Ron Paul a National Candidate: One of Only Two Republicans on All State Ballots

According to a report this morning in The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are the only two Republican presidential candidates who successfully achieved placement on all state primary ballots.

Referencing a press report by the Romney campaign, the article stated:

• Newt Gingrich is not on the ballot in Missouri and Virginia and did not qualify for all of the delegates in Tennessee.

 • Rick Santorum is not on the ballot in Virginia, Ilinois and Washington, D.C., and did not qualify for all of the delegates in Ohio and Tennessee.

 • Jon Huntsman is not on the ballot in Arizona, Virginia and Illinois and did not qualify for all of the delegates in Ohio and Tennessee.

• Rick Perry is not on the ballot in Virginia and did not qualify for all of the delegates in Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois.

Read the full article here.

Source: Revolution PAC. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Statement on Mitt Romney Misquote Abuse

“Santorum, Huntsman, and Gingrich are employing leftist tactics because they can’t run on their questionable records.”

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign released the following statement in response to the feigned controversy surrounding out-of-context exploitation of Mitt Romney’s “I like to fire people” statement.  Below please find comments from National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton:

“Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, and Newt Gingrich are once again proving why they are unfit to be President and why this has become a two man national race between Mitt Romney, the candidate of the status quo, and Ron Paul, the candidate of real change.

“Two important issues that should unite Republicans are a belief in free markets and an understanding that the media often use ‘gotcha’ tactics to discredit us.  Rather than run against Governor Romney on the issues of the day Santorum, Huntsman, and Gingrich have chosen to play along with the media elites and exploit a quote taken horribly out of context.  They are also using the language of the liberal left to attack private equity and condemn capitalism in a desperate and, frankly, unsavory attempt to tear down another Republican with tactics akin to those of MoveOn.org.

“Santorum, Huntsman, and Gingrich are employing leftist tactics because they can’t run on their questionable records and can’t distinguish themselves from Romney.  Like Romney, they all supported bailouts, big spending, deficits, and individual healthcare mandates.  And, all three have disqualified themselves from the race for President of the United States, first with their records, then with their inability access major state ballots, and finally with these desperate and deplorable tactics.

 “Dr. Paul is committed to running the kind of substantive, issues-based campaign the American people deserve.  Our campaign will talk about real issues – real spending cuts, a sound monetary policy, protecting individual liberties, and promoting a pro-American foreign policy.  We will win what is now a two-man race on these issues, the issues of grassroots America.”

Paul Most Electable Against Obama

Reports National Journal (emphasis mine):

 

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, run neck-and-neck with President Obama in a general-election matchup, according to a new CBS News poll released late on Monday that shows the two front-runners in Tuesday’s New Hampshire GOP primary running stronger against the president than their fellow Republicans.

 

Romney posts a two-point lead over Obama, 47 percent to 45 percent, within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. He leads Obama, 45 percent to 39 percent, among independent voters.

 

Obama’s lead over Paul is just one point, 46 percent to 45 percent, as Paul leads among independents by 7 points.

 

The president posts more significant leads over the other GOP candidates, but against each he is below the critical 50-percent threshold: He leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 49 percent to 41 percent; former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, 48 percent to 41 percent; Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 49 percent to 42 percent; and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., 47 percent to 43 percent…

 

The CBS News poll was conducted Jan. 4-8, surveying 1,413 adults, for a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The poll includes a subsample of 1.247 registered voters.

 

Source: Paulitical Ticker with Jack Hunter

New Iowa Public Policy Poll Shows Paul Leads in Iowa

REVPAC NOTE: We were the first to show Paul’s lead after the results of our November TeleResearch Poll were released to the public: SEE HERE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

PPP | Newt Gingrich’s campaign is rapidly imploding, and Ron Paul has now taken the lead in Iowa. He’s at 23% to 20% for Mitt Romney, 14% for Gingrich, 10% each for Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry, 4% for Jon Huntsman, and 2% for Gary Johnson.

 

Gingrich has now seen a big drop in his Iowa standing two weeks in a row. His share of the vote has gone from 27% to 22% to 14%. And there’s been a large drop in his personal favorability numbers as well from +31 (62/31) to +12 (52/40) to now -1 (46/47). Negative ads over the last few weeks have really chipped away at Gingrich’s image as being a strong conservative- now only 36% of voters believe that he has ‘strong principles,’ while 43% think he does not.

 

Paul’s ascendancy is a sign that perhaps campaigns do matter at least a little, in a year where there has been a lot of discussion about whether they still do in Iowa. 22% of voters think he’s run the best campaign in the state compared to only 8% for Gingrich and 5% for Romney. The only other candidate to hit double digits on that question is Bachmann at 19%. Paul also leads Romney 26-5 (with Gingrich at 13%) with the 22% of voters who say it’s ‘very important’ that a candidate spends a lot of time in Iowa. Finally Paul leads Romney 29-19 among the 26% of likely voters who have seen one of the candidates in person.

 

Read More.

Source: Revolution PAC

Don’t Take Our Word For It—Jon Huntsman Slams His Republican Opponents

By Melanie Roussell, DNC National Press Secretary

This morning, Jon Huntsman was on ABC's "This Week," reiterating what we already know about the Republican field of presidential candidates: that they have "zero substance" are "too far to the right," and can't be trusted with the economy. About specific candidates, Huntsman said that Romney is a flip-flopper with a weak economic record as governor of Massachusetts, and that Perry didn't sound "serious on issues."

We couldn't agree more. You can watch Huntsman’s interview here.

JON HUNTSMAN ON HIS REPUBLICAN RIVALS

Huntsman Said The Rest Of The GOP Field Had “Zero Substance” And Were “Too Far To The Right.” Huntsman on ABC’s This Week: “We have people on the Republican side too far to the right. We have zero substance. We have no good ideas that are being circulated or talking about that allow the country to get back on its feet economically so we begin creating jobs.” [ABC News – This Week, 8/21/11]

Huntsman Said He Would Not Trust His Opponents With The Economy Because They Would Have Allowed The Country To Default. When asked by Jake Tapper, “Would you trust a President Bachmann to do the right thing with the economy?” Huntsman replied, “I wouldn't necessarily trust any of my opponents who are on the recent debate stage with me when every single one of them would have allowed this country to default.” [ABC News – This Week, 8/21/11]

Huntsman Said The Republican Party Has “A Serious Problem” In Becoming “The Anti-Science Party.” On ABC’s This Week, Huntsman said: “I think there's a serious problem. The minute the Republican Party becomes the party, the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people, who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012 when we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, we take a position that basically runs counter to what 100 to 900 climate scientists have said with what the national academy of science has said. What is causing climate change and man's contribution to it. We find ourselves on the wrong side of science and therefore in a losing position.” [ABC News - This Week, 8/21/11]

Huntsman Said “We’d Be Here All Afternoon” To Talk About Romney’s Flip-Flops. On ABC’s This Week, Huntsman said, “If we talk about inconsistencies and change on various issues, we'd be here all afternoon.” [ABC News - This Week, 8/21/11]

Huntsman Said He Had “No Idea Where” Romney’s Based His Claim That Corporations Are People. “Huntsman was also asked about Romney’s ‘corporations are people’ remark at the Iowa State Fair, which he quickly turned into an opportunity to cite Massachusetts’s poor job creation ranking during the years Romney was governor of the state. ‘I have no idea where that might have come from, entrepreneurs are people, but how it came out in his event, I’m not sure what it was based on.’” [ABC News, 8/13/11]

Huntsman: Romney Ranked 47th In Job Creation. “‘Massachusetts under governor Romney was number 47,’ he said. ‘We’re going to want a governor with a track record of success as opposed to one who was number 47. First versus 47th, I think there’s a huge difference in that, particularly going up against a president who doesn’t have a track record at all of expanding the economy or successfully creating jobs.’” [ABC News, 8/13/11]

Huntsman: Romney Has Flip-Flopped On The Flat Tax. On ABC’s This Week, Huntsman said, “I know in 1996 he was against a flat tax. […] If he's in favor of a flat tax now where he wasn't before, at least he's moving in the right direction.” [ABC News - This Week, 8/21/11]

Huntsman: “Call Me Crazy” But “I Believe In Evolution And Trust Scientists On Global Warming” unlike Governor Perry. “Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is eager to stand out. Just not too much. In a Twitter message sent Thursday afternoon, Mr. Huntsman wrote: ‘To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.’ The message was a direct shot at his newest rival, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who said this week that climate change was ‘a scientific theory that has not been proved’ and called evolution ‘just a theory.’” [NY Times, 8/18/11]

Huntsman Slammed Perry For His Secession Comments And Attacks On Bernanke. When asked to comment on Perry saying that Bernanke would be treated “ugly” in Texas and that printing money was “treasonous,” Huntsman said, “I don't know if that's pre-secession Texas or post secession Texas. In any event, I'm not sure that the average voter out there will hear that treasonous remark and say that sounds like a presidential candidate that sounds like someone serious on issues.” [ABC News - This Week, 8/21/11]

Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Jon Huntsman’s Visit to South Florida

By DNC Press

Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement regarding U.S. Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman’s visit to South Florida today:

“Today, Jon Huntsman brought his national reinvention tour to Miami, to my own backyard. But I can tell Gov. Huntsman that South Florida will not buy what he’s selling when it comes to his support for the Republican budget plan to end Medicare as we know it. My constituents, like the majority of all Americans, have said loud and clear that they are opposed to ending Medicare and forcing all the pain for deficit reduction on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. A plan like Jon Huntsman supports, that slashes support for education, eliminates investments that will foster the jobs of the future and gives tax cuts to the richest while shifting the burden to seniors and middle class families will not fly in South Florida or anywhere else for that matter.

And, while Jon Huntsman supports a plan to end Medicare, like the rest of the Republican field, he hasn’t offered a plan to create jobs, improve education or spur innovation and is simply doubling down on the failed economic policies of the past. The past is exactly where the failed economic policies supported by Jon Huntsman and Republicans should remain.”

Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Jon Huntsman’s Reinvention Tour has Begun

By DNC Press

Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement after former Obama administration Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman announced that he is running for President:

“The Jon Huntsman reinvention tour has begun. Jon Huntsman's attractiveness as a politician was supposed to be that he was different - different enough to be a Republican governor who would take a job working for a Democratic president, and who took stands on policies like health reform, the Recovery Act and cap and trade out of principle instead of politics. Sadly, Jon Huntsman is not different – having reversed himself on the positions he took as governor he’s now become a typical, Mitt Romney-like politician whose ambition is more important than his principles. And, like every Republican running for President, Jon Huntsman has offered no plan to improve our economy and create jobs. The Republican field is still stuck on returning to the failed policies of the Bush Administration and Jon Huntsman’s entrance into the race doesn’t change that.”