Ron Paul (Sorta, Kinda) Drops Out Of Presidential Race

While not using the specific words, Congressman Ron Paul acknowledged today that his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination has come to an end:

“Elections are short-term efforts,” Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, told supporters in a Web video tonight. “Revolutions are long-term projects.”

Paul indicated that the 2008 presidential campaign portion of his revolution is over.

An earlier version of this report indicated that Paul would “drop out” of the race. In the video, Paul did not use the words “drop out,” opting instead to say the campaign is “winding down,” and he encourages supporters to still cast votes for him. But he referred to his campaign in the past tense.

“We are still in the early stages of bringing about the changes that this revolution is all about,” Paul said in the video. “Let us hope that we can one day look back and say that this campaign was a significant first step that signaled a change in direction for our country. Our job now is to plan for the next phase.”

For Paul, that phase will mean spreading his message beyond the campaign trail. He hopes to create an umbrella organization to stoke some of the grassroots support that made his presidential campaign notable.

Which, quite honestly, is something that should have been done months ago.

There are some candidates out there worthy of support. Most notable, in New Jersey, Murray Sabrin is in what is, for the moment at least, a two person race for the Republican nomination for Senate. While the prospect of a Republican winning statewide in New Jersey aren’t good at all, it’s still a worthy race.

What remains to be seen is whether the disparate factions of the r3volution will stay united or move off in their own directions, which is what happened to the Reform Party after Ross Perot.

Update: Based on this report from CNN, it looks like the “kinda, sorta” qualification won’t be applicable for much longer:

(CNN) — A spokesman for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign said Friday that the Texas congressman is ending his run for the White House.

“We are acknowledging that Ron will not be the nominee and that we are winding down the campaign,” said Jesse Benton, the Paul campaign’s communication manager.

Makes sense to me.