In an interview on CNN Monday morning, long-shot presidential candidate Ron Paul, whose campaign is winding to a close, says he is unlikely to support presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and he left open the possibility of mounting a third-party bid for the White House.
Recognizing the mathematical impossibility of overtaking presumed GOP nominee John McCain, Paul says his campaign for the White House is down-shifting as he focuses on building his "revolution" in other ways.
The Texas congressman dismissed talk of a third-party presidential campaign as impractical, but he did not completely rule out the idea.
"I don't think it's very practical, and I think Republicans deserve to have at least a conservative to vote for," Paul said. "The conservative base does not the support John McCain because he's identified more with the liberal Democrats. So why should they be disenfranchised? Although the odds are slim, but they have a right to vote for someone that stands for traditional Republican principles: limited government, personal liberties. I mean, this is something the Republicans used to brag about and preach, so they deserve a chance to vote for that."
Paul said he likely would not support McCain for the sake of unifying the party.
"If you can unify a party and reject your principles, what is unity worth? ... I'm not likely to support John McCain unless he changes his views," Paul told CNN's John King Monday morning.
"He doesn't represent anything I've talked about for 30 years. ... How could I reject everything I've talked about for 30 years and say, now it's all over, unity is the most important thing?"
The libertarian Texas Republican rocketed to prominence after his supporters coalesced on the Internet and fueled independent fundraising drives that shoveled millions of dollars in donations to Paul's campaign. Despite the passion of his most committed backers, though, Paul was unable to make much of a dent in any GOP primaries or caucuses this year.
Paul told CNN that he would still compete for delegates in upcoming contests in Pennsylvania and elsewhere to accrue as many delegates as possible to vote on party platforms and other issues at the GOP convention this summer in Minneapolis.
"The true revolution on the change of the party as well as change of the country is ongoing," he said. We feel very good about it which means I'm still in the race but certainly in manner that is less energetic than it was six months ago."
CNN's John Roberts talked with Ron Paul about how he will end his bid for President.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ron_Paul_Im_not_likely_to_0310.html
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