Ron Paul Offers His Hand To John McCain-- As A Fist Right Across The Jaw

Ron Paul is a Republican congressman from east Texas. If his constituents want to re-elect him in November, they'll find him on the GOP line under John McCain and John Cornyn. And for all his supporters' bluster about how independent Paul has been, his voting record screams "Bush rubber stamp." Forty-five Republicans-- including notorious rubber stamps like Heather Wilson (R-NM), Don Young (R-AK), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), both reactionary Diaz-Balart brothers (R-FL), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Rick Renzi (R-AZ) and Frank Wolf (R-VA)-- have voted less in lockstep with Bush in the past 2 years than Paul.

Today, however, Congressman Paul is making a gigantic and very principled, brave stand against the rotten out innards of the Republican Party he once joined and still caucuses with.

With a range of third-party candidates at his side – including the Libertarian Party’s Bob Barr, independent candidate Ralph Nader, the Constitution Party’s Chuck Baldwin and the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney – it’s unlikely that Paul will pick just one to support. But his spokesman said to expect “something of an endorsement,” with “a real effect on this fall’s election.”

We do know he'll be on the November ballot in Montana (on the Constitution Party line) in November. He could throw the state's 3 electoral votes to Obama, who is already polling well there. But that is hardly an announcement with "real effect" on the election that he's promising. According to scuttlebutt (and yesterday's Moonie Times) he's going to recommend that Americans vote for any of the third party candidates. Claiming to have an advance copy of his remarks, he's expected to say that "the strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two party system. This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment, principled candidates." Having met quite a few Paul supporters, my guess is that they'll do exactly what they're told.


UPDATE: RON PAUL RESISTS REPUBLICAN PRESSURE TO ENDORSE McCAIN

The McCain stooge slated to take over the Treasury in a McCain and/or Palin administration, Phil "Americans Are Whiners" Gramm, tried pressuring Ron Paul into endorsing the decrepit and malicious warmonger he vowed to never back. According to the McCain-biased A.P., Paul announced at a press conference this morning that Gramm had called him and said, "You need to endorse McCain." Paul, of course, refused.