Ron Paul's time as a Libertarian

[teshuah]

I was reading this blog: (http://thirdpartywatch.com/2007/12/23/ron-paul-on-meet-the-press-the-third-party-angle/) that covered today's interview on Meet the Press. The comment section was littered with people showing how Ron Paul "lied" about how long he was a libertarian. on the SHow he said one year, but others crunched the numbers and said it was closer to 10 Years.

There are Ron Paul supporters on there saying they are disturbed by this "lie' and don't know if they should support him after this.

Was Ron Paul meaning he only RAN once as a Libertarian?

[Bradley in DC]

I was reading this blog: (http://thirdpartywatch.com/2007/12/23/ron-paul-on-meet-the-press-the-third-party-angle/) that covered today's interview on Meet the Press. The comment section was littered with people showing how Ron Paul "lied" about how long he was a libertarian. on the SHow he said one year, but others crunched the numbers and said it was closer to 10 Years.

There are Ron Paul supporters on there saying they are disturbed by this "lie' and don't know if they should support him after this.

Was Ron Paul meaning he only RAN once as a Libertarian?

Dr. Paul said he wasn't a Republican except for that year. He never gave up his lifetime membership in the LP (as far as I know) and continues to be one now. Texas does not recognize his LP membership (I think).

[RonPaulCult]

I'm pretty sure the people commenting on whatever blog you're talking about are wrong - or at the very least not completely correct.

Just consider that Ron Paul has spent 18 years as a REPUBLICAN congressman. That is to say he ran in Texas with an R next to his name and never changed that while in congress.

He was a republican in office before his presidential run and returned as a republican congressman after it.

He only ran as a libertarian in that one election and that was one year long.

[tonyTheBest]

he said over and over again that if you believe in personal freedom you are an libertarian.
The core of Republican is libertarianism.

[electronicmaji]

Who gives a fuck?

fuck partyism if you care about what party the man is we really dont want you voting for him..

[teshuah]

it's Eric Dondero (ugh) leading the charge saying that he was a Libertarian for almost 10 years and that Ron Paul has said in other interviews, but not national, that he was a Libertarian for only 1 year... He supposedly dug out some mag's he had in storage that referenced the multiple years Ron Paul was Libertarian.

The issue was some are wondering now if they can "trust" Ron if he "lied" about this... i don't think he did. I think he was saying he only RAN AS a Libertarian once.... that he didn't say exactly what he meant to say.

[cicatrice]

If this tiny nuance is a main concern (like Mr. Dondero makes it out to be, who frankly frightens me with his obsession to smear Dr. Paul), then I'm sorry to say there's just no one to vote for.

[stevedasbach]

I was reading this blog: (http://thirdpartywatch.com/2007/12/23/ron-paul-on-meet-the-press-the-third-party-angle/) that covered today's interview on Meet the Press. The comment section was littered with people showing how Ron Paul "lied" about how long he was a libertarian. on the SHow he said one year, but others crunched the numbers and said it was closer to 10 Years.

There are Ron Paul supporters on there saying they are disturbed by this "lie' and don't know if they should support him after this.

Was Ron Paul meaning he only RAN once as a Libertarian?

Here is the direct quote:

"So I stand for the ideals of the Republican Party. I've been elected 10 times as Republican. I've been a Republican all my life except for that one year that I ran as a Libertarian. But, no, I represent the Republican ideals, I think, much more so that the individuals running for the party right now."

Since he sought the LP nomination in 1987 and campaigned in 1988, he probably should have said two years, not one. However, in the context of the question, I wouldn't call it a lie.

Dr. Paul wasn't active in the LP after the 1988 election, although he has never renounced his life membership. He allowed the LP to mail to his Presidential donor/inquiry list four times in 1989 per the agreement between the LNC and the campaign, but did nothing else that I can recall to promote the LP. He has periodically spoken at LP events, both prior to being reelected to Congress and afterwards. I'm sure he has spoken at Republican events as well.

I think it's fair to say that Dr. Paul considers himself a libertarian and Constitutionalist philosophically, and a Republican politically.

[Jobarra]

LOL, what is the problem? I swear these non-issue attacks are some of the most hilarious things. It's disturbing though if someone is actually NOT voting for Dr. Paul now because of this. I'm voting for the message the man advocates and his long documented history of advocating it, not what party he claims to be in.

[Nathan Hale]

Who gives a fuck?

fuck partyism if you care about what party the man is we really dont want you voting for him..

We give a fuck. Sure, we don't agree with partyism, but most people do. So we can either tell most people to fuck themselves and lose this election, or we can attempt to answer the question in a way that people will accept and win this election.

It's nice to be right. But being right is worth dick if you're not effective.

[Noleader]

Seeing that Eric Dondero is extremely active in that blog I would question how many folks there are really paul supporters.

Check out how good his vision is: http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/Dondero%20-%20Bush%20was%20right,%2005-03-03.htm