Ron Paul will celebrate his 81st birthday on August 20th
Update 8/10/16: The previous title of this article took Dr. Ron Paul’s quote out of context, and caused confusion among some who viewed it thinking that Dr. Paul was speaking out against third parties, when nothing could be further from the truth. I regret this lapse in judgement, and I apologize to everyone who saw the sensationalist headline and formed the wrong idea about Dr. Paul and his views. -Krzysztof Lesiak
Published at American Third Party Report earlier today:
Ron Paul, the 1988 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, 2008 and 2012 GOP presidential candidate and former twelve-term Texas congressman, spoke to 400 student activists at the Young Americans for Liberty conference in Washington, D.C. in late July. Interestingly, as DailyCaller.com and LewRockwell.com report, Ron Paul refused to endorse Gary Johnson for president, much less even mention the Libertarian Party throughout his 45-minute speech to a passionate audience. DailyCaller.com quotes Paul as saying:
“We don’t need a third party, we need at least a second party that will challenge [the] system.”
According to both websites, Ron Paul said that the two major parties were two sides of the same coin and said.
LewRockwell.com goes on to recommend an article titled “Libertarians for Gary Johnson? 5 reasons libertarians can’t support Johnson,” written by Andrew Moran and published on July 22nd, 2016.
Wikipedia continues, as of today, to erroneously list Ron Paul on its list of endorsements for Gary Johnson. (Update 2: Dr. Paul’s name has since been removed from the list).
I updated the article’s headline, and I did say a few words as a apology at a new post over at ATPR.
https://amthirdpartyreport.com/2016/08/10/an-apology-to-our-readers-due-to-the-recent-ron-paul-article/
Thanks for the support, everyone. I will be careful with my words in the future, especially the titles.
No need for an apology. This isn’t a great headline, but it barely even registers on the scale of bad journalistic practices in 2016.
Just use more accurate headlines in the future.
Jill’s right. Anyone who decides which politician to support based on a headline (to an article they didn’t even bother to read) is an idiot.
Having said that, it is bad journalism to intentionally take quotes out of context.
I wouldn’t worry about it, Chris. A headline is short, and meant to draw attention to what will be said in the article. I personally don’t think an apology is necessary.
To the commentators:
Yes, the title was sensationalist, clickbaity and out of context, the first part of it at least. I used poor judgement just to try to elicit more views. I did not realize the ramifications of such a thing until I found out that there are Ron Paul people who said they are not going to support him anymore simply because I took the quote of context.
I am sorry.
This was an inexcusable decision on my part. A formal apology will be issued soon.
I do not know if Weld has endorsed any other Republicans for this election, but I do know that he never endorsed any Libertarians, or even libertarian leaning Republicans.
I was only 16 in 1992, but if I had been old enough, I would have enthusiastically voted for Buchanan. At the time, I mistakenly believed I was a conservative (since I had never heard of libertarianism), and even though there were a lot of issues where I disagreed with Pat, he was the only conservative who had dared to oppose the first Iraq War (Persian Gulf War). So, he was my man.
Andy,
Has Governor Weld endorsed any Republicans (or others) where there is a downticket Libertarian also running in this year’s election?
Murray Rothbard also endorsed Buchanan.
Buchanan is not a libertarian, but I think that he is less toxic than the people I mentioned above who were endorsed by Johnson and/or Weld (most of the endorsements I listed above were from Weld).
It also seems that, having run as the LP POTUS candidate in 1988, Ron Paul intended to run against the LP nominee (Andre Marrou) in 1992. He eventually endorsed Pat Buchanan in that election — “Ron welcomed Pat’s entry into the race, and pledged his support to the Buchanan effort. Unlike most libertarians, Ron Paul understands the real world of politics, and he realizes that in Pat Buchanan we have an unprecedented opportunity to forge a powerful coalition, to create a new libertarian-conservative, Old Right movement. ”
See: – http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?484518-Ron-Paul-s-forgotten-1992-Presidential-race-and-his-eventual-endorsement-of-Pat-Buchanan
I know that the Libertarian Party came into the 1988 presidential election season in bad shape ballot access wise. Anyone know if the Ron Paul campaign kicked in for ballot access (I have heard that they did), and if so, how much, or was ballot access for the 1988 election completely covered by the LNC and state parties?
ATBAFT @August 9, 2016 at 08:42 wrote:
“Joe, which page(s) in Radicals for Cap? I couldn’t find reference.”
My error. Right author, wrong book. It’s on page 77 of Brian Doherty’s Ron Paul’s rEVOLution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired.”
“The campaign ended in scandal: Paul’s longtime aide Nadia Hayes was fired in the last week of the campaign and accused of siphoning more than one hundred thousand dollars out of Ron Paul’s funds (from Paul’s business accounts, not the campaign per se). Hayes ended up in jail for embezzlement. . . . Paul’s campaign had promised national TV ads; they didn’t deliver. . . . Paul said that the $3 million his campaign raised was only enough to cover staff, travel and direct mail.”
Everything old is new again, or it seems.
When it comes to endorsements, look at Gary Johnson, who endorsed George W. Bush for President in 2000 (something that Ron Paul never did), and look at William Weld, who endorsed George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, Barack Obama in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012, and Jeb Bush in September of 2015, and after Jeb dropped out in February of 2016, he endorsed John Kasich.
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
I would take Ron Paul any day over Johnson or Weld.
I preferred Johnson to Paul in 2012, and I still do. Anybody who thinks this is about being the more principled purist libertarian should check out some of the many non-libertarian Republicans he’s endorsed, including this year. Sometimes over a Libertarian candidate in the race.
Nadia Hayes was the woman in the 1988 campaign who handled the money.
Oops, mean Q&A, sorry.
I supported Paul for President in 1988 until I met him at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI. During a Q%A, nearly every question he was asked, he replied, “What’s your position on . . . ” and then parsed his answers to fit the questioner’s response. I lost all respect for him at that point and wrote in Willa Kenoyer for President.
I was told that Ron believes only a Remnant will survive the End Times, which is where we are now. Non-believers are doomed. How do you think that would impact your political views? Might it focus you on ensuring the believers, for instance your children and grandchildren, benefited from the largess coming your way? Would such a belief make you feel entitled because you are chosen?
I think most people are missing the point of what Ron Paul is saying. There’s only one party running things now regardless of what flavor you choose, Democrat of Republican. We need a 2nd party to challenge that one & Gary Johnson & the libertarians don’t stand a chance cause they’re not even challenging the fed.
Selecting bill weld is another red herring to distract liberty minded folks to think they need to more mainstream for their ideas to be valid.
Joe, which page(s) in Radicals for Cap? I couldn’t find reference. I remember Paul’s long time trusted aide, a woman, stole money from the campaign but why and to whom was Ron Paul supposed to “return” it?
Melinda Pillsbury-Foster @ August 8, 2016 at 22:44
“I was on National Committee in 1987 when we were coping with his refusal to demand the return of the $250,000 his campaign manager stole. It was a lot of money. Keep commenting and I will just write the article.”
Everything old is new again it seems.
I’ve only read the description of this in RADICALS FOR CAPITALISM. Am very interested in your experience of what happened.
Joe
“If it doesn’t enrich Ron Paul and his family, he’s got no time for it.
He’s strictly pay-to-play. Always has been.” – Austin Cassidy
******
100% true.
Sadly, even though Ron Paul is quite principled on the issues, he has always been sure to make a profit for himself and his family. He always made sure to lock in his profit from the organizations he supported first, BEFORE he stood up for the principles of that group.
I will – but right now I am writing shows and we have deadlines to make. It will be a week or so.
There is nobody worth endorsing, except maybe Darrell Castle, and he is not likely to appear on enough state ballots to have a theoretical chance at winning the election.
I try to only write one comment per article, but I decided to come back with a second thought-
Why would Ron Paul endorse someone the same year his son ran for President? Him endorsing someone (even after Rand’s campaign ended) would be politically obnoxious.
Melinda –
Please, write it. I am interested.
20 years? So what? I was on National Committee in 1987 when we were coping with his refusal to demand the return of the $250,000 his campaign manager stole. It was a lot of money. Keep commenting and I will just write the article.
I have been following Ron Paul for 20 years, and I have even met him in person. He is the real deal and his impact should not be understated.
Legends are not necessarily true. Sometimes we are silent about the truth because we hope this time we will not be disappointed. In this case a vain hope.
savedyouaclick is correct. He was complaining about too much bi-partisanship, saying the R’s and D’s are the same, so we don’t need a 3rd party, we need a 2nd party. He was not attacking the Libertarian Party or the Constitution Party.
I’ve seen a lot of speeches from Ron Paul where he never mentioned the Libertarian Party. I’m not sure why this one in particular is any different.
Ron Paul said more than two months ago that he wouldn’t be doing personal endorsements, but if you believe in the NAP, vote for the Libertarian Party.
The full speech of his YAL talk is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SahlawYhSBk
Ron Paul has done more in his life for liberty than anyone alive today. The man is a true hero, a living legend, and i am not exaggerating.
So, Ron Paul gets it right again.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Unlike other “maverick” major party politicians (Sanders, Kucinich, Rand Paul), Ron Paul has never stooped to endorsing the “lesser of evils” candidate. Why would he start now?
Wrong. That was the R3VOLution. Ron was dragged. It took threats to get the Campaign, distinct from the R3VOLution to use the money we contributed for anything but those enormous salaries the CATO graduates received. We came within hours of Ron’s not participating in the South Carolina GOP forum because they did not want to ‘waste’ the money.
Ron Paul accomplished a hell of a lot. He brought more people to the philosophy of liberty than anyone alive today.
Really? Many thought so but he accomplished nothing for all the years in Congress and he monetized the campaign that made history.
Kudos to Ron Paul. Proud I voted for him in 1988, 2008, and 2012.
A much better man than Johnson or Weld.
Perhaps I should have written the article about how Ron managed, through outrageously ignoring the credentials of those paid enormous salaries in his 2008 campaign, to let himself be denied primary victories in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, among others. He only ran then to augment the mailing list he used to hawk subscriptions to his various financial letters. He would have folded without a whimper if Ernie Hancock had not taken months out of his life and put up huge signs promoting the candidacy from coast to coast.
I’ll see if I still have the notes I took on Ron over the years.
There goes Darrell Castle’s hope of an RP endorsement.
Ron Paul’s fine – Just done with day-to-day presidential campaigning. At 80, why should he come back and get involved in ANOTHER Presidential election? He’s probably more interested in spending time with his family and friends.
This had got nothing to do with enriching Ron Paul. Gary Johnson and Bill “CFR” Weld are crappy candidates who are not offering a real choice against the establishment. Ron Paul is right.
You know, he had that guy working for him, I think it was Donderdo or something like, who kept telling me that was the case with the Paul family and I didn’t believe him.
Now I do.
If it doesn’t enrich Ron Paul and his family, he’s got no time for it.
He’s strictly pay-to-play. Always has been.
Old Dirty Bastard, and at least as much trouble as he is worth to the libertarian movement.
This is clickbait and 100% false advertising. He is saying that the Democrats and Republicans are the same, therefore “third parties” should be seen as “second” parties, which we need.
Also he endorsed Chuck Baldwin for president in 2008. This year Baldwin is wildly supportive of Donald Trump.
Don’t need a third party? What a louse! Not only did he leave the GOP after writing a scathing letter of resignation, he became a Libertarian, won the LP presidential nomination in 1988, and then later helped created a Constitution Party, and then returned to the GOP.