Why Ron Won't Drop Out

Why Ron Won't Drop Out - By Anna Tinsley

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul speaks during the West Virginia Republican presidential convention Tuesday in Charleston, W.Va.

One month into the 2008 presidential primaries, Texan Ron Paul has outlasted a half-dozen other GOP hopefuls.

The 72-year-old doctor-turned-politician says he has no plans to quit no matter how everything shakes out today after the Super Tuesday votes are counted.

"There were 11 candidates, and now we're down to four," he told a Minnesota crowd this week. "We started low and we keep going.

"If I dropped out, my supporters wouldn't be happy."

That's exactly right, said Jeremy Blosser, a 31-year-old Paul supporter from Arlington.

"We have no intention of going anywhere," he said.

"Ron Paul has been fighting for our rights and for a constitutional government for over 30 years, and this campaign has spread those ideas to an entire generation. We see no reason to not keep going.

"We are Texans -- we don't run away when the chips are down and the stakes are high."

Paul may have greater staying power on the campaign trail because his fundraising has been fairly healthy, pulling in more than $28 million since his campaign kicked off, new federal election records show.

He has come in third and fourth in several primaries and took second in Nevada's primary last month.

To many, he is seen as a "message" candidate -- trying to get the word out about his desire to end the war, bring home troops, reduce the size of government and get leaders to more literally follow the Constitution.

"His fundraising has been substantial, and he's trying to get his message out," said Bruce Buchanan, a government professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in presidential politics.

"There will come a point when it's truly down to two and he doesn't have a percentage to make it into the debates anymore, and then he may fold his tent.

"I don't think he will until he has to."

Neither Paul nor spokesman Jesse Benton could be reached for comment Tuesday, as they were campaigning in Super Tuesday states.

But few expect him to go quietly into the night.

"He is certainly the un-cola of Republican candidates," said Tom Marshall, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.

"Message candidates don't drop out as easily or as quickly."