Paul tells why he won't vote for McCain-Palin

Paul tells why he won't vote for McCain-Palin
Thursday, October 02, 2008

In today's Republican Party, it's easy to win forgiveness for being wrong. It's being right that gets you into trouble.

Take Ron Paul, for example. In the run-up to the Iraq war, the Texas congressman asked, "Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a $100 billion war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American economy?"
And then when he made a run for the GOP presidential nomination earlier this year, Paul warned repeatedly of the dangers of funding that war and other out-of-control expenditures with dollars hot off the printing press.

That's two for two. But the Grand Old Party has been treating Paul like a pariah rather than a prophet ever since John McCain won the nomination. McCain could have been magnanimous and offered Paul a speaking role at last month's convention. Instead, the GOP wouldn't even permit Paul to go on the floor without an escort.

Paul is now returning the favor by calling for Republican voters to reject McCain in favor of one of the third-party candidates to McCain's right. When I spoke to him on the phone the other day, Paul told me he is backing Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party. But he also is telling voters to look at Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, "just so they don't vote for the establishment."

As for McCain, Paul said, "The Buchananites and the libertarians have trouble getting along with him. He's really building his alliance with the Liebermans of the world."

That would be Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a Democrat who has a National Taxpayers Union rating of F compared with the straight-A rating of the physician-politician known as "Dr. No" for his habit of voting against spending bills. Lieberman got a prime speaking spot at the convention and was even reported to be McCain's first choice for the GOP vice presidential nomination.

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