In a video released Thursday, Texas congressman and long-shot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul announced that he has recognized what many suspected months ago: he will not be elected president of the United States.
“I was never apathetic but I admit to being skeptical at the beginning of the campaign. Though victory in the conventional political sense is not available in the presidential race, many victories have been achieved due to your hard work and enthusiasm,” Paul told his supporters in a video released on his campaign Web site.
“We must remember that elections are short-term efforts. Revolutions are long-term projects,” he added.
Paul’s campaign, billed as the “Ron Paul Revolution,” centered on ending American involvement in Iraq, eliminating the Federal Reserve and paring down the federal government.
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said that the congressman is not dropping out of the race, but is acknowledging that he will not be his party’s nominee. The campaign is still encouraging his supporters to vote in the remaining caucuses and primaries and to try to play roles in state-level conventions.
The libertarian-leaning congressman attracted a remarkably committed following, primarily through Internet outreach. Independent of the campaign, supporters across the country organized and raised money for Paul’s candidacy, helping him raise $6 million online in one day and financing a blimp bearing Paul’s name.
Now that Arizona Sen. John McCain has clinched the Republican presidential nomination, Paul could only continue as a third-party candidate — an oft discussed possibility that Paul has repeatedly dismissed. Benton repeated Friday that Paul will not run as a third-party candidate.
On Tuesday, Paul beat out a primary challenger for his House seat. He has no Democratic opponent in the general election for his spot in the House.
Despite garnering few votes in the presidential primary and only 14 delegates through Tuesday, according to Associated Press projections, Paul attracted enthusiastic supporters who peppered Internet message boards and news media online comment sections with pro-Paul messages. When rival Republican and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the race earlier this year, he remarked that “Ron Paul won all of the debates” because Paul supporters overwhelmed the text-messaging voting systems set up by cable networks.
According to Benton, Paul has less than $6 million on hand from his campaign coffers. Federal election regulations dictate that Paul’s presidential campaign could donate $5,000 a year to other political action committees. In his recent video, Paul mentions his Liberty PAC, which he says will help support candidates at all level of government who support his libertarian and non-interventionist ideology.
Even as Paul failed to win his party’s nomination, his supporters are still organizing online. At ronpaulmarch.com, supporters are organizing a June demonstration in Washington, D.C., which the group promotes as ” the largest rally and march for freedom in recorded history.”
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