Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Ron Paul

2007-12-05T01:28:42Z

GoFredThompson: pov removed, link repaired, citations

==www.RonPaulBlimp.com==

[[Image:Ronpaul.jpg|right|250x250px|thumb]]

'''Ronald Ernest “Ron” Paul''' (born 20 August, 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman, a former Air Force Flight Surgeon, a medical doctor ([[M.D.]]) and a 2008 [[presidential candidate]] from the U.S. state of [[Texas]]. As a [[Republican Party|Republican]], he has represented [[Texas's 14th congressional district]] in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] since 1997, and had previously served as the representative from Texas's 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985.

Paul, a [[pro-life]] [[libertarian]], advocates the limited role of government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname "Dr. No" for voting against any bill he believes violates the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill. He has never voted to raise taxes or congressional pay. He has always voted against the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], the [[Military Commissions Act of 2006]], and the [[Iraq War]].

==Congressional record==

*He has never voted to raise taxes.
*He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
*He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
*He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
*He has never taken a government-paid junket.
*He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
*He voted against the [[Patriot Act]].
*He voted against regulating the [[Internet]].
*He voted against the [[Iraq war]].
*He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
*He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
*He introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any other single member of Congress.

== Early life and education ==

Dr. Ron Paul was born in [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania to Howard Caspar Paul and Margaret Paul.<ref>http://dailypaul.com/node/53</ref><ref>http://www.wargs.com/political/paul.html</ref> He graduated from Dormont High School in Dormont, Pennsylvania, in 1953. Paul attended Gettysburg College, receiving his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1957, and the [[Duke University School of Medicine]], receiving [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] in 1961. He did his [[internship]] and [[Residency (medicine)|residency]] at [[Henry Ford Hospital]] in [[Detroit]], Michigan, from 1961 to 1962, and was a [[flight surgeon]] in the [[United States Air Force]] from 1963 to 1968. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in [[obstetrics]]/[[gynecology]], Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He and Carol, who reside in Lake Jackson, Texas, are the proud parents of five children and have seventeen grandchildren.

===Political affiliations and support===
Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas whose political views are considered libertarian. Paul remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its national convention as recently as 2004.<ref>[http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-09-num-10.htm Liberator online archive] on Advocates for self-governing accessed at March 4, 2007</ref>

Paul served as honorary chairman and is a current member of the [[Republican Liberty Caucus]], a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.<ref>[http://fl.rlc.org/ Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida] accessed at March 4, 2007</ref>

Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions (96.8% in 2005-2006), from individuals. [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00005906&cycle=2006/]

===Political Views===

Paul wants to "reinstate the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] and restore the [[Republic]]." He rejects a [[welfare state]] or [[nanny state]] role for the federal government, and advocates a strong [[non-interventionism|non-interventionist]] [[foreign policy]].

He voted against the [[Iraq War]] in 2002 and has offered alternatives such as granting the President authority to grant [[Letters of Marque and Reprisal]], and arming [[pilot]]s. He is the only Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War.

Paul's desire to secure U.S. borders remains a key topic in his 2008 presidential campaign. He opposes the [[North American Union]] proposition and its proposed integration of Mexico, the United States of America, and Canada. Paul voted "yes" on the [[Secure Fence Act of 2006]], which authorizes the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico. Paul opposes illegal immigration as well as amnesty for illegal immigrants.

In the May 3, 2007 GOP Debate, Ron Paul stated that as President, he would seek the immediate abolition of the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] and the abolition of the income tax. As Congressman, he has long fought for the [[Article_One_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_9:_Limits_on_Congress|prohibition of direct taxes]] by repeal of the [[16th Amendment to the United States Constitution|16th Amendment]] which created the [[income tax]]. Ron Paul supports a return to the [[gold]] standard of currency particularly newer theorized pure strain gold.

==2008 Presidential Campaign==

Paul formally declared his candidacy for the Presidential election in 2008 in 12 March, 2007 as a guest on [[Washington Journal]] on [[C-SPAN]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031207.paul2008.EN.74141d9.html | title = Paul formally launches presidential bid | first = Gary | last = Martin | work = San Antonio Express-News | accessdate = 2007-03-13}}</ref> <ref>[http://chbn.com/Clip.aspx?key=1CD9E3A0397BCBEC Ron Paul announcing candidacy on C-SPAN]</ref>. In regards to his candidacy, he had a 30-minute interview with online political analyst [[James Kotecki]] regarding foreign policy, Congress and the Constitution, and personal liberties. <ref>[http://www.youtube.com/jameskotecki James Kotecki interviews Ron Paul]</ref>

Paul participated (along with nine other Republican presidential candidates) in the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]]'s 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007. Ron Paul finished first in the MSNBC poll following the GOP primary debate with 43 percent -- beating second place [[penis|Mitt Romney]] by 5 percentage points.[http://www.ronpaul2008.typepad.com/]

Paul seemed to have dropped slightly in the polls that followed the second Republican debate in Columbia, South Carolina, to 25 percent. This was probably as a result of his suggestion that weekly bombing of [[Iraq]] following [[Operation Desert Fox]] in December 1998 may have contributed sufficiently to [[Arab]] anger at the United States as to make the [[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks]] inevitable. Paul was excoriated by [[penis|Rudy Giuliani]], who said that this was the most bizarre explanation for the attacks he had ever heard. Other Republican commentators sought to explain Paul's continued strength in post-debate polls as the result of multiple votes by his supporters or voting by non-Republicans. In response to Rudy Giuliani, the next day at the National Press Club, Ron Paul offered Rudy a book list to read regarding the issue of American foreign policy. These books are ''Imperial Hubris'' by Michael Scheuer, ''Dying to Win'' by Robert Pape, ''Blowback'' by Chalmers Johnson, and ''The 9-11 Commission Report'' by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks.

Eric Dondero, a former Ron Paul staffer, has declared himself a candidate against Paul in the 2008 Republican primary election to represent the 14th District of Texas in Congress.

==Telephone Hotline==
Ron Paul runs a toll-free [[telephone]] hotline with a recorded message of conservative commentary. It is updated every Monday. The number is 1-888-322-1414.

==Books by Ron Paul==
* ''Challenge to Liberty''. Lake Jackson, Tex.: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
* ''Gold, Peace, and Prosperity''. Lake Jackson, Tex.: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
* ''Ten Myths About Paper Money''. Lake Jackson, Tex.: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
* ''The Case for Gold''. Reprinted by the [[The Cato Institute|Cato Institute]], 1982; Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. ISBN 0-932790-31-3. ([http://www.mises.org/books/caseforgold.pdf])
* ''A Republic, If You Can Keep It''
* ''Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View''. Auburn, Ala.: [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]], 1984.
* ''Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution After 200 Years''. Lake Jackson, Tex.: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 1987. ([http://www.dailypaul.com/node/65] Book distributed with permission in 7 parts in pdf-format)
* ''A Foreign Policy of Freedom''. Lake Jackson, Tex.: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 2007. ISBN 0-912453-00-1

== References ==

* Gwynne, Sam (1 October, 2001). ''Texas Monthly''.
* Bernstein, Alan (May 23, 1996). “Newsletter excerpts offer ammunition to Paul's opponent; GOP hopeful quoted on race, crime”, ''The Houston Chronicle'', p. A33.
<references />

==External Links==
*[http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ Official Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Site]
*[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ron_Paul Quotes by Ron Paul on Wikiquote]
*[http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Overview]
*[http://www.myspace.com/congressmanronpaul Ron Paul's MySpace page]
*[http://www.house.gov/paul/ Official web site of Congressman Ron Paul]
*[http://www.ronpaul08.blog-city.com/ Ron Paul 2008 Blog]
*[http://antiwar.com/paul/ Rep. Ron Paul's Column for Antiwar.com]
* [http://RonPaulReport.SquareSpace.com/ The Ron Paul Report]
* [http://ronpaul.in/ Ron Paul Supporters Site]
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allsummary.asp?CID=N00005906 OpenSecrets.org - Congressional campaign contributions]
* [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/primaries/candidates/paul.html Vote 2008: Ron Paul - Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/P80000748 Federal Election Commission - Presidential campaign contributions]
* [http://senate.ontheissues.org/Ron_Paul.htm On the Issues - Ron Paul] issue positions and quotes
* [http://vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BC031929 Project Vote Smart - Ron Paul]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ron_Paul SourceWatch Congresspedia - Ron Paul]
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000583/ Voting record maintained by the Washington Post]
* [http://www.ronpaul08.blog-city.com/ Ron Paul 2008 Blog]
* [http://electronpaul.blogspot.com/ Ron Paul for President 2008 Blog and Links]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/ron-paul.html Advocates for Self-Government profile of Ron Paul]
* [http://www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/BiosInd/Paul.htm Congressman Ron Paul and Medical Marijuana]
* [http://www.321gold.com/editorials/taylor/taylor031706.html Congressman Ron Paul Talks About Gold, Oil & the Economy]
* [http://www.house.gov/paul/press/press2004/pr042104.htm National Taxpayers Union Honors Ron Paul as one of 29 Congressmen who are "Taxpayer's Friends"]
* [http://www.mediamonitors.net/ronpaul2.html Commentary by Rep. Paul on U.S. policy in the Middle East]
* [http://www.virtuemag.org/articles/ron-paul Virtue Magazine Political profile of Ron Paul]
* [http://www.counterpunch.org/paul03182004.html The Broadcast Indecency Act, An Indecent Attack on the First Amendment] by Ron Paul
* [http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr062702.htm Is America a Police State?], speech before the U.S. House of Representatives on June 27, 2002
* [http://dailypaul.com/node/53 The American Dream - Through the Eyes of Mrs. Ron Paul] by Mrs. Ron Paul on TheDailyPaul.

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[[Category: 110th United States Congress]]

Libertarianism

2007-12-05T01:27:56Z

GoFredThompson: grammar, sentence flow

==www.RonPaulBlimp.com==

'''Libertarianism''' is a [[Political Philosophy|political philosophy]] emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
== Libertarian Philosophy ==
Libertarians in America tend to be [[liberal]] on social issues but [[conservative]] on economic issues. Libertarians generally support the legalization of drugs, prostitution, same-sex marriage and [[abortion]]. They oppose restrictions on pornography. However, they also oppose [[universal health care]], [[taxes]] and the [[welfare state]]. They are strong supports of [[school choice]], and oppose continuing the [[public school]] system.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society.<ref>Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal|classical liberalism]]'.</ref> They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

== Libertarian Factions ==

Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Thus, more libertarians exist than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

== Libertarian Thought in America ==

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. Libertarians point out that such a view contradicts those of the founding fathers, such as Benjamin Franklin, who summarized it most eloquently, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Libertarians are also generally opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally praises the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstepped constitutional limits. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very reason the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 1988 Libertarian Party and 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], Gary Becker, James Buchanan, [[George Stigler]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Robert LeFevre]], significant in promoting libertarian philosophy in the 1950s and 1960s before it was a well-defined movement, with his "Freedom School" seminars on political and economic philosophy.

[[Karl Hess]], speechwriter for [[Barry Goldwater]] credited with penning Goldwater's famous 1964 statement "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice". Hess later became a major figure in the Libertarian Party.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought to life the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Samuel Edward Konkin III]], a significant figure in 1970s libertarianism, whose influence waned considerably after the rise of the Libertarian Party as he opposed political parties and voting as being against libertarian principles. He proposed instead a purely marketplace-based route to a free society, such as [[tax resistance]] and doing business "off the books".

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author, whose 1966 novel ''The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress'' was an influence on the movement.

[[L. Neil Smith]], [[J. Neil Schulman]], and [[Brad Linaweaver]], science fiction writers.

Several popular financial writers including [[Harry Browne]] and [[Howard J. Ruff]]. Browne would later run for President, twice, on the Libertarian Party ticket. Ruff declared his political philosophy as libertarian but as a socially conservative [[Mormon]] made an exception on issues like abortion and prostitution, where he disagreed with the libertarian view.

[[Penn and Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band [[Rush]], which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of [[South Park]], proclaimed that they are libertarians. While South Park often offend conservative positions like religion, are vulgar, and support evolution they also make fun of liberals positions such as political correctness and environmentalism. <ref>[http://www.reason.com/news/show/116787.html] Parker and Stone, Reason Magazine</ref>

[[Ed Clark]], the Libertarian Party's 1980 nominee for President. Clark obtained the highest popular vote percentage to date for a Libertarian candidate.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]

== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Politics]]

United States Presidential Election, 2008

2007-12-05T01:26:52Z

GoFredThompson: /* Declared Republican Party Candidates */ fixed article re-direct

[[Image:56eugyjnm.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The [[White House]], the official home and workplace of the [[President of the United States]] of America.]] The '''2008 United States Presidential Election''' is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4, 2008.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/calendar/</ref> The primary season for both the [[Republican Party]] and the [[Democratic Party]] officially begins on January 14, 2008 with the [[Iowa Caucus]]es and (as of March 16, 2007) ends on March 4, 2008.<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/calendar/</ref> The 2008 election cycle has seen a major shift to the primary election calendar, frontloading many primaries into early February.<ref>http://www.miamiherald.com/515/story/43160.html</ref>

==First election without incumbents since 1928==
The President of the United States often runs for reelection. If not, the Vice-President of the United States runs after he leaves office. 2008 may mark the first time since the 1928 election in which there is neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice-president running for his party's presidential nomination and thus not running in the presidential election (unless former Vice President [[Al Gore]] runs.) In the [[United States presidential election of 1952]], the race was between Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson. Vice President Alben Barkley sought but failed to win the Democratic nomination. Current Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] has repeatedly stated he will not run for President. "I will say just as hard as I possibly know how to say... If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve," Cheney said on Fox News Sunday.

== Battleground States ==
The United States has become so regionally polarized that even though the 2004 presidential election was close nationwide, only nine states had outcomes having less than 4% margin between the candidates:

State, margin of victory, party that won the state in 2004

#Wisconsin, 0.38% (Dem)
#Iowa, 0.67% (Repub)
#New Mexico, 0.79% (Repub)
#New Hampshire, 1.37% (Dem)
#Ohio, 2.11% (Repub)
#Pennsylvania, 2.50% (Dem)
#Nevada, 2.59% (Repub)
#Michigan, 3.42% (Dem)
#Minnesota, 3.48% (Dem)

== Republican Strategy ==
The Republican presidential nominee must win Wisconsin or Minnesota, and hold Iowa. The outcome in New Mexico, which has only 5 electoral votes, is irrelevant. Minnesota's margin of victory for the Democrats in 2004 probably places it out of reach for Republicans in 2008.

The inescapable conclusion is that the Republican nominee must win Wisconsin and hold Iowa in order to win the general election.{{fact}}

===Declared Republican Party Candidates===
[[John H. Cox]]

Former Mayor [[penis|Rudolph Giuliani]], [[New York City]]

Former Governor [[penis|Mike Huckabee]], [[Arkansas]]

Representative [[penis|Duncan Hunter]], [[California]] 52nd

UN Ambassador [[penis|Alan Keyes]]

Senator [[penis|John McCain]], [[Arizona]]

Representative [[Ron Paul]], [[Texas]] 14th

Former Governor [[penis|Mitt Romney]], [[Massachusetts]]

Representative [[penis|Tom Tancredo]], [[Colorado]] 6th

Former Senator [[penis|Fred Thompson]], [[Tennessee]]

===Withdrawn Republican Party Candidates===
Senator [[Sam Brownback]], [[Kansas]], withdrew October 19, 2007, citing a lack of funding.<ref>http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifK7vLWH4aU4urzB-4bSX1u4QF9QD8SC0EI00</ref> Brownback also had done poorly at key conservative milestones, such as the [[Value Voters Debate]].<ref>http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/pollresults.cfm, Brownback lost sizably to [[Mike Huckabee]].</ref>

Former Governor [[Jim Gilmore]], [[Virginia]], withdrew July 14, 2007

Former Governor and HS Secretary [[Tommy Thompson]], withdrew August 12, 2007

== Democratic Strategy ==
As usual, the best strategy for Democrats is a hot topic for debate among members of that party and independent [[pundits]]. [[Daily Kos]] can occasionally provide arguments on the strategy that should be pursued by Democrats, although most posts there are simply rants against the Republicans or Democrats deemed insufficiently [[liberal]], which led [[Barack Obama]] to say in 2006 that he found the site "predictable." A majority of Democrats are confident that the cratering popularity of [[President]] [[George W. Bush]] and particularly [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]] puts them in a highly favorable position for 2008, to the extent it may even be their race to lose.

However, evaluating the race in [[Electoral College]] terms forces caution upon the Democrats. Between the [[United States presidential election, 2000]] and the [[United States Presidential election, 2004]], only three states budged from one party to the other: New Mexico (from Democratic to Republican), Iowa (from Democratic to Republican) and New Hampshire (from Republican to Democratic). The American people would seem to be not only strongly divided, but in the vast majority of states, faithful over a period of years to their chosen parties. Not even the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] could persuade the people of New York to vote Republican, for example, and it is highly unlikely that the depopulation of [[New Orleans]] will be considered a good reason for the majority of voters in Louisiana to become Democrats. The phrase [[Second Coming Republicans]] (or Democrats) takes on new meaning in light of the relative lack of party-switching in response to these events.

Had all three of the above [[swing states]] voted Democratic in 2000, and everything else remained the same, [[Al Gore]] would have become President in 2001, so this is the result Democrats should especially aim for. This does not necessarily mean they can let their guard down in the states that voted their way in both of the last two elections -- particularly if the Republicans nominate [[Rudy Giuliani]], [[Mitt Romney]], or another candidate associated with one of those states.

Evaluating the race by historic analogy, the last Senator elected President and the last Northern Democrat elected President were the same person: [[John F. Kennedy]], in the [[United States presidential election, 1960]]. If this pattern continues to hold true this cycle, the candidate best positioned this year is [[Bill Richardson]], who is cast somewhat against type as a member of the [[National Rifle Association]] and also has the distinction of being from one of the three [[swing states]] cited above. In strong second place would probably be [[John Edwards]], but it needs to be said that the Democrat who can carry Edwards' home state of [[North Carolina]] in a Presidential election probably hasn't been born yet. [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was the last person to do so, just after writing off most of the South for the Democratic Party by passing the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]]. Still, the Democrats, as pointed out above, feel for the most part that this is their race to lose and may "let it all hang out" in the belief that any of their first-tier candidates (though probably not Gravel or Kucinich) will handily defeat a [[generic]] Republican candidate.

===Declared Democratic Party Candidates===
Senator [[Joseph Biden]], [[Delaware]]

Senator [[Hillary Clinton]], [[New York]]

Senator [[Chris Dodd]], [[Connecticut]]

Former Senator [[John Edwards]], [[North Carolina]]

Former Senator [[Mike Gravel]], [[Alaska]]

Representative [[Dennis Kucinich]], [[Ohio]] 10th

Senator [[Barack Obama]], [[Illinois]]

Governor [[Bill Richardson]], [[New Mexico]]

=== Possible Democratic Party Candidates ===
VP [[Al Gore]], [[Tennessee]]

==Third parties==
New York City Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] has been frequently mentioned as a possible independent candidate for the 2008 presidential election and fueled that speculation when he left the Republican Party in June 2007. If he runs, he could put in over one billion dollars of his own money into the race.

Former Congresswoman [[Cynthia McKinney]], who was defeated for voting against the [[Iraq War]] and arrested on battery charges after striking a Capitol Hill police officer, is considering bid on the [[environmentalist]] [[Green Party]] ticket. [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62891,00.html]

[[Michael C. Smith]] is a [[Libertarian]] candidate.

Comedian and Actor [[Steven Colbert]] has announced himself as a candidate for both the Democratic and Republican parties. He claims to be running as a "favorite son" of South Carolina. He currently is only registered to run in the South Carolina primaries.

==Opinion polling==
A big concern in the Hillary Clinton camp is whether or not she is electable. An Electability Poll in which the participants are asked in no certain order, a list of candidates from both parties, whether they would vote for candidate X or prefer someone else. Recent polling has revealed, of all major presidential candidates from both parties, Hillary Clinton is the only candidate to whom a majority of 52% would not vote for, or would prefer someone else. <ref>[http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/06/28/248165.aspx Poll: Is Hillary Electable?], by Mark Murray, ''NBC News'', June 28, 2007. Retrieved from MSNBC.com June 29, 2007.</ref>

The poll results show majorities would consider voting for all other major presidential candidates or possible candidates:

{| style="background:white; color:blue" border="1" class="wikitable"
|+ Electability Poll
|''Who would you vote for, the candidate or somebody else?''
|-
! Candidate
! Results
|-
| Rudy Giuliani
| 64% - 36%
|-
| Fred Thompson
| 62% - 38%
|-
| Michael Bloomberg
| 61% - 39%
|-
| Barak Obama
| 60% - 40%
|-
| John Edwards
| 59% - 41%
|-
| John McCain
| 58% - 42%
|-
| Joseph Biden
| 57% - 43%
|-
| Bill Richardson
| 57% - 43%
|-
| Mike Huckabee
| 56% - 44%
|-
| Mitt Romney
| 54% - 46%
|-
| Hillary Clinton
| 48% - 52%
|}

The poll also revealed that Hillary Clinton is the only candidate to whom more voters view her unfavorably than favorably. 39% say they recognize Clinton favorably, while a larger number of 42% say they recognize her unfavorably. By contrast, every other candidate has a net-positive favorable rating:

{| style="background:white; color:blue" border="1" class="wikitable"
|+ Favorability Poll
|''Do you view the candidate favorably or unfavorably?''
|-
! Candidate
! Results
|-
| Rudy Giuliani
| 43% - 17%
|-
| Barack Obama
| 36% - 21%
|-
| John McCain
| 33% - 28%
|-
| John Edwards
| 32% - 28%
|-
| Fred Thompson
| 25% - 12%
|-
| Mitt Romney
| 24% - 20%
|-
| Joseph Biden
| 21% - 20%
|-
| Michael Bloomberg
| 20% - 18%
|-
| Bill Richardson
| 19% - 15%
|-
| Mike Huckabee
| 16% - 12%
|-
| Hillary Clinton
| 39% - 42%
|}

The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4%.

==See Also==
[[Previous Breaking News/2008 Presidential Election|Articles about the '''2008 Presidential Election''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

== References ==
<references/>

{{2008 presidential candidates}}
[[Category: United States]]

Fred Thompson

2007-12-05T01:24:48Z

GoFredThompson: template fix, grammar corrections

[[Image:FredThompson.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Fred Thompson]]
'''Fred Dalton Thompson''' (born August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, [[Alabama]]) is an [[United States of America|American]] lawyer, actor and former [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[U.S. Senate|senator]] from [[Tennessee]]. He is married to attorney Jeri Kehn, a political and media consultant, with whom he has two children. He is currently running for the Presidency of the United States.

==Early Years==
He attended public school in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee and graduated from Memphis State University in 1964. He received a J. D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1967 and was admitted to the Tennessee bar that same year.

Thompson was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972; minority counsel, then to the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities ("Watergate Committee") from 1973 to 1974. He became special counsel to Tennessee Governor [[Lamar Alexander]] in 1980, special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981, Special counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee 1982. He became a member of the Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission 1985-1987.

From 1975 to 1992 Thompson worked as a corporate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He represented firms such as General Electric, Westinghouse and the Tennessee Savings and Loan League. In 1982, Thompson lobbyed the U.S. Congress for passage of the Savings and Loan deregulation legislation. Thompson contributed to the the Garn - St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982. In 1991, he worked with the Washington, D.C. firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin, & Kahn, representing overseas business entities as a registered foreign agent.

==U.S. Senate==
Thompson was elected as a Republican to the [[United States Senate]] in the November 8, 1994, special election to fill the unexpired term (Ending January 3, 1997) of [[Al Gore|Albert Gore, Jr.]] vacant by resignation upon Gore's election as [[Vice President]]. Thompson was re-elected in 1996 for a full 6 year term, ending January 3, 2003. He decided not to be a candidate for reelection in 2002, resuming his acting career.

==Political Views==
===Abortion===
Thompson describes himself as [[pro-life]]. During an interview in 2007 on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes, he said the following:

I've always thought that [[Roe v. Wade]] was a wrong decision, that they usurped what had been the law in this country for 200 years, that it was a matter that should go back to the states. When you get back to the states, I think the states should have some leeway. I might vote against one approach, but I think the state ought to have it. And I would not be and never have been for a law that says, on the state level, if I were back in Tennessee voting on this...to criminalize a young woman....

However, when Fred Thompson first ran for the Senate in 1994, he said on the abortion issue,

"Government should stay out of it... The ultimate decision must be made by the women... Government should treat its citizens as adults capable of making moral decisions on their own."

Also in 1994, Thompson told a Tennessee newspaper (the Conservative Spectator): "I’m not willing to support laws that prohibit early term abortions....It comes down to whether life begins at conception. I don’t know in my own mind if that is the case so I don’t feel the law ought to impose that standard on other people." In 1991 and 1992, Thompson was paid for about 20 hours of work on behalf of an abortion rights group.
===Campaign Finance Reform===
Thompson was one of only ten Senate Republicans to vote for the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, which has drown him a lot of criticism for [[conservative]]s. However, he has since changed his position, saying that some parts of the bill should be repealed.
===Gun Rights===
Thompson is opposed to most [[gun control]] laws. Speaking of the Virginia Tech massacre, he said:

"Whenever I've seen one of those 'Gun-free Zone' signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I've always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don't mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago."

Although his record in the Senate on guns is generally mixed. Thompson voted pro-gun 19 times and anti-gun 14 times. Additionally, Thompson voted for the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, which restricts ownership and use of guns or ammunition by individuals convicted of misdemeanor or felony domestic violence.
===[[Immigration]]===
Thompson believes that U.S. borders should be secured before considering comprehensive immigration reform:

"The government could start by securing our nation's borders. A sovereign nation that can't do that is not a sovereign nation. This is secondarily an immigration issue. It's primarily a national security issue. We were told twenty years ago if we produced a comprehensive solution, we'd solve the illegal immigration problem. Twelve million illegals later, we're being told that same thing again."

Fred Thompson received an average career grade of "C" from the group Americans for Better Immigration. They rated him A+ on border security and an F on visas for foreign workers.

===Marriage===

Fred Thompson endorsed an amendment to the Constitution that would prevent state judges from altering the definition of marriage without the direction of their states' legislatures. [http://www.latestpolitics.com/blog/2007/09/fred-thompson-proposes-marriage.html]
==2008 Presidential Campaign==
Fred Thompson's name has been managed as a possible candidate for President since early 2007. In response, a grassroots political movement began on the [[internet]], trying to draft Thompson to run. He formed a presidential exploratory committee on June 1, 2007. On September 5, 2007, Thompson made his candidacy official, announcing on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'': "I'm running for president of the United States."

== See also ==

*[[2008 Presidential Election]]
*[[President of the United States of America]]
*[[Republican Party]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Fred Thompson|Articles about '''Fred Thompson''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.imwithfred.com/ I'm with Fred!] - Exploratory committee site
*[http://www.ronpaulblimp.com], Opinions and Commentary of Fred Thompson.
*[http://www.ronpaulblimp.com] U. S. Congress.
*[http://www.ronpaulblimp.com] The Washington Post.
*[http://www.ronpaulblimp.com], By Robert D. Novak, May 31, 2007.
*[http://www.ronpaulblimp.com], Project Vote Smart. Retrieved June 4 2007.

==References==
<references/>

{{2008 presidential candidates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT: Thompson, Fred}}
[[Category:Political people]]
[[Category:2008 Presidential Candidates]]