Sunday morning I had the great opportunity to sit down with Ron Paul. This interview was really special because I credit Dr. Paul with “awakening” the greatest number of people — getting them to think for themselves, to question the role and legitimacy of government and to take ownership of their life.

In Part I we discuss resources available to those new to the ideas of liberty, immigration, free markets, the welfare/warfare state and bailouts.

In Part II we discuss civil disobedience, jury nullification, secession, monetary policy, the power of ideas, self-government and a voluntary society, advice for activists and the potential for other freedom fighters to join Dr. Paul in the halls of Congress.

Much love goes to Jesse Benton, Norm Singleton, Allison Gibbs and Adam Dick for helping to make this happen.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/…

With only 1,448 days left before the 2012 election, you-know-who is making plans to launch another long-shot campaign for the presidency.

So much can happen before Nov. 6, 2012: Hillary Clinton could be on the Supreme Court. Her husband could be getting $400,000 per speech.

There’ll be yet another James Bond actor. Shrek IX will be showing. And Harry Reid will be scowling. Still.

Also, you can bet Rep. Ron Paul will be running for the White House again, probably as a Republican. Not so much to actually win, mind you; RP runs to make a point about less government and foreign intervention.

And anyway by then, at age 77 Paul will be the second oldest guy to launch a losing presidential campaign, behind only Ralph.

Thanks to one of our favorite libertarian writers, David Weigel over at Reason.com, we get a Ron Paul update and a peek inside the opaque window that is the perpetual Paul campaign. Weigel tells us, via Paul’s grandson-in-law Jesse Benton, that the Texas congressman is pondering another run.

Benton says Paul needs to make up his mind soon, like by mid-summer next year, because “those voters in New Hampshire and Iowa expect to see their candidates early and often.”

Benton says Paul “would be very likely to run as a Republican,” in large part because the hated media conspiracy that allegedly ignores him so much gives him more exposure as a GOP candidate than as some kind of fringe nutjob.

With the primaries a dim memory and Paul once again back in the House for an 11th term (unopposed this November because Texas Democrats know a political tornado when they see one), people tend to forget that Paul raised nearly $35 million from his fervent fans.

That’s way more than Mike Huckabee and almost as much as Mitt Romney dished out from his own funds. In fact, Paul raised more money in the third quarter last year than any other Republican.

Of course, Paul’s total $35 million is only about two weeks’ or less take for the ‘08 Barack Obama money-printing machine.

But since when have the odds ever deterred Paul?

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Funny that McCain people are still trying to get Paul to endorse him. Don’t they understand he simply will not do so?

The missing Bob Barr really annoys me. He had a press conference in the same building at 12PM. Why wasn’t he there? Some are saying he blew them off, some think perhaps he was just running late. Given that Austin Peterson (who I know) was tossed out by an angry Jesse Benton it seems there was definitely some crossed signals. At least between the Barr people and the LP, but if what Don Rasmussen says is true the Barr campaign has serious explaining to do. At this point I’ve still not heard what Barr’s conference was about.

UPDATE:

According to a fellow Manhattan LP member:

Barr’s folks say Barr didn’t want to “dilute the libertarian message” or
some shit and didn’t want to be on stage with greens, crazy baldwin, or
crazy mckinney. The person I spoke with said that instead Barr had his own
press conference and that he also has written a private letter to Ron
offering ron the VP spot (and that wayne is okay with it).

Now I’m not too sure what to make of it, but my 2 working hypotheses are:
1) it’s legit and Barr intended well
2) Barr offered the “private letter” to Paul knowing Paul wouldn’t accept
and that it could be leaked out to hardcore paul fans and probably wouldn’t
make the mainstream media. This way Barr has it both ways: in the eyes of
the mainstream Republicans who he is trying to impress, he can continue to
be a mainstream Republican who isn’t really a “crazy libertarian” and has
managed to keep his distance from Paul and those loons. But to hardcore
Paullers, he offered Paul a VP spot and may gain their respect (which he
doesnt care about) and their moneybombs (which he does care about).

UPDATE 2:

Here’s the answer.

Barr may have just lost my already reluctant vote.

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/…

Friends,

Dr. Paul just authorized me to send this press release to the national wire. Stay tuned!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jesse Benton
September 5, 2008

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – On the heels of his historic three-day rally in Minneapolis that drew over 12,000 attendees, Congressman Ron Paul will make a major announcement next week in Washington at the National Press Club.

More details will be announced Monday.

The last major announcement was a bit of a let down. Hopefully this one has more substance. An endorsement perhaps? Rumor is Barr and Baldwin will be there. Barr’s site lists Sept. 10, Joint Press Conference at the National Press Club at 10:30am.

http://washingtontimes.com/…

The McCain campaign, acting through the Republican National Committee, has been negotiating with Rep. Ron Paul to win his support and acquire the names of his sympathizers among the 4,607 delegates and alternates at the Republican National Convention, according to a senior aide to the Texas congressman.

The aim is to try to win support for the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket from Paul sympathizers, some of whom formally committed to Mr. Paul during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and others of whom are closet sympathizers of his libertarian brand of Republicanism.

Sen. McCain and national party strategists worry that Mr. Paul’s sympathizers will vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate and former Republican congressman who shares many of Mr. Paul’s views.

Mr. Paul has refused to endorse Mr. McCain, and Mr. McCain’s operatives have refused to let him address the Republican National Convention.

As a result, Mr. Paul decided to hold a rally of his own Tuesday billed as the “Campaign for Liberty.” Initially set to be held at the University of Minnesota’s 11,000-seat Williams Arena, it has been moved to the far-larger Target Center in Minneapolis. Mr. Paul said in an interview that he expects to attract up to 18,000 people.

Mr. Benton said Mr. Paul is negotiating with convention officials – who are in effect McCain campaign representatives – for permission to make the rounds on the convention floor Wednesday in the company of his personal security guard, communications director and political aides.

Earlier negotiations to have Mr. Paul address the convention fell through because the congressman would not change his position on the war in Iraq, which he opposes as needless and self-defeating for the United States.

He also was denied permission to address the Republican Platform Committee last week in Minneapolis, Mr. Benton said. He said Mr. Paul wanted to discuss the foreign-policy planks in the platform, but the McCain forces who controlled the platform proceedings, as well as the Rules Committee and the Credentials Committee, objected.

I’m not surprised. McCain would love some of the Paul zeal. He won’t get it though. Most Paul supporters wouldn’t even consider McCain. Those that did would likely be canceled out by the Obama leaning Paul supporters.

I think most Paul supporters will be staying home, voting for Barr or Baldwin.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/…

Republicans receive the largest slice of presidential campaign contributions made by military members and their spouses, but leading anti-war candidates are getting a substantial cut, too, according to an independent analysis of political contributions.

From January 2007 through March of this year, service members or civilian employees of the military donated at least $766,000 to presidential candidates, according to data made available April 20 and provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group in Washington.

The analysis included donations of at least $200 made by individuals who listed their employer as one of the four branches of the military – Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps – or the Coast Guard, National Guard, Army Air Force Exchange Service, armed forces or military.

These donors gave the largest amounts to Rep. Ron Paul, the long-shot Republican candidate from Texas who has acknowledged defeat in the nomination process but continues to campaign, and Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat from Illinois.

During the reporting period, Paul – a former Air Force surgeon who broke with his party to vote against the Iraq war – received the most military contributions, with $201,271.

That’s significantly more than the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain from Arizona, who received $132,133 from military donors, according to CRP.

“I think that our fighting men and women want to protect America, defend our Constitution and defend our borders,” said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Rep. Paul’s campaign. “I think they’re sick and tired of being sent overseas on these police actions and getting caught in the middle of these civil wars, and want someone like Ron Paul speaking sense.

“They signed up to defend our country, not police the world,” Benton said, “and I think they’re hungry for leaders who do that.”

Obama, meanwhile, whose opposition to invading Iraq has been a centerpiece of his campaign, has received $178,456 in military contributions, compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s $85,000, the analysis shows.

“To see two anti-war candidates getting more money from the people fighting the war or providing support for the war effort was surprising to us,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics.

However, the donations cannot be considered representative of military employees’ political preferences as a whole because the analysis does not include donations of less than $200, the point at which campaign finance law requires campaigns to disclose the name of a donor and contribution amount. Thus, individuals who give less than $200 aren’t counted.

“The picture could be completely different if you were able to look at smaller donors,” Ritsch said. “You’re looking at a tiny slice of the military who have enough disposable income to donate to a candidate.”

Overall, military donors still favor Republicans to Democrats, 62 percent to 38 percent, according to CRP. But Ritsch said at the beginning of the war, three-quarters of military donors favored GOP candidates.

And you can bet this won’t get much MSM coverage.