “I do think the presidential race has exposed some of his values and principles that are not in line with his district, and that exposure has done him harm at home.”

But as Linkin Park would say, “In the end, it doesn’t even matter.”  Because Paul power still powered through Peden and beat him in Tuesday night’s election.  So there you go R3volutionists. You win!

Ron Paul maniacs should brace themselves.  Today, could be the day Paul gets booted from Congress. 

The 20-year congressman is facing a challenge from Chris Peden, the personable Republican mayor pro tem of Friendswood, who says Paul is out there “to make a point, not a difference.” Peden noted that out of 351 pieces of legislation Paul has sponsored, only six have made it out of committee and none has ever passed. 

As Wonkette noted last week that “to many of his constituents in Texas Congressional District 14, Paul is just a blame-America-first attention whore who completely ignores the people who put him in office. There are no Democrats running in the 14th District primary today— so if Ron Paul loses, he will have the honor of being a double loser in the eyes of his beloved constituents.”

Yikes–perhaps Paul’s fear of the backlash his run for presidency wrought is the reason he avoided debating Peden.  Here’s a video of Paul, flustered as he rants about why he won’t.  His response?  Peden should go “debate himself.”

Long shot presidential candidate Ron Paul regularly pulls in large crowds of supporters, but it looks like they don’t rally for him at the polls.  Case in point?  Paul’s UT Campus rally last Saturday.

According to the Daily Texan, around 4,000 students and supporters stood in front of the UT Tower Saturday to hear him speak.  But at the on-campus Early Vote location at the Flawn Academic Center–within eyesight of the enormous orange wave of coeds in “Hook ‘em, Horns” t-shirts–only 54 people voted for the Texas congressman that day.

Here’s a graph from Burnt Orange Report showing the disparity of voters to supporters:

So he only gets around 50 votes per 4,000 people.  Yes, it is only 1.25 percent, but last time I checked 1 is more than none.  I am sure that is the exact same logic the Paul maniacs follow…  Looks like the number of YouTube hits you get is not directly proportional to the number of votes you will carry.  Who knew?

Despite not officially declaring his run for the Green Party nomination for president, Nader did well on Super Tuesday, February 5.  

Nader had a landslide victory in California where he won with 61 percent, 17,065 votes, in nearly complete returns. Democrat turned Green Party member last year Cynthia McKinney had 7,178, or 26 percent of the 30,000 votes cast.

Greens voted in three other states on Tuesday where the party’s ballot status qualifies it to hold primaries:

In Illinois, where Nader was not on the ballot, nearly complete returns had McKinney leading a four-candidate field with 57 percent of the vote.In Arkansas, where Nader was not on the ballot, early returns suggested that the majority of votes were cast for an uncommitted delegate slate. McKinney ran second with 22 percent.Statewide results from Massachusetts were not yet available Wednesday afternoon. But results from some cities had Nader running slightly ahead of McKinney.”

Nader indicated last week that he was considering making another run for the presidency in 2008, especially if New York Senator Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

Oooooh!  He’s gunning for you, Hil.  Quick, check out the tapes of Al Gore’s 2000 election loss to train for the fight.  Because, you know Nader: he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger… 
 

Ron Paul is not doing so well in the polls going into Super-Fantastic-Amazing Tuesday.  He’s failed to register in the double digits in any of the states holding elections tomorrow despite his phenomenal, head scratching cult following. 

According to USAElectionPolls.com , 18-29 year olds in many states are supporting Ron Paul in the 15-20 percent range. But Paul mania is not catching on with the older voters.  He registers around 2-3 percent among them.

It’s okay, Paul.  Age ain’t nothing but a number.  Besides Paul has been a staunch supporter of fiscal responsibility and it is stated by independent monitoring organizations that Paul is the only conservative whose plan would really cut the budget and with the crumbling economy, “Ron Paul’s message has never been more truthful.” 

He can still spread his message.  At least until the convention comes, then he’s out of the race officially and will fade into obscurity once more.  Ross Perot, anyone?

Paul’s luck from Nevada must have followed him into this week.  The underdog GOP candidate collected $1.85 million on Monday.  Most of the money came in the form of small donations (anything under $50) which means his popularity may be on the rise.  This brings Paul’s 2008 fund-raising total to more than $2.6 million, most of it from the Internet, heading into the Florida primary and Super Tuesday.  He and I need to take a trip to Vegas and hit the craps tables.

It should be noted that Paul beat the top two Republican contenders.  A Tuesday NYC fundraiser by Sen. John McCain, gathered about $1 million, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Sunday trip to Chuck Norris’s ranch, which Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman says brought in about $330,000. 

And while the money keeps pouring in people are stepping up to endorse Paul.  Monday the former Republican governor of New Mexico said,“I am endorsing Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for president because of his commitment to less government, greater liberty, and lasting prosperity for America….Ron Paul has my support, respect, and vote.”

And Tuesday, on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, Norma McCorvey–a.k.a. “Jane Roe”–gave Paul her official endorsement: “I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade. He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it.”

But, like the late Notorious B.I.G said, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”  At the same time Paul is celebrating his boost in contributions and endorsements, he is being criticized for disparaging comments made in a newsletter bearing his name, about slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and the national holiday that honors him.

A New Republic article earlier this month outed a 1990 newsletter called the Ron Paul Political Report in which either Paul or ghost writers called King an adulterer and seducer of young children.  The article also questioned honoring him with a national holiday.

“We are supposed to honor this ‘Christian minister’ and lying socialist satyr with a holiday that puts him on a par with George Washington?” 

 Paul refuted allegations that he wrote or believes the messages in the article.  He said in a statement issued by his campaign that “several writers contributed to the project” and he has taken “moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”

Ron Paul placed second after former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the Nevada caucuses Saturday.  Paul, the U.S. House member from Texas won 14 percent of the vote from his Republican adversaries. 

“He finished ahead of John McCain, Fred Thompson and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by gathering 6,084 votes or roughly 14% of the turnout for the Republican Primary.”

In reality the ”win” is hardly a victory.  Paul is currently in fifth place with a total of six delegate pledges from the Republican party after six state caucuses.  That number is laughable compared to the 72 delegates Romney leads the GOP candidates with.  Yet Paul’s six delegates still puts him in a better position than former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani.  As of Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Giuliani is claiming two delegate pledges.  For now. 

Curiously enough, certain media outlets overlooked Paul’s success.  A writer for the Political Machine blog on AOL news found this video.  Pay attention to the bottom right-hand corner that shows the votes and percentages as they are counted.