Ron Paul is scaling back his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and has ruled out running as a third-party candidate, but he’s making it clear that he’s not about to endorse GOP front-runner John McCain.
The 10-term congressman with libertarian ideals calls for the U.S. to bring overseas troops home and invest the saved money domestically, while McCain has vowed to remain overseas, especially in Iraq, for as long as necessary.
“I cannot support anybody with the foreign policy he advocates — perpetual war,” Paul said on Monday in comments reported by Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times.
“That is just so disturbing to me.”
Although he recently let several presidential campaign staffers go, Paul insists he is not dropping out of the race. In a recent posting on his Web site, Paul said:
“With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining and at the convention, for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get.”
One major reason Paul is scaling back his White House campaign is the need to campaign for re-election in his Texas Congressional district. His opponent in the March 4 primary, Chris Peden, has raised more money for that race than has Paul — who can’t use any of the money he raised for his presidential run.
Paul finished in third place in the Washington State caucus last weekend with 21 percent of the vote.
But Malcolm notes: “Even if he won every delegate still available, Paul could not capture the party’s nomination in September.”
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