Ron Paul

Ronald Ernest “Ron” Paul (born 20 August 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman, medical doctor (M.D.), and a 2008 presidential candidate from the U.S. state of Texas. As a Republican, he has represented Texas’s 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, and had previously served as the representative from Texas’s 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985.

Paul advocates the limited role of government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname “Dr. No” for voting against any bill he believes violates the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535″ on Capitol Hill. He has never voted to raise taxes or congressional pay. He has always voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the Iraq War.

Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Howard Caspar Paul (1904-1997) and Margaret Paul. He graduated from Dormont High School in Dormont, Pennsylvania, in 1953. Paul attended Gettysburg College, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1957, and the Duke University School of Medicine, where he received his M.D. in 1961. He did his internship and residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit from 1961 to 1962, and was a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1968. In 1968, Paul began his medical practice in Texas as a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology and has delivered more than four thousand babies.

Early political career

He became a delegate to the Texas state Republican convention in 1974. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for election to Congress in 1974, a heavily Democratic year, against the incumbent Democrat Robert R. Casey. When President Gerald R. Ford appointed Casey as head of the Federal Maritime Commission, a special election was held in April 1976 to choose a new congressman. Paul won that election but lost six months later in the general election to Democrat Robert A. Gammage. He then defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch. Paul won new terms in 1980 and 1982.

Paul was the first congressman to propose term limit legislation for the House of Representatives, where he declined to attend junkets or register for a congressional pension. Paul was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 1984 GOP primary against Phil Gramm. In 1985, Paul returned to medical practice and was succeeded in his seat by Tom DeLay, then a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

In 1988, Paul won the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the U.S. Presidency. He placed third in the popular vote (with 431,750 votes – 0.47%), behind George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. Although he had been an early supporter of Ronald Reagan, Paul was critical of the unprecedented deficits incurred by Reagan’s administration, for which his opponent George H.W. Bush had been vice-president.

Return to Congress

In 1996, Paul was again elected to the House as a Republican. Paul won the primary and went on to win the general election despite opponent Greg Laughlin’s support from leaders within the Republican Party, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Leaders of the Texas Republican Party made similar efforts to defeat him in 1998, but he again won the primary and the election. The Republican congressional leadership then agreed to a compromise: Paul would vote with the Republicans on procedural matters, and remain nominally Republican, in exchange for the committee assignments normally due to him according to his seniority. Paul was convincingly re-elected in 2000 and 2002. Unopposed in 2004 he was re-elected to his ninth term in the Congress, and was re-elected again in 2006 for his tenth term by a 20-point margin.

Political affiliations and support

Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas. He also remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its national convention as recently as 2004.

Paul served as honorary chairman and is a current member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.

Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions (96.8% in 2005-2006) from individuals.

Views

Main article: Political views of Ron Paul

In his campaign, Paul has said that he would like to “reinstate the Constitution and restore the Republic.” His voting record is consistent in rejection of a welfare state or nanny state role for the federal government, and advocacy of hard currency and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

He voted against the Iraq War in 2002 and has offered alternatives such as granting the President authority to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and allowing armed pilots. He is the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War.

Paul’s desire to secure U.S. borders remains a key topic in his 2008 presidential campaign. He opposes the North American Union proposition and its proposed integration of Mexico, the United States of America, and Canada. Paul voted “yes” on the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorizes the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico. Paul opposes illegal immigration as well as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

In the May 3, 2007 GOP Debate, Ron Paul stated that as President, he would seek the immediate abolition of the IRS and the abolition of the income tax. As Congressman, he has long fought for the prohibition of direct taxes by repeal of the 16th Amendment which created the income tax.

2008 Presidential Campaign

Main article: Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008

Ron Paul formally declared his candidacy for the Presidential election in 2008 in 12 March 2007 as a guest on Washington Journal on C-SPAN.
Political analyst James Kotecki interviewed him regarding his candidacy, foreign policy, Congress and the Constitution, and personal liberties.

Ron Paul participated along with nine other Republican presidential candidates in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library’s 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007 sponsored by MSNBC. In a six part MSNBC on-line survey following the debate, Paul with over 40% came in ahead of the other candidates with the highest positives and lowest negatives of the top 4 candidates, out of approximately 70,000 votes as of May 9. According to ABC News, the conclusion of the MSNBC vote was that Ron Paul appeared to win the debate. In an ABC News debate vote “WHICH REPUBLICAN CAME OUT ON TOP?”, Ron Paul garnered over 85%. The C-SPAN debate vote had similar results with over 70 percent casting their votes for Paul. ABC News has attributed Paul’s success to possible viral marketing by his supporters, noting that Paul has a “robust online presence”.

On May 9, 2007 “Ron Paul” was listed as the #1 top Internet search term by Technorati.com and ranked #815 on Wikicharts , a measurement of most-viewed Wikipedia pages, above mainline Republican contenders such as Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and John McCain. The U.S. News & World Report article titled “Ron Paul’s Online Rise” states “Technorati spokesman Aaron Krane confirmed that, to the best of the company’s knowledge, the online support for Paul is genuine. (Tech-savvy devotees occasionally attempt to enlist programs called “bots” to artificially boost their candidate on search engines, but Krane said Technorati is usually able to detect and delete the cheaters.)”

Source: wikipedia