Ron Paul snubs McCain's endorsement request

Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican congressman (Texas), told reporters today that he will endorse neither Democrat Barack Obama nor Republican John McCain.

Speaking at a news conference, Paul said that McCain advisor Phil Gramm, a former Texas Republican, phoned him on Tuesday, pleading for him to support the Republican Party's candidate. Paul said Gramm told him, "You need to endorse McCain." Paul refused, calling the presidential elections a charade and saying that voters are faced with the "lesser of two evils". "The idea was that [McCain] would do less harm than the other candidate," Paul said. He said he "didn't like the idea of getting two to three million people angry at me," referring to the support he picked up during the Republican primaries, none of which he won. He did, however, develop a strong following on the Internet. Instead of endorsing either of the two mainstream parties' nominees, Paul appeared at a news conference with independent Ralph Nader; former Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate; and Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. Libertarian Bob Barr was to participate but held his own news conference. Saying that 60 percent of the American electorate is unhappy with the choices, he urged the three third-party candidates to bring all their supporters together to vote against the "establishment candidates".