Ron Paul urges Americans to vote for third-party candidates, as Obama and McCain are Afghanistan war candidates

Russia Today, September 11, 2008, 7:28

The U.S. Presidential campaign has taken a new turn with the former candidate Ron Paul launching a crusade against both John McCain and Barack Obama. At a news conference, Paul joined three third-party candidates in presenting a united front to shift attention away from the front runners.

“By coming together, we represent a majority of the American people. We deserve to be heard. We deserve to be in the debates,” The former Republican presidential hopeful said:

The Texas Congressman has generated a devoted following that many have called a revolutionary movement. Dr. Paul even organised his own Convention in Minnesota, attracting 18,000 people.

While he has officially dropped out of the race for the White House, his message is one for change but definitely not the type offered by Obama or McCain.

“Obama is not for change. He beats McCain into sending more money to Afghanistan. And they both want to send troops and more money into Georgia,” he said.

Ron Paul said he has rejected a plea from the McCain campaign to endorse him, though he did call the republican nominee 'the lesser of two evils.'

Instead he’s rallied behind third-party candidates like Libertarian Ralph Nader, who took the opportunity to criticise media coverage of the election.

“It's demeaning to the media, to the American people and to our status around the world to engage in trivia about political gaffs,” he said.

The third-party presidential candidates plan to hold their own debates parallel to those organised for McCain and Obama, in response to the media blackout on their campaigns.

The mainstream media has dubbed Nader a ‘Perennial’ presidential candidate and a spoiler for taking votes away from the main candidates.

Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney also took the floor to declare her independence from the current political order.

“The politics of today is politics of conformity and of control. And  basically the two-party system represents just that,” she said.

A was message echoed by Charles Baldwin who’s running on the Constitution Party ticket.

”It's a broken system. The two major parties have not only a monopoly  but  stranglehold a on the political process system that choking the lifeblood out of our country,” he stated.

The four candidates share the same views when it comes to foreign policy. They condemn U.S. intervention in Georgia and the decision to send a billion-dollar aid package.

”Have you ever thought when you send a billion dollar aid that maybe there's someone hungry in the United States or who needs medical care?” Ron Paul wondered.  

McKinney said it was totally inappropriate for the U.S. “to send so-called humanitarian aid on a naval ship”.She also called NATO's eastward expansion a dangerous move that could stir another Cold War.

The third-party presidential candidates have no illusions about sitting down in the Oval Office next January. Their goal is to change the two-party system in Washington. They call it the 'beginning of the realignment of American politics’.