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Ron Paul urges third-party vote | Ron Paul urges third-party vote |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Texas Congressman Ron Paul has urged voters to reject Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain and vote for a third-party US candidate instead. | |
Dr Paul said a former senior McCain adviser had asked him this week to endorse Mr McCain - but he had refused. | |
He is backing independent Ralph Nader, Libertarian Bob Barr and Green Party and Constitution Party candidates. | |
Dr Paul, who dropped his own bid for the Republican nomination earlier this year, has a strong internet following. | |
He told a news conference in Washington he had been contacted by ex-McCain adviser Phil Gramm, who was dropped from the campaign after he said the US was a "nation of whiners" over the economy. | |
Dr Paul said Mr Gramm told him: "You need to endorse McCain." He refused. | |
"The idea was that he would do less harm than the other candidate," Dr Paul added, quoted by the Associated Press news agency. | |
'Realignment' | 'Realignment' |
Dr Paul said the majority of Americans were unhappy with the choice on offer from the mainstream parties and urged the third-party candidates to bring their supporters together to vote against the "establishment candidates". | |
Mr Nader, Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman for Georgia, and Constitution Party hopeful Chuck Baldwin were among those to attend the news conference. | |
However, Mr Barr turned down the invitation, saying at his own news conference later that he had done so because Dr Paul failed to endorse one specific candidate. | |
Ahead of Dr Paul's event, Mr Nader was quoted by AP as saying it would "raise the eyebrows" of commentators sceptical about their chances in November's presidential election. | |
"This is the beginning of the realignment of American politics," he said. | |
Mr Nader won 0.3% of the vote in 2004, when he ran as an independent. In 2000, when he stood as a Green Party candidate, he was blamed by Democrats for taking votes from Al Gore that might have prevented George W Bush's narrow election win. | Mr Nader won 0.3% of the vote in 2004, when he ran as an independent. In 2000, when he stood as a Green Party candidate, he was blamed by Democrats for taking votes from Al Gore that might have prevented George W Bush's narrow election win. |
Thousands of people attended a protest rally held by the libertarian-leaning Dr Paul - who opposes the Iraq war - near the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, last week. | Thousands of people attended a protest rally held by the libertarian-leaning Dr Paul - who opposes the Iraq war - near the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, last week. |
He won no contests in his party's primary election season but raised large amounts of money and support online. | He won no contests in his party's primary election season but raised large amounts of money and support online. |