WASHINGTON - Following the news that former Presidential hopeful John Kerry has endorsed Barack Obama, it was announced that Strom Thurmond, one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history, has endorsed Ron Paul for U.S. President in the 2008 election.
"Sen. Thurmond is not one to give his endorsement easily, especially in his current condition," said a spokesperson for the late senator's estate. "But he and Paul have similar feelings on many issues."
Thurmond, who died in 2003, is the first dead politician to make an endorsement for 2008, though more are sure to follow. Representatives of Ronald Reagan's estate said that the former President will likely be giving his endorsement soon, and a spokesman for former House Speaker Tom DeLay said he'd make an endorsement soon, despite the fact that he's only dead politically and not physically.
A recent article by The New Republic took a look at Paul's history as a publisher of such newsletters as Ron Paul's Freedom Report, which he has published for more than two decades. James Kirchick of TNR wrote that it was not easy to find older issues of some of Paul's newsletters, but that their basic theme was all the same.
"What (the newsletters) reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics," wrote Kirchick.
"Paul is the perfect candidate for Thurmond," said the spokesman. "They have core, white American beliefs. Remember, Strom filibustered the hell out of the Civil Rights bill. I think Paul would have been right there with him."
Paul has made a name for himself as an anti-war Republican, with Libertarian leanings. His legion of fans have helped him bring in solid supplies of campaign cash, but his campaign has languished for the most part, though he expects a landslide victory in the always valuable Idaho primary.
--WKW
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