We have a Republican who is growing government at the fastest rate since LBJ. Would not this be an ideal time for a Libertarian or a Republican with libertarian values, i.e. Ron Paul, to run in the primaries against G.W. Bush? You would get more press coverage than in a typical third-party general election campaign. Even liberal news media outlets would most likely cover you in order to hurt Bush, and of course if you are the only challenger you are bound to get publicity. All I can say is, Run, Paul, run.

Ah....to dream the impossible dream...I do love the idea of potential.

As much as I would LOVE to see Representative Paul run, in reality, I don't see it happening. I can't think of any other libertarian leaning republicans whom I would support; perhaps if we could coax J.C. Watts away from whatever he is doing now...

Were this to ever become a possibility, I wonder if we'd see a repeat of the 1992 election all over again? We had an incumbent Bush, a little-known but charismatic democratic governor from a tiny state, and a strong third party candidate that ended up splitting the GOP vote and giving the candidacy to the democrat. Huh. Interesting.

Hugo, do you know if Mr. Paul has ever been asked if he would consider running?

No, I do not. We are at the dreaming stage. It seems to me that this is the ideal time for a Libertarian, or libertarian, to consider the Republican primaries. I just do not see what there is to lose, besides in Paul's case his seat in congress.

We have the Republicans controlling both houses and the Presidency and it is accompanied by huge growth in government. There has to be a true small government proponent out there in the Republican Party somewhere. If not it is time for a libertarian to run in the Republican primary.

UPDATE: Not only has he been asked, he has been told it is his duty. I just e-mailed him.

Interesting concept, although I do think that should the heavens open up and Mr Paul actually win the nomination and the election, he would have a most difficult time doing much in the way of significantly shrinking the size of the Federal government in his 4/8 years in office. There's alot of inertia there, and unfortunately, there is not much in the way of a Libertarian political power base to help him.

Just as an aside to my Libertarian friends, you might be better served by actively recruiting good candidates to on a more local level with a national agenda. This would be similar to what the Republicans did in 1994 under Gringrich's guidance. That might help expand your power base where your party could begin to make some real changes.

Just my 2 cents

I seriously doubt if Paul would win the nomination. What would happen is libertarian ideology would get the attention of the media. What Libertarians really need is more grassroots support and more media attention. It would also put pressure on Bush to govern more toward the right if his expansion of government was attacked from within his own party.