Quarterly fundraising reports from the presidential campaigns are in, and Rep. Ron Paul — the only Republican candidate who opposes the war — made a little news:
[Paul] surprised observers when his campaign said it had raised about $5.1 million from July through September, more than doubling his contributions from the second quarter and bringing total donations to more than $8 million for the year. The Paul campaign said it had $5.3 million in cash on hand.
Frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani raised $11 million, Mitt Romney $10 million, John McCain $6 million and Fred Thompson $8 million. Ron Paul has an intense grassroots following but polls under 5 percent in national surveys. The fact that the renegade candidate raised donations within range of the top tier is interesting. He bears watching.
Paul opposes the war, as noted, and some of his libertarian views would appeal to liberals. He opposed the Patriot Act, for example, and favors habeas corpus. He is for legalizing drugs, especially medical marijuana.
In one significant area, however, the libertarian supports government intervention, and it is a deal killer for the left. He opposes a woman’s right to abortion.
UPDATE: Here are Paul’s own words on abortion:
In my medical career, I’ve delivered more than 4,000 babies, so naturally my professional experience has influenced my views on abortion. It’s my strong belief that life begins at conception, and that children in the womb are entitled to inheritance rights. More broadly, libertarians, like most Americans, respectfully come to different views on the issue based on their different personal feelings about when human life begins … I think we ought to return the issue to the states so that local opinions could better determine the specific regulations concerning this deeply personal issue.
And on gay marriage:
Just like with abortion, I believe that marriage is an issue best decided by the states, not the federal government. I’m opposed to a federal ban on gay marriage, but it also goes both ways: I’m against the courts at the federal level pressuring the states into accepting same-sex marriage licenses. What we’re talking about in both cases is the redefinition of an ancient social institution by the federal government that’s best left to the people to decide at the local level.
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Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama raised a combined $47 million, more than the combined totals of all the Republicans mentioned above. Clinton raised $27 million, and Obama raised $20 million.
- Topic: Politics
- Topics: Campaign 2008, Congress, Fox News
Ron Paul Raises $5 – in Range of McCain’s $6 Mil, and Thompson’s $8 Mil…
Ron Paul reported $5 mil in donations for the quarter, just $6 mil less than frontrunner Rudy Giuliani’s $11 mil. Paul is the only GOP candidate who opposes the war and his bump in fundraising could signal volatility on the right. (Clinton and Obama r…
While Rep Ron Paul is against abortion, he wants the decision to be returned to the States because the federal government, and in this case, the Supreme Court had no authority to rule in the manner they did.
The Constitution give the Federal Government nine enumerated powers, none of which is determining if Abortion is legal or illegal.
The 10th Amendment stipulates “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.”
Rep Paul being the strict Constitutionalist, won’t give power to the Federal government they don’t possess, nor does he allow for the Supreme Court to take powers from the States or the people and give it to the fed.
While you might think he is splitting hairs, you need only look at his voting record for the past 30 years to see how consistent he is on this issue.
texas, you are an idiot. highways aren’t specified in the constitution either. or the epa, ntsb, etc etc etc etc….just because it isn’t specified in the constitution doesn’t mean the supreme court can’t review it as law.