Excerpt from his statement:
Let me tell you my thoughts. With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining, and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get. But with so many primaries and caucuses now over, we do not now need so big a national campaign staff, and so I am making it leaner and tighter. Of course, I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican party, so there will be no third party run. I do not denigrate third parties -- just the opposite, and I have long worked to remove the ballot-access restrictions on them. But I am a Republican, and I will remain a Republican.
I also have another priority. I have constituents in my home district that I must serve. I cannot and will not let them down. And I have another battle I must face here as well. 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. I cannot and will not let that happen.
He understands he doesn't have a chance at the GOP nomination for presidency, but he is not fully pulling out and he, once again, nixes the idea of running as an Independent.
The reason he needs to scale back and focus on his reelection for his congressional seat?
Because now more people have seen some of his true positions and he is being challenged.
His challengers have made the case that the local congressman is gallivanting around the country on a quixotic quest, has lost touch with the folks back home and has taken stances out of line with the district.
His challenger for his home state seat is Chris Peden, a Friendswood city councilor who has touted his conservative credentials.
Via Politico:
Galveston County Republican Chairman Kerry Neves said that, because of the national attention Paul’s presidential campaign has received, many voters unfamiliar with his anti-Iraq war stance and harsh criticism toward President Bush have taken a second look at their congressman.
“Some people who had not given a lot of thought to what his positions were have been awakened to some of his positions that they might not have known of,” Neves said. “But he always has been known here as a libertarian.”
Peden, an accountant by trade, has been highlighting Paul’s strident criticism of the Bush administration as a key rationale for his campaign. He often invokes his evangelical faith on the campaign trail and has enlisted the support of several area pastors, who have formed a “Pastors for Peden” group.
“The more the voters down here find out about Ron Paul, the more they realize he is simply not a conservative, and the less they like him,” said Peden spokesman Dallas Frohrib.
From Peden's website:
I am a proven conservative Republican; the incumbent is a self-described Libertarian. I support winning the Global War on Terror and the War on Drugs; the incumbent does not. I think Islamo-Fascist terrorists were responsible for the 9/11 attacks; the incumbent thinks America's Middle East policy's were responsible for the attacks. I support fully funding NASA's budget and the Vision for Space Exploration; the incumbent does not. I will support and vote for the Republican nominee for U.S. President in 2008, the incumbent will not (unless it's him.)
It is clear that I better represent the priorities and the values of the voters in the 14th congressional district.
If you agree that it is time for a change, send me to Washington. D.C, so that I deliver conservative results...for a change.
Please sign up for The Peden Perspective e-mail newsletter so I can keep you posted on campaign developments and if you have any questions/or comments, please send them to me at: info@chrispeden.org.
The good news for Paul though, is that he can take all the donations he has received and transfer it to his congressional treasury.
His campaign spokesman Mark Elam made it clear that it is his intention and he has already started using the contributions to that end:
Paul campaign spokesman Mark Elam indicated that Paul was planning on spending money from his presidential campaign on his House reelection bid. He went up on the airwaves Tuesday with his first advertisement, a radio spot touting his biography and legislative accomplishments.
This gives Paul the edge over Chris Peden because Peden doesn't have the funds or resources that Paul has, especially with the treasury chest chalk full of presidential donations.
So, who will Paul supporters go to or will they just sit it all out now?
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