Ron Paul Presidential Campaign, 2008 - Post-campaign Activities

Post-campaign Activities

Paul was not invited to speak at the September 1–4 2008 Republican National Convention and was even limited in his access to the convention floor. Instead, he hosted the Rally for the Republic with Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty and 10,000 supporters. This protest convention on September 2 was held a few miles from the convention center at the Minneapolis Target Center in direct contrast to the Republican National Convention. Paul received 15 delegate votes (0.63%) for the Republican nomination, falling far short of McCain's 2,343 (98.45%), which cinched him the nomination.

On September 5, 2008, the Constitution Party of Montana removed Chuck Baldwin from their presidential ticket, replacing him with Ron Paul for president and Michael Peroutka for vice president. Paul made an announcement stating that he "was aware that the party planned to do this, and has said that as long as he can remain passive and silent about the development, and as long as he need not sign any declaration of candidacy, that he does not object." However, Paul requested on September 11 that Montana take his name off the ballot, stating that he did not "seek nor consent" to the Montana Constitution Party's nomination. He also suggested the Party list official Constitution Party nominee Baldwin on the Montana ballot instead. Five days later the Montana Secretary of State denied Paul's request for withdrawal, stating that the request was sent to them too late. On September 4, 2008, a list of electors in Louisiana using the label "Louisiana Taxpayers Party" filed papers and paid $500 with the Secretary of State's Office. They are pledged to Paul for President and Barry Goldwater, Jr. for Vice President.

The same day, Paul made a brief press statement: "On the heels of his historic three-day rally in Minneapolis that drew over 12,000 attendees, Congressman Ron Paul will make a major announcement next week in Washington at the National Press Club." The congressman had reportedly invited presidential candidates Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader to the press conference, leading some to speculate that they would endorse Paul running for president on the ticket of either the Constitution, Libertarian or other third party.

On September 10, 2008, Paul confirmed his open endorsement for the four candidates at a press conference in Washington D.C. He also revealed that he had rejected a personal request for an endorsement from John McCain. He later appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer with Nader where they presented and briefly laid out the four principles that all the independent candidates had agreed on as the most important key issues of the presidential race.

On September 22, 2008, Paul announced his support for Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party.

In October 2008, Paul was declared an eligible write-in candidate in California.

In the 2008 presidential election, Paul received approximately 47,507 votes.

In May 2011, Ron Paul announced he would run again in the United States presidential election, 2012.