United Liberty
Ron Paul Endorses Chuck Baldwin for President
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 3:16am | posted by United Liberty Staff
A post on the Campaign for Liberty site confirms it. Ron Paul just dropped the bomb and endorsed Chuck Baldwin:
I’ve thought about the unsolicited advice from the Libertarian Party candidate, and he has convinced me to reject my neutral stance in the November election. I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.
This was already a big week for Dr. Paul. The coming taxpayer-funded bailouts and the country’s verging near economic collapse is an unfortunate reminder that the humble Congressman from Texas has been right all along.
Fortunately he isn’t just sitting there telling us “I told you so.” He’s bucking the establishment again to show that another part of our system is broken.
While this endorsement doesn’t do much for the Baldwin campaign in terms of tangible political success on November 4th, I surmise that Ron’s intention is to bring to light the ideas and begin to fix our country. By not endorsing the McCain-Palin ticket he demonstrated further courage to work within the system in an attempt to bring more people together through principled beliefs rather than partisan politics.
Judging by his statement, Paul’s disappointment in Bob Barr’s willingness to play the game of exclusion for political gain didn’t overshadow Paul’s willingness to listen and change his mind.
All that wrapped up with a psuedo Chuck Norris endorsement. It’s another big week for Ron Paul.
We will provide updates here as more details develop.
Update from Reason Magazine’s Dave Weigel-
UPDATE: I talked to Barr campaign manager Russ Verney about the tiff.
reason: What’s your reaction to Paul’s statement?
Verney: That’s what leadership is all about: Making decisions. On election day Bob Barr’s going to offer a mesage that appeals to Ron Paul’s voters, and we’re confident we’ll win them.
reason: Are you disappointed to lose Paul’s endorsement like this?
Verney: No, and this should have been a long time ago if Ron Paul wanted to help Chuck Baldwin. The time to do this was right at the Rally for the Republic, when there was focused attention on what Paul was doing, right in front of the doors of the Republican convention.
reason: Do you regret skipping Paul’s press conference and holding your own? That was clearly the impetus for Paul’s decision.
Verney: No, it wasn’t a mistake. We stand by our position. This is all about liberty, and liberty-minded voters need to know that concentrating their support in the Libertarian Party.
I speculate that this is wishful thinking upon the part of Russ Verney. But with a recent CNN poll showing Barr with only 1% of the vote and Baldwin not even registering, the potential impact of Dr. Paul’s endorsement is not likely to be significant for either candidate.
Poor Bob Barr! I think he was really hoping for a Paul endorsement when he got into the race. I think Barr has honestly been given a unfair shake from many libertarians for his mainstream Republican past. Libertarianism isn’t what’s taught in schools, so we all came to it from somewhere.
Nevertheless Paul and Baldwin are friends and you don’t go back on your friends.
It’s better than the main parties. How about tit-for-tat law suits, and bonuses paid to financial executives who in turn use the money to support their candidate. If the American people still do not feel like they’re having their face shoved in the dirt by established parties, their head must be somewhere else.
Touche, Dennis.
By thumbing his nose at Bob Barr and supporting Baldwin, RP IS, by default, kicking both Nader and McKinney to the curb as well! I thought this “major announcement” was about 3rd party unity! If this is how the C4L is going to operate, I’ll have nothing to do with it! I’m extremely happy Bob Barr did not attend this “major announcement”! RP should not have endorsed anyone as this stinks of revenge (very un-Christian like behavior) or a major conflict of interest! Very disappointed in Dr. Paul!
Barr/Root ‘08, now more than ever!!!
I realize that, essentially, Ron Paul is Campaign for Liberty. However, it’s not C4L that is endorsing Chuck Baldwin. It’s Ron Paul’s, personal endorsement. I don’t have any hard feelings toward Paul as a Barr supporter. I would have preferred Dr. Paul to support Barr, but Baldwin is a fine choice, as well.
Barr’s campaign has been pissing on Ron Paul’s intentions ever since Barr had secured the nomination. They pushed way too hard and expected way too much support from Ron Paul and C4L. That was not what C4L was intended to be about, and Barr’s campaign wouldn’t accept it.
If Barr’s campaign comes out and blasts Ron Paul in any way because of this endorsement, they can consider my support for their campaign lost to Chuck Baldwin, as well.
For me, being libertarian is about taking responsibility for one’s actions and not putting the blame on someone else. This endorsement is a direct result from the Barr campaign’s attitude towards Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty. This is their consequence.
Barr still gets my vote and he is on more ballots. How many state Ballots is Baldwin on?
According to Ballot Access News- http://www.ballot-access.org/ballot-chart.html- Baldwin is on 37 ballots so far.
All of this drama within the third party arena is only making matters worse. The “politics” I’m seeing here are just as bad as those within the two major parties. I can see the C4L falling apart quickly because they aren’t really campaigning for liberty, they campaigning for Ron Paul. Priorities get messed up when you put a man ahead of ideals. Fight/Vote for Liberty, don’t just follow Ron Paul!