The news comes from Ron Paul’s local hometown paper:
LAKE JACKSON — After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts exclusively this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat.
Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012.
“I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul said. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”
His announcement will give enough time for anyone with aspirations for his seat to think about running, he said. Paul didn’t want to wait for filing in the 2012 primary to let people know he wasn’t seeking reelection.
“I didn’t want to hold off until in December,” he said. “I thought it shouldn’t be any later than now.”
Paul has served 12 terms in Congress. District 14 encompasses a 10-county area along the Gulf Coast.
“The people in the area have supported me for many years,” he said.
Ed Morrissey over at HotAir.com, who is not a Ron Paul fan at all; offers some fact correction and some straight talk:
The Facts needs to do The Math. Paul first won election to Congress in a 1976 special election, lost later that year, and then won again in 1978. He’s served parts of 18 terms in the House, which adds up in this case to a little over 34 years when his current term expires.
Paul either really wants to retire or really thinks that he’s on the cusp of a major upset in the GOP primary. I’ll assume that he has a somewhat realistic view of his prospects in this primary, where he might wind up as the runner-up among Texans if Rick Perry jumps into the race. He’ll be 76 years old next month, and with his son in the Senate, Paul may feel comfortable with retirement after one last national campaign that puts his somewhat erratic libertarianism on the GOP presidential agenda for a second straight cycle. If he’s not taking a realistic view of his chances, then perhaps he believes that the only thing that held him back from besting John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee in any 2008 primary was his simultaneous campaign for re-election. If so, then he really needs this retirement.
Of course, Paul could change his mind before the end of the year, but after this kind of announcement, it would be hard to sell even to the adoring voters in his district. Looks like the end of the road for the man best known for contrarian votes on meaningless resolutions and for railing against government spending while garnering pork for his constituents.
I agree with the above, especially the underlined part. When I discovered that little tidbit of information, that was when I basically dropped my support of Ron Paul. Besides all of that; The Ron Paul cult did the same thing as the Barack Obama cult did, made the man into something he was not. When Ron Paul saw that he could not win the Presidency in 2008 and decided to give his support to the rest of the 2008 independent candidates, some of the Ron Paul cult almost went into meltdown. Some of them even turned on him and accused him of being a puppet for the Illuminati or something. It was a strange thing to watch.
Not only this, point-blank; the man is just not electable, period, end of story. Heck, even his supporters openly admit that, “It is not about winning, it is about spreading the message.” To which I ask, what is the purpose of spending all that money, time and effort into a person, who really does not give a hoot if he is elected or not? That my friends, is the epitome of stupid. Not to mention that he has associations and has taken money from people, who are, in my humble opinion, just straight up evil.
As I have said before, I respect Ron Paul on his fiscal policy; but his foreign policy; in this day and age of external threats to our Nation —- irregardless of what caused them — the fact is that they are there, and Ron Paul’s foreign policy is just not realistic. You cannot offer flowers and rainbows to people who want to kill you. It is just that damn simple. The only thing that terrorists and evil people, like some of Ron Paul’s friends understand; is the end of a gun — and we should keep that in mind, when voting for our next President.
Other than that, I wish Ron Paul a very happy retirement and I thank him for his service to his Country. I also thank him for returning his Congressional seat back to the adults in politics. 😀
Related: Michael O’Brien / The Hill: Rep. Ron Paul won’t seek reelection
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