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Online poker supporter Ron Paul has announced that he will not run for re-election to the United States Congress when his current term comes to an end next year. Instead, the Republican Congressman for Texas – who has co-sponsored federal egaming bills from John Campbell and Joe Barton – intends to focus his attention on running for the American presidency. Paul, who has spent nearly 24 years in the House of Representatives, said “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election...It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) will announce his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination Friday on ABC's Good Morning America at 7 a.m., prior to a New Hampshire event that will kick off his campaign, a source close to Paul has confirmed.
Paul will make it official in Exeter, N.H. at 10 a.m on Friday, according to Jesse Benton, his political director, but before that "he will be announcing what the news of that speech will be," Benton told National Journal. "It'll technically be the first time that phrase crosses his lips [this cycle], and then our big official event will be at 10."
While Benton would only say that "he will have a major announcement" in the first-in-the-nation primary state, the news is a long time coming: If not for the debate in South Carolina last week, which required participants to have an established exploratory committee, Paul had hoped to skip the hoops and jump straight into a White House bid in mid-May, sources close to Paul say.
The location for his announcement is fitting. Benton recently told National Journal that New Hampshire would be "a priority" for the Paul campaign. In 2008, Paul came in fifth in the Granite State's Republican presidential primary. It was his second run for president; in 1988, he was the Libertarian Party nominee.
Still, Paul's outspokenness and libertarian views have made him a hero among hands-off government ideologues, and a proven fundraising marvel.
On Wednesday, he tweeted his two latest blows against what he views as an overreaching government arm: a bill that would allow for interstate distribution of unpasteurized milk and another that would promote the production of industrial hemp. And after a week of waffling on the death of Osama bin Laden (Paul has previously stated his disgust for military action that defies international law), the congressman also came out against President Obama's handling of the issue, saying he would not have ordered the raid that killed the world's most wanted terrorist.
National Journal
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) will announce his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination Friday on ABC's Good Morning America at 7 a.m., prior to a New Hampshire event that will kick off his campaign, a source close to Paul has confirmed.
Paul will make it official in Exeter, N.H. at 10 a.m on Friday, according to Jesse Benton, his political director, but before that "he will be announcing what the news of that speech will be," Benton told National Journal. "It'll technically be the first time that phrase crosses his lips [this cycle], and then our big official event will be at 10."
While Benton would only say that "he will have a major announcement" in the first-in-the-nation primary state, the news is a long time coming: If not for the debate in South Carolina last week, which required participants to have an established exploratory committee, Paul had hoped to skip the hoops and jump straight into a White House bid in mid-May, sources close to Paul say.
The location for his announcement is fitting. Benton recently told National Journal that New Hampshire would be "a priority" for the Paul campaign. In 2008, Paul came in fifth in the Granite State's Republican presidential primary. It was his second run for president; in 1988, he was the Libertarian Party nominee.
Still, Paul's outspokenness and libertarian views have made him a hero among hands-off government ideologues, and a proven fundraising marvel.
On Wednesday, he tweeted his two latest blows against what he views as an overreaching government arm: a bill that would allow for interstate distribution of unpasteurized milk and another that would promote the production of industrial hemp. And after a week of waffling on the death of Osama bin Laden (Paul has previously stated his disgust for military action that defies international law), the congressman also came out against President Obama's handling of the issue, saying he would not have ordered the raid that killed the world's most wanted terrorist.
National Journal
