Ron Paul Formally Announces Presidential Candidacy on CSPAN  

CSPAN: Representative Ron Paul a Republican of Texas, you’ve formed a presidential exploratory committee on February 19th, are you running for President?

Ron Paul: Yes I am, I will file the papers today to become an official candidate.

CSPAN: And why?

Ron Paul: Well the exploratory committee is set up mainly to find out if there would be support. To tell you the truth I was rather reluctant to set up that committee. I was urged to do it and I did it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the numbers of people who have responded. And the fund raising went very well, so I’ve been very encouraged and I think that a lot of people want to hear my message and I’m willing to deliver it.

CSPAN: You have gained quite a presence on the web, and why is that?

Ron Paul: Well I don’t know exactly why, but it was a nice surprise (laughs). Because you know that first announcement was sort of premature and came rather quickly, and all I can say is that I am aware of the web, and I use it, but I thought that was like lightning speed all of a sudden it was all over the place. And it was spontaneous, it raised a lot of money, and I though well this is interesting as a true grassroots campaign and so far the amount of money raised isn’t competitive with those establishment candidates who will raise a hundred million dollars. But with the Internet and with the amount of money, and the enthusiasm, I think that we can become very competitive.

CSPAN: How much money have you raised?

Ron Paul: Last month or so it was over $500,000 dollars and it was done with very little effort, and that was probably the most encouraging thing about the campaign…………

 
 View Rep. Ron Paul’s Interview on CSPAN, Here or Here