Speaking on the CNBC web show "Futures Now," Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a failed presidential candidate for the Republican Party, pointedly refused to endorse Mitt Romney, apparently seeing little difference between him and President Barack Obama.
Why the non-endorsement of Romney by Paul
Paul's disdain for Romney stems from his belief that the Republican presidential candidate will not make the cuts in federal spending that Paul believes must be made in order to stave off fiscal collapse, according to CNBC. In this Paul sees little difference between Romney and Obama. Paul also believes that Romney's and Obama's foreign and monetary policies are pretty much the same.
Paul inveighs against federal spending
Paul, in keeping with his decades long campaign against federal spending, recently wrote a blog post in which he mused on the number of people who are dependent on the federal government. He included not just people on welfare, but also seniors who collect social security and Medicare. While Romney suggested that 47 percent of the American people are dependent on government, Paul pegs the figure at 53 percent. Paul also attacked corporate welfare, which as he sees it has made private business more and more dependent on government.
Paul won't support Gary Johnson either
Thus far Paul has been rather coy about who if anyone he might support for president. In an Oct. 3 interview on Fox Business News, Paul suggested that he might support Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, according to Buzzfeed. However, in a Sept. 4 interview in the Daily Caller, Paul specifically refused to endorse Johnson either, even though the libertarian candidate is actively campaigning for the support of disaffected Paul voters.
The Rand Paul problem
Paul may be restrained from endorsing a third party candidate or even going third party himself because of his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The younger Paul, who supported his father's run for the presidency during the primary campaign, officially endorsed Romney as soon as it was obvious that the older Paul could not win the Republican nomination, according to the Washington Post. This has placed the older Paul in an awkward position. On the one hand, many of Paul's followers condemned his son's endorsement of Romney as a betrayal. On the other hand, while the younger Paul intends to work within the Republican Party, any move by Ron Paul that would jeopardize Romney's chances at the presidency would essentially end Sen. Paul's political future.
Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.
