Ron Paul: 50-50 Chance I'll Run for President
Republican Rep. Ron Paul, known for bucking his party in favor of his libertarian principles, says there's a chance he'll make another run for the presidency.
"I'd say it's at least 50-50 that I'll run again," Paul told the New York Times in a profile of the 75-year-old congressman. His decision will reportedly hinge in part on how the economy fares.
Paul won less than 2 percent of the vote in his 2008 Republican primary presidential bid, but he won a dedicated fan base that supported him strongly online and financially. He is often credited for spawning the Tea Party movement, which swept into office this year more congressmen that hold his stringent libertarian views on issues like fiscal policy, including his son, Sen.-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky. (The Times notes that Ron Paul and Rand Paul will be roommates in Ron Paul's Virginia condo while they serve in Congress together.)
The validation the Tea Party gave to Paul's views may have helped him secure the chairmanship of the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, according to reports. As leader of that congressional panel next year, Paul will have oversight of the Federal Reserve. While he's written a book entitled "End the Fed," Paul said last week he will "not right up front" push to abolish the central bank.
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