And then there were five...

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race
Jan 22 03:31 PM US/Eastern

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.

"Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement.

Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.

In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination.

The actor-politician best known as the gruff district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order" placed third in Iowa and South Carolina, two states seemingly in line with his right-leaning pitch and laid-back style, and fared even worse in the four other states that have held contests thus far. Money already tight, he ran out of it altogether as the losses piled up.

Thompson departs the most wide open Republican race in half a century; three candidates each having won in the six states that have voted.

In Florida, McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are battling for the lead ahead of its Jan. 29 primary, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee evaluates his next steps amid money troubles of his own.

[This article, of course, makes no mention of Ron Paul's successful fundraising and his gaining success. But we all know who the frontrunners are! I'm taking bets on who is next to leave the race - Guiliani and Huckabee. I'm going with the Mayor!]

Moving Forward!

The Nevada caucus is over and despite Dr. Paul impressive showing, he still isn't getting the media coverage he deserves.

We're not done yet!

Louisiana holds in caucus on January 22nd (it's primary on Feb 9) with Hawaii, Florida and California following closely behind.

How can you help?

First commit to donating, even a small amount, every payday between now and Super Tuesday (Feb 5th). You can follow this link to signup:



Then check back here soon to read some others ways to help out these earlier primary/caucus states! (Don't forget to sread the word about Ron Paul's PayDay!)

Please Read

My name is Vijay Boyapati, I'm Director of Operation Live Free or Die ( http://operationlivefreeordie.com/).

Some of you may remember me from the interview with Dr Paul at Google (skip to 42:31 in the interview - that's me).

I'm writing to you because we're at a turning point in Ron's campaign. In the short history of this Revolution we're in the best position we've ever been in. I don't mean to sound hyperbolic and nor am I exaggerating. Consider these facts:

- Two Republican Presidential candidates (Tancredo and Hunter) have dropped out of the race for want of both money and support. Along with Ron, Tancredo and Hunter were the only candidates truly strong on fixing illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is a huge issue for many voters, and Ron is now the only candidate left with a sterling record on the issue.

- Fred Thompson has had no successes in any states and finished a distant third in South Carolina where he needed a strong result. He has little money and no grassroots support. It's very likely that he'll drop out of the race in the near future.

- While both Huckabee and McCain have won some states, neither has established a clear lead. Neither has significant financial resources, and both will struggle to advertise in the super Tuesday states.

- Rudy Giuliani has chosen a very risky strategy of focusing his efforts on Florida, and has done abysmally in every other state. If he doesn't post a victory in Florida his campaign will essentially be dead.

All the while, Dr Paul has has built an enormous war-chest that will allow him to be among the very few candidates who can afford to advertise in a significant way in the huge super Tuesday states (California, Illinois, New York etc).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080120/cm_thenation/45272954

Further, only a small fraction of the total delegates necessary for the party nomination have been decided. The Republican race is still wide open. We still have a terrific opportunity to shock the media and the country with a strong showing.

This is not the time for despair. It is not the time for complacency. It not the time to abandon the American Revolution. Now is the time for our greatest effort in the glorious cause of human freedom.

So I ask each of you to help us deliver a third huge fund-raising day for Dr Paul on January 21st (this Monday) by promoting this effort as much as possible in your meetup group:http://freeatlast2008.com

The money we raise will allow Dr Paul to dominate the air-waves in the days leading up to super-Tuesday.

I also ask that you participate in a march in your city and contact your local press to let them know this is part of a national movement. Even if you're only able to march with 5 or 10 fellow supporters, you should do so. Together we'll show that ours is a national movement. That freedom is not forgotten in our beloved Republic. And that we will not stop the fight until our Government acknowledges our urgent entreaty: we demand liberty and justice for all Americans.

Sincerely,
Vijay Boyapati
Director of Operation Live Free or Die

[The Las Vegas MeetUp group is orchestrating a rally today at 3pm in front of the NYNY.]

Watch Caucus Results

These sites are reporting the Nevada Caucus results and are updating as soon as the votes come in.

State Results:

http://www.nvgopcaucus.com/results

County Results:

http://www.nvgopcaucus.com/county


Something for all Ron Paul supporters to remember: Dr. Paul may not be coming in first but he has an overwhelming number of delegates; more than any other candidate. Finishing in the top three is great to ensure enthusiasm but delegates are the make-or-break.

Go Ron Paul!

McCain's Reckless "100 years in Iraq" Comment Endangers Americans

In response to John McCain's comment at a recent town hall event that he would be fine with keeping American troops in Iraq for 100 - or even 1 million years - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement:

"John McCain's statement in favor of keeping troops in Iraq for 100 years
or longer puts him out of sync with the majority of Americans, who want our
troops to come home. Further, his comments recklessly put America at risk as
such a statement will likely serve as a recruiting tool for Bin Laden and Al
Qaeda, who appeal to radicals and incite violence against Americans by claiming
that the US desires to occupy the Middle East indefinitely.

It is time to act in the true national security interest of the United
States and begin withdrawal from Iraq and the rest of the Middle East
immediately. Americans will be far safer under a pro-America foreign policy that
seeks to end the dangerous idea that the US should be the policeman of the
world.

Further, the financial costs of keeping troops in Iraq for a century would
be massive - in addition to the steep price in American lives. If John
McCain really wants such a long term presence, he needs to level with the
American people and tell them that his policy means we will not be able to
fulfill our obligations here at home."

According to quarterly FEC reports, Dr. Ron Paul is supported by more active duty and retired military retirees than any other candidate to be the next commander in chief. An investigation by the Houston Chronicle revealed that Congressman Paul received "more donations from current military and retired military than any other candidate."

Meet Ron Paul TODAY!

Ron Paul will meet and greet local supporters at:

LOCATION:
Peter Piper Pizza
560 South Decatur (next to Arizona Charlie's)
Las Vegas, NV

TIME:
6:00pm - 6:45pm

The pizza place has been nice enough to allow us to meet Dr. Paul at their location for free so please help them out and make us look good by patronizing their establishment. Have fun, eat some pizza, meet Ron Paul and then ALL THOSE THAT ARE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS can go next door to the meeting at Arizona Charlie's and support our candidate Robert Holloway for Chairman of the CCRCC!

Caucus and Primary Results

Iowa: Ron Paul came in with 10% of the votes and 2 committed delegates. He ranked 5th place above Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Wyoming: 2nd place! However he got zero delegates (that we know of). This is a great example of why you should become a delegate in NV! (Info on becoming a delegate in Clark County on this blog.)

New Hampshire: Ranked 5th place with 8% of the votes and an uncertain number of delegates. However, the Boston Globe is reporting a recount is to be done when several hundred people called the GOP and stated they voted for Ron Paul but their counties came back showing no votes for him. I'll update this recount info when I have substantiated details. (They are also recounting the Democratic side stating there are major discrepancies on both sides when it comes to machine counts vs hand counts, as well as missing votes completely.)

Important!

Our caucus is this Saturday, the 19th! You can go to http://locator.nvgopcaucus.com/ to find your precinct location. Please be sure to show up for this as some info I received prior stated that only delegates could vote for Ron Paul, when in fact the preference poll is open to all attendees. We need you there! Better yet, we need you to become a delegate so we don't have a repeat of what happened in Wyoming.

Need quick info about canvasing or the caucus? Check out this page for Clark County residents: http://ronpaullv.com/

Call the Clark County Ron Paul Headquarters at (702) 430-1407 for more info or to help the campaign in any way. Even a small amount of help is huge and much needed right now.