Republican Ron Paul enters 2008 White House race

WASHINGTON: Ron Paul, a nine-term congressman from Texas and a former Libertarian Party candidate for the White House, said on Monday he would seek the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.   

Paul, a longtime libertarian who frequently strays far outside the Republican mainstream, said he was surprised by the level of encouragement he received after forming a presidential exploratory committee in Texas in January.   

"I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of people who responded and the fund raising went very well," Paul said on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal." He said he raised about $500,000.   

"The amount of money raised isn't competitive with those established candidates that will raise $100 million," he said.

"With the Internet, the amount of money and enthusiasm, I think we can become very competitive."   

Paul frequently crosses or ignores Republican leaders in Congress, where he has voted against defense spending bills, called for a speedy withdrawal of troops in Iraq and proposed a diminishment in the power of the Federal Reserve.   

According to his libertarian view, the federal government should be limited to the duties specified in the Constitution.   

"I'm confident the Republican Party has gone in the wrong direction," Paul said. "We used to be a party of small government. Now we are the party of big government."   

Paul, an obstetrician-gynecologist from the Houston area, will be a longshot in a crowded Republican presidential field headed by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.   

He ran for president as the Libertarian candidate in 1988, drawing just more than 400,000 votes nationwide.   

Paul said he would run for the presidency and for re-election to his seat in Congress at the same time, which is allowed under Texas state law.