McCain's '100 yrs in Iraq' comment endangers US

Ron Paul: McCain's Reckless '100 years in Iraq'
Comment Endangers Americans
Mon Jan 7, 2008
ronpaul2008.com PRESS RELEASE

ARLINGTON, Va.--(Business Wire)--In response to John McCain's comment
at a recent town hall event that he would be fine with keeping
American troops in Iraq for 100 - or even 1 million years - Republican
presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement:

"John McCain's statement in favor of keeping troops in Iraq for
100 years or longer puts him out of sync with the majority of
Americans, who want our troops to come home. Further, his
comments recklessly put America at risk as such a statement will
likely serve as a recruiting tool for Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, who
appeal to radicals and incite violence against Americans by
claiming that the US desires to occupy the Middle East
indefinitely.

"It is time to act in the true national security interest of the
United States and begin withdrawal from Iraq and the rest of the
Middle East immediately. Americans will be far safer under a pro-
America foreign policy that seeks to end the dangerous idea that
the US should be the policeman of the world.

"Further, the financial costs of keeping troops in Iraq for a
century would be massive - in addition to the steep price in
American lives. If John McCain really wants such a long term
presence, he needs to level with the American people and tell
them that his policy means we will not be able to fulfill our
obligations here at home."

According to quarterly FEC reports, Dr. Ron Paul is supported by
more active duty and retired military retirees than any other
candidate to be the next commander in chief. An investigation by the
Houston Chronicle revealed that Congressman Paul received "more
donations from current military...and retired military...than any
other candidate."

Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee
Jesse Benton, 703-248-9115

===

The GOP's Six-Ring Circus
By Scott Galindez
Wednesday 26 December 2007
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122607A.shtml

The Actor, the Preacher, the Prosecutor, the Doctor and the Venture
Capitalist.

It should not surprise anyone that the Preacher is surging fast in
the Republican race. It also would not surprise you if I said a Doctor
from Texas is also on the rise.

It surprises me that the Actor from Tennessee who was supposed to
rescue a lackluster field has created no excitement for his campaign,
and that the Prosecutor who was the first front-runner is running so
poorly in the early states that he is claiming he is running a
national campaign and not focusing on the early primaries.

The Venture Capitalist, who was the second to capture front-runner
status, is now spending his time explaining why we shouldn't be
concerned that he is a Mormon. OK, I'm not, but if it's not an issue
why is he addressing the nation on it?

Well, I guess we will start with the main tent. A month ago the
Prosecutor and the Venture Capitalist were in the main tent; they are
now struggling to keep from becoming sideshows, as the Preacher has
stolen center stage. He's witty, and he comes across as more
compassionate than the rest of the GOP field. He is a Baptist
minister, he's from Arkansas and his name is Huckabee - sounds like a
political consultant's nightmare, right? Not for Dick Morris, who
regularly chats with his former client and is praising him in
newspaper columns. Huckabee says Morris is not available for
consulting, but perhaps that is because the Baptist minister doesn't
want to be seen as taking advice from someone who reportedly likes to
suck on prostitutes' toes.

Kidding aside, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is rising
fast and has the kind of momentum that might be hard for the other
candidates to stop. It still remains to be seen if his appeal will be
sustainable outside the Bible Belt; he is not doing as well in New
Hampshire as he is in Iowa and South Carolina. His wit has brought him
to the top, but, like Pat Robertson, his religion may scare people in
the northeast and on the West Coast.

Perhaps the Prosecutor, Rudy Giuliani, is onto something. While
Huckabee and Romney (the Venture Capitalist) trade very small states
early, he is increasing his lead in bigger states like New Jersey and
California. Giuliani is not playing in the Bible Belt, but is in the
northeast and on the West Coast, while Romney is fading everywhere but
New England and the southwest. The Concord Monitor even spent an
entire column telling us why not to vote for Romney, calling him
"phony." In New Hampshire, where he has had huge leads, polls now show
him leading only in the single digits.

OK, we have talked about the Preacher, the Prosecutor and the
Venture Capitalist. Due to his recent fundraising success, it's time
to talk about the Doctor. I took a lot of heat for saying Dennis
Kucinich was in the race to influence the debate. Personally, I think
that it is an honorable thing for candidates who have something to say
but don't have the packaging needed to win, to get in and influence
the debate. I think Dennis Kucinich and Doctor Ron Paul are
influencing the debate on the war, and deserve praise for doing so.

Ron Paul has been an outspoken critic of the war since the
beginning, and may be the only Republican candidate who can change the
direction this country has taken and restore our reputation around the
world.

Progressives would love to be choosing between Ron Paul and Dennis
Kucinich next November, but would I be providing you with a service if
I sold false hope? Doctor Paul has raised eyebrows with his recent
fundraising strength, and there has even been some momentum in the
polls. While his libertarian economic policies are acceptable to the
GOP base, it's the social policies that the Christian right will never
embrace. While the Doctor doesn't scare the Preacher or the other
front-runners in the primary season, a third-party run by the Doctor
would scare them the same way another Texan named Ross Perot did in 1992.

The Actor left us all anticipating his entrance into the race - he
was going to breathe new life into the campaign and be the guy that
could bring the party together; he would be the instant front-runner.
Oh, well, Fred Thompson hasn't done well enough to warrant any more
space in this column. Actually, what we are learning is that it is a
six-person race. Nobody is running away with the lead. Some have had
their moments, but they haven't lasted.

The Prosecutor still leads nationally, but can he sustain losing
in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina? The Preacher is facing new
scrutiny but has the momentum, while the Venture Capitalist is fading.
The Doctor has the right prescription, but this is the GOP primary:
they won't accept his medicine. The Actor has been dull. Wait, that's
only five rings, the title says six?

Over in the sixth ring is the experienced, steady senator from
Arizona, who can't figure out why the other characters in the cast
seem to be stealing all the thunder. I just wonder, when the GOP
voters actually go to the polls, will they settle on the one they know?

This is not an endorsement of John McCain; I disagree with him on
most issues. I look at him and what most polls say Republicans believe
in, and wonder why he isn't their man. If I were a Republican I would
want the Doctor's medicine, but I think it's too bitter a pill for
them to swallow.

One thing is clear to me; the Republicans are trying to redefine
themselves, which has been McCain's downfall since he is not a fresh
face. Huckabee seems to be the flavor of the month, and he may just
have peaked at the right time.

Scott Galindez is Truthout's Washington, DC Bureau Chief.

===

Paul Has "No Intention" of Making Third-Party Bid
By Jose Antonio Vargas
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/06/paul_has_no_intention_of_makin.html

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Rep. Ron Paul has no plans to run on a third party
ticket, he told The Trail tonight, minutes before boarding a private
jet to Los Angeles.

And, it turns out, being excluded from the evening's Republican forum
on Fox News landed the Texas congressman a second invitation on "The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He'll be the lead guest on Monday's show,
he said.

"It's annoying not able to participate in the debate," said Paul,
adding that Fox News reporters and commentators "are war mongerers who
don't want to hear other opinions."

"But it worked well for us," he continued.

Paul has been one of this campaign's biggest surprises. Rudy Giuliani,
Fred Thompson, and Mike Huckabee have seen their popularity fluctuate,
but Paul has continued to climb in polls (he's at 10 percent in the
latest CNN/WMUR New Hampshire poll, well ahead of Thompson) and raise
significant sums of money. He expects to improve on his fifth place
finish in Iowa, where he beat Giuliani, and said he believes he can
stay competitive on Super Tuesday, when California and New York, where
Paul has strong online followings, go to the polls.

Throughout the year, the 72-year-old obstetrician-turned-congressman
has been the most popular Republican candidate online. About 85
percent of the $28 million he raised last year came through the
internet, his campaign said.

The money has allowed him to greatly expand his field staff. In Iowa,
he had 10 full-time staffers and has 9 here in New Hampshire. Jesse
Benton, his spokesman, said the campaign has aired 10 radio ads. In
addition, it has run six TV commercials in the Granite State, spending
about $1.5 million. Looking ahead, the campaign has three offices and
nine full-time staffers in South Carolina and recently hired its third
staffer in California.

For weeks rumors have swirled that Paul, who trails his opponents in
national and state polls, will eventually run as an independent or
libertarian candidate.

"I have no intention of doing that," Paul told The Trail.
Asked how he'd respond if his supporters clamored for him to mount a
run outside the GOP, Paul responded: "We'll see if the supporters keep
sending the money. But right now, our focus is on Feb. 5th."

Watch Ron Paul on the Jay Leno show at dailypaul.com

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