Draft Ron Paul movement

[12] On December 11, 2001, Paul told the independent movement that he was encouraged by the fact that the petition had spread the message of Constitutionalism, but did not expect a White House win at that time.

[13] Nevertheless, the movement continued through the election cycle and was cited by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for supporting Paul's dissent from George W. Bush's foreign policy.

[14] Further prompting in 2006-07 led Paul to enter the 2008 presidential race, officially declaring his candidacy on March 12, 2007, after much convincing by a congressional campaign aide, Kent Snyder, as well as a small grassroots effort.

[16] After SuperTuesday 2008 and with John McCain the presumptive nominee, economist Edwin Vieira, Jr., called for the Constitutionalist movement to draft Paul for a third-party run for president.

The rally drew over 10,000 of his presidential campaign supporters, and hosted several speakers, including former Governors Jesse Ventura and Gary Johnson, political commentator Tucker Carlson, Barry Goldwater, Jr., and music artist Aimee Allen.

[21] Ron Paul in February 2011 asked supporters to donate to his Liberty PAC, to fund trips to Iowa and elsewhere to explore a possible 2012 presidential candidacy.