Ronning for president

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, filed papers Paul on Thursday with the Texas Secretary of State’s office to set up the "Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee," a non-profit group.

Paul is considered fairly fringe by Republican leaders, and is called "Dr. No" by his colleagues for voting against everything from the No Child Left Behind Act to CAFTA to the war in Iraq to the PATRIOT Act — in both 2001 and 2005. He has voted against giving the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor to Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa, asking his colleagues to chip in $100 apiece to mint the medal if they feel so strongly.

One of his trademark issues is calling for a re-introduction of the gold standard.

He has served in Congress on-and-off for roughly 17 years. He has run for president before, in 1988 as the Libertarian Party nominee, where he attracted the interest of one of my college roommates for advocating the legalization of marijuana.

Paul has a cult following among die-hard conservatives, but Paul would face a real challenge getting any serious voter or media attention in a GOP race featuring superstar candidates such as Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Mass. Gov Mitt Romney, former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

- jt