Ron Paul has inspired many citizens from coast to coast to become more active in politics. Some of these citizens have chosen to run for office. All of these office seekers for liberty deserve praise, but BJ Lawson is not your average citizen candidate. He has already won his primary in North Carolina’s 4th District and now faces the toughest challenge yet: Beating the incumbent Democrat in a Democratic district.
What gives BJ Lawson a great chance is that he is a true “old right” conservative who echoes Ron Paul on the issues. That means the Democrat cannot paint Lawson as a Bush twin. That means there can be no criticism for him “supporting the failed Iraq war”. If any Republican has a chance in North Carolina’s 4th district it is BJ Lawson.
Liberty Maven has sent along a request for an interview to the Lawson campaign. Hopefully, in the coming weeks the interview will come to fruition and you’ll see it posted here and on our interview page.
In the meantime, BJ Lawson needs campaign funds. A Ron Paul style money bomb is scheduled for June 29th, 2008. If you believe in true liberty in our lifetime… If you believe in sending another Ron Paul style unequivocally limited government conservative to Congress to fight for freedom…. then you need to head over to http://www.lawsonlibertyfund.com/ and pledge your support now and then donate on June 29th.
The Ron Paul presidential campaign started its sky high trajectory about one year ago. Much has happened since then. A few major fund raising “money bombs”, countless rallies, several magical debate moments, and how can anyone forget the Ron Paul Blimp? The true believer grassroots supporters have lived and breathed all Ron Paul for the past year.
Now that the realization has dawned that Ron Paul will not be on the ballot in November what are they to do? Who will they support? Ron Paul is a unique icon of anti-establishment truth. There is unlikely to be a candidate like him ever again. Sure there may be a candidate who jumps on his coat tails and rides along in an attempt to get monumental support, but Ron Paul supporters can smell faux candidates a mile away. Even if they couldn’t, many are so married to Ron Paul that they may be blinded by their adoration of him. For me, before there was Ron Paul there was Harry Browne. Browne was the Libertarian nominee for President in 1996 and 2000. He introduced my young mind to liberty. He made me a libertarian. Ron Paul’s message of 2008 was Harry Browne’s message of 1996 and 2000.
The freedom message existed prior to Ron Paul. It will exist post Ron Paul. What makes Paul so unique is his historical honesty and integrity. You have to look very hard to find any level of “flip flopping” in his political career that dates back over 30 years. To find such unwavering truth in a human being you must look outside of politics. Even then you’d be hard pressed to find an equal. It is this reason he is able to attract so many supporters with such wildly varying backgrounds and ideologies. Anarchists cheer along side Socialists at his rallies. As do Democrats and Republicans. No matter what political beliefs you hold it is difficult not to be attracted to the aura of purity Ron Paul exudes.
At Reason Magazine headquarters yesterday four candidates who can potentially carry the Ron Paul message onward sat down for a debate. All participants except for one are Libertarian Presidential candidates. The exception was Vern McKinley, who is running for Congress in Virginia’s 10th District against Frank Wolf.
What was interesting to me as evidenced in the embedded video (thanks to Reason.tv) below is that Vern McKinley almost sounds more libertarian than some of the Libertarian candidates, most notably, Wayne Allyn Root. Check out the video below and realize it is time to figure out who you are going to support in the general election for President in lieu of Ron Paul. Writing in Ron Paul may make you feel good, but it will go nowhere. At least in Vern McKinley’s case you know you can support him as a “Ron Paul Republican”.
Readers of Liberty Maven know by now how much we adore Ron Paul and his message of freedom, prosperity, and peace. That does not mean we can’t be critical of him when circumstances call for it. Anyone who views the list of candidates Ron Paul has endorsed for office should notice something missing. He hasn’t endorsed a single candidate who is running against an incumbent Republican in a primary.
As a Ron Paul supporter of all the liberty minded candidates it greatly concerns me that Ron Paul has not endorsed some candidates who are close to 100% in line with his platform. A perfect example of this is the race in Virginia’s 10th District between Vern McKinley and incumbent Frank Wolf. Vern McKinley is about 90% aligned with Paul on the issues. Frank Wolf is an Iraq war supporter, who voted for both SCHIP and minimum wage increases along with the Democrats. Wolf voted against repealing the DC gun ban. Wolf voted for Bush’s prescription drug plan. Wolf just had a bill that he sponsored signed into law by President Bush that will make property rights advocates vomit.
The purity of Ron Paul has ruined my opinion of politicians. Frank Wolf, the current incumbent in Virginia’s 10th congressional district is a perfect example. The man has been in office for 28 years. If we could plot his conservative voting record on a graph over those 28 years it would look like this:
Yet for some strange reason many conservative minded voters in his district (my district) think he walks in the shoes of Ronald Reagan. The simple truth is that many voters in this district just aren’t paying attention. A perfect example appeared today in the editorial section of the Great Falls Connection newspaper.
Both Vern McKinley and Amit Singh, Virginia Ron Paul Republicans, have picked up endorsements from the Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia. This is not surprising but it certainly validates both of the candidates and their messages of liberty.
Big news from the Amit Singh For Congress campaign. In conjunction with an endorsement from Ron Paul they announce a money bomb. They’re calling it the Lunch Bomb and have a fun and horribly acted video to go along with the money bomb and endorsement. Amit isn’t running for Hollywood, and we all know Ron Paul is nothing but genuine so seeing this pair try to act just adds to the charm.
To check out the video and pledge for the “lunch bomb” on May 15th, check out the lunch bomb web site. You can even choose what they (Ron and Amit) will have for lunch, because apparently, they can’t agree.
Tomorrow Thursday, May 1st, 2008 is the Mayday Mckinley Money Bomb. If you haven’t already done so, sign up and pledge a few or a few hundred dollars. He is who I call the first Ron Paul Republican because he decided to run for Congress before Ron Paul decided to run for President. Both share many views on the issues.
Yes, there is a question about whether Vern McKinley, a Ron Paul Republican will get the endorsement of the NRA. However, the other day a friend of the family told us that they received a political alert mailer that criticized Frank Wolf on several Second Amendment related votes and views and touted Vern McKinley as being the candidate NRA members should vote for in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. She mentioned the mailer was received about 3 weeks ago and that she did not keep it.
I have no reason to believe this friend would lie. It is not surprising the NRA would do such a thing since Wolf voted against repealing the DC gun ban and McKinley has received a 100% rating from the Virginia Gun Owners Coalition.
However, until it is confirmed the question mark remains.
Two promotional videos have been created for the upcoming Vern McKinley money bomb on Thursday May 1st, 2008. We have endorsed McKinley for Congress in the 10th District of Virginia. We also encourage those of you with the means to participate in his money bomb on May 1st no matter where you live. The more Ron Pauls we have in the U.S. Congress the better our country will be. Check out the videos below and pledge for the money bomb at: MaydayMcKinley.com
Liberty Maven
The Ron Paul presidential campaign started its sky high trajectory about one year ago. Much has happened since then. A few major fund raising “money bombs”, countless rallies, several magical 
