Republican Rep. Ron Paul told The New York Times that there is at least a 50-50 chance that he’ll run for president a second time, but that he would also factor the economic situation into his decision, among other things.
“I’d say it’s at least 50-50 that I’ll run again,” Paul said in his New York Times profile, which was published on Monday.
Paul, who ran for president in both 1988 and 2008, has watched the growth of the Tea Party movement since his 2008 campaign and seen his son Rand Paul become senator of Kentucky. Though Paul only received 2 percent of the votes in his Republican primary presidential bid, Paul has a dedicated following of Tea Party conservatives and raised more than $35 million in campaign fundraising.
Ron Paul joins a slew of others who have announced or been in the talks of a 2012 presidential run. Since the 2008 presidential election, there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not former Alaska gov. Sarah Palin will run for president in the next election. Former Alaska Senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel told The Daily Caller on Thursday that he is considering a 2012 presidential run. In October, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton said he was “very seriously” considering a 2012 presidential run.