Ron Paul declares he won't back McCain

NEW YORK â?? Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, secured more major endorsements on Monday, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and evangelical leader Gary Bauer.

But there's one vote he shouldn't count onâ??from fellow presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Paul, a Texas congressman, said he will not back McCain if he is the party's nominee unless the Arizona senator "has a lot of change of heart."

"I cannot support anybody with the foreign policy he advocates, you know, perpetual war. That is just so disturbing to me," Paul said in a Monday telephone interview. "I think it's un-American, unconstitutional, immoral and not Republican."

As the Republican field has tightened to McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Paul's chances for victory have narrowed as well. He now cannot directly attain the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination, even if he wins every remaining contestâ??an all but impossible task considering he has yet to win a state.

"It is true the numbers are bad, but influence is important too," he said. "If we have a significant number of people and we're still here, why can't we influence the party to become conservative again?"

Paul has pledged to soldier on through every contest to spread that message. If he dropped out, he could use his remaining campaign fundsâ??about $5 millionâ??to help other candidates by creating a "multiple-candidate" political action committee, as Paul put it.

"If you're officially not in the race, there's more flexibility, but there's a lot we can do between now and the convention," he said.

For now, a leaner Paul operationâ??cut from 110 staffers to 50 last weekâ??will focus on the White House bid, while the candidate spends more time on keeping his congressional seat in Texas' 14th District, where he faces a primary challenge March 4.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,3259880.story

Looks like we're unofficially down to our final two in the GOP.

Have a good one!:s4: