With losses mounting, Paul downsizes campaign
National staff for White House bid will be 'leaner' as he turns focus to keeping House seat
By BENNETT ROTH and R. G. RATCLIFFE
Houston Chronicle
Ron Paul, the Lake Jackson GOP lawmaker whose Internet-driven presidential campaign has smashed fundraising records but failed to garner substantial voter support, is scaling back his White House efforts and is focusing on the primary race to retain his House seat.
In an e-mail message sent to supporters Saturday, Paul said that while he will remain in the presidential race, he must place a priority on his congressional contest, where he faces Friendswood accountant Chris Peden.
"If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all our opponents would react with glee, and pretend it was a rejection of our ideas," he said. "I cannot and will not let that happen."
With Arizona Sen. John McCain on a clear path to the Republican presidential nomination, Paul said he no longer needs as big a national staff, "so," he said, "I am making it leaner and tighter."
No third-party run
Paul repeated earlier pledges that he will not make a third-party run for president. In 1988, he was the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, and thousands of his grassroots backers have encouraged him to continue his national fight through November.
While Paul's opposition to the Iraq war has drawn followers nationally, it has also stirred up dissent in his heavily Republican district. The strangely shaped district hugs the Gulf Coast, takes in pieces of Galveston and Chambers County, reaches up to include parts of Brazoria and Fort Bend counties, and stretches beyond Victoria.
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Paul said he was not worried about retaining his seat in the March 4 primary.
"If we look at the history of running in the district, I usually win without too much trouble, and we assume we will," Paul said.
Paul's primary challenger said he was surprised at the abrupt about-face because the incumbent has thus far not been willing "to come here for a debate."
"He suddenly has awakened to the fact that he has an opponent working very hard," Peden said.
Paul indicated winning the GOP nomination for re-election will be his biggest victory in Texas but said he will make a mark in the presidential voting, too.
Ads to start airing this week
"It's a little bit early to write us off, but I'm not making any predictions that we're going to run away with it, either," he said. "We're going to be continuing the process to remind Republicans what the conservative philosophy is all about."
Paul's spokesman Jesse Benton said the national staff would likely be reduced from 150 to about 50, with those who worked in the Super Tuesday primaries in states such as California being let go.
In addition, Benton said, he and other national staffers will transfer to Paul's congressional re-election operation.
But Benton said that even as Paul wages a primary campaign he will also continue running his presidential campaign in Texas. Three staffers will be assigned to his presidential effort here. He said that the Paul campaign has purchased about $700,000 worth of radio and cable television advertising that is scheduled to start running this week in the Houston, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth markets.
Benton said that Paul still has about $6 million in his presidential election account. He said the lawmaker cannot transfer that money to his congressional campaign unless he terminates his presidential effort, which he does not intend to do.
But Benton said Paul had recently raised several hundred thousand dollars for his congressional race.
Paul is scheduled to hold a rally for his congressional race today at the Lake Jackson Civic Center from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
Opponent 'running hard'
Local Republican officials said they were not surprised by Paul's decision to concentrate on his local race.
"In terms of the presidential campaign, I think realistically, you know, he's not going to be a viable candidate at the convention, and he does have an opponent in the primary who is running hard," said Mary Anne Wyatt, the chairwoman of the Victoria County GOP.
Jared Woodfill, Harris County GOP chairman, said, "It's very surprising, if not shocking, that he's still in the presidential race. His numbers have gone absolutely nowhere."
Paul's announcement was greeted with sadness by supporters in cyberspace and at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
"His analysis is correct," said Aaron Biterman, a Paul backer from Arlington, Va. "He should be worried about his congressional seat. We don't want to lose Ron Paul in Congress."
Although the libertarian-leaning Paul outpaced all of his GOP presidential rivals in fundraising late last year, he has failed to win a single contest.
He has collected just 14 delegates, according to The Associated Press count, far behind McCain, who has almost sealed the GOP nomination with 719 delegates. Benton, however, contended that Paul has a minimum of 16 delegates and could have as many as 42 when tallies of contests already held are complete.
To win the Republican nomination a candidate must have a total of 1,191 delegates.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5528537.html
Paul losing his congressional seat would be the frosting on the cake.
