Ron Paul On The Verge Of Going 3rd Party
By Eric Dondero
January 8, 2008
Page 3 of 4
Today, these parties are generally under the umbrella of the Constitution Party. The CP has one elected official - Montana State Senator Rick Jore. They have ballot access in 15 states under various names. Most recently they attained ballot status in Arkansas, and are currently conducting ballot drives in a number of other states.
In a last minute move the "Texas Independence Association" is seeking ballot access as a political party. Ballot Access News reports: "Texas law, since 1993, has required parties that plan to petition to give advance notice no later than January 2 of the election year. The Texas Independence Party recently notified the Secretary of State that it will attempt to qualify next year." The quasi-secessionist group praises Ron Paul throughout their press release advising: "if Ron Paul is anywhere on the ballot, vote for him."
And this late breaking news... The Constitution Party of Alabama has formally endorsed Ron Paul for President. MaryAnn Crum said in a press release Dec. 27, "We feel that Dr. Paul may be AMERICA'S LAST HOPE to return this country to its Constitution." It went on to say "The ACP is an independent state political party and not affiliated with any national political party."
The Constitution Party nominating convention will be held April 22-27 in Kansas City, MO.
At the same time there's an active effort to recruit Paul on the Libertarian Party side, as well. The LP has become more Paleo-friendly in recent years with a stridently non-interventionist stance, while largely casting out its former Pro-Defense wing. The battles of the late 1980s involving the Paleos have long been forgotten.
Libertarian Party Founder David Nolan even offered himself as a possible VP on a Paul ticket. He also let loose some insider LP information on the Yahoo Libertarian Radicals Board saying on December 19: "Eric Garris at antiwar.com was in the process of putting together an ad for the February '08 issue of LP NEWS, wherein a 'blue ribbon' list of Libertarians would have done just what the LNC did in December: asked Ron Paul to seek our nomination. The ad was to appear right AFTER the February 5th Mega-Primary, when it will almost certainly be clear that the GOP will not be nominating Dr. Paul."
What Nolan is referring to is the actions by the Libertarian National Committee December 1 and 2 in South Carolina, where LNC member, former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) introduced a resolution inviting Paul to run on the LP ticket. It was passed unanimously. The Paul campaign politely declined. For now.
Thomas Knapp of Rational Review wrote recently: "...the whole LNC resolution thing was a coordinated activity. The Paul campaign knew about it in advance and approved/encouraged it (maybe even asked for it in the first place); its movers on the LNC knew precisely what the reaction would be and why."
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