Ron Paul: No John McCain endorsement
by Jason George
Republican Rep. Ron Paul told the Tribune this morning he will not back Sen. John McCain as his party's nominee unless the Arizona senator "has a lot of change of heart."
"I can not support anybody with the foreign policy he advocates, you know, perpetual war. That is just so disturbing to me," Paul said.
"I think it's un-American, un-Constitutional, immoral, and not Republican."
As for as his own White House bid, Paul appears to be a man torn between two lines of thought: hoping something drastic happens or accepting that it probably won't. Consider, after this weekend's contests, 1,242 out of 2,380 delegates a candidate needs to win have already been decided, meaning that Paul – with a delegate count that ranges from 16 to 42 – can only win if the convention gets brokered or if Romney gives him his delegates, both extremely unlikely possibilities.
To put it another way: This is the first week when even if Paul won every single delegate in every single upcoming contest, he still could not win the nomination straight out.
"It is true the numbers are not very positive. But you know we started off with eleven [candidates] in the campaign and now it's down to three," he said.
"I suspect it's not totally impossible for something to come up about McCain that will totally discredit him. When the people know how liberal he is – that's coming out all the time."
Paul added: "It is true the numbers are bad, but influence is important too. If we have a significant number of people and we're still here, why can't we influence the party to become conservative again?"
Which raises an interesting, point: if Paul were to drop out of the race he could use his campaign funds – about $5 million, according to his staff – to directly help other candidates whose views he agrees with, such as creating a 'multiple-candidate PAC,' as Paul put it.
"We've already been asked to support candidates, and there are some very good candidates running for Congress, but there will be a litmus test, a general litmus test, not on one issue, but of course the Constitution: limited government, balanced budget, foreign policy, monetary policy. And if they're believable, they're going to get support from me," Paul said, speaking of general support, not just financial.
"If you're officially not in the race there's more flexibility, but there's a lot we can do between now and the convention. And like I said it's uncertain: Our numbers may well grow."
Paul said Monday – as he told supporters last Friday – that for the next month he'll decrease his focus on the presidential race to concentrate on keeping his congressional seat in Texas' 14th District, where he faces a Republican primary challenger on March 4. He said he's still enthusiastic about his White House hunt though.
"We have always said the campaign is not just us, it's them – those who are supporting me. There's no way they're giving up, the enthusiasm in Pennsylvania is just unbelievable. And they want to continue and I am going to continue. "
How long, comes down to a very simple test: "As long as the volunteers continue to grow in numbers, as long as the money continues to come in, and there's enthusiasm, I am going to stay there," he said.
He again closed the door, almost completely, on a third-party run too.
" I don't like absolutes in politics, but it's about as close to being absolute as possible that I'm not going to be the [third-party] competitor. I may well have an influence and I will make statements and maybe there will be somebody I can support, but you know I don't have the plan to offer myself up because of the politics of it, you know doing third-party or independent run, the need for the money and getting on [the ballot] with all the laws and getting in the debates – it's just not practical for me," he said.
"But that doesn't mean we'll be silenced."