Congressman Ron Paul of Texas officially announced his candidacy for president Friday morning on Good Morning America.
“At this moment I am officially announcing that I am a candidate for president in the Republican primary,” said Paul. “Time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what I’ve been saying for 30 years, so I think the time is right.”
The announcement came just two days after former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich announced his own presidential campaign. The libertarian-leaning Republican garnered a major national following during his bid four years ago in the 2008 election.
In the last few weeks, Paul has been laying the groundwork for a 2008 repeat. He announced his exploratory committee on April 26, participated in the first primary debate in South Carolina on May 5, and on May 6, one of his legendary “money bombs” scored him $1 million through online donations.
That’s not even to mention his constant traveling between New Hampshire and Iowa.
He’s also still immensely popular among conservatives, winning the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference this past February for the second year in a row. A CNN/Research Opinion poll released earlier this week showed the 75-year-old congressman leads the Republican field when matched up against President Obama.
In that poll, Paul trailed the president by only 7 points at 52 to 47 percent.
Paul will kick off his campaign later Friday morning at an event in New Hampshire.