Presidential hopeful Ron Paul defies convention

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Republican hopeful Ron Paul will almost certainly not be the next president of the United States. But the spry septuagenarian has already emerged as the political phenomenon of the 2008 White House race.

Of the 16 presidential candidates from both parties, Paul, 72, has made his mark as the most radical and unorthodox.

A conservative libertarian, he defies convention and all that defines the political mainstream. The former obstetrician supports the decriminalization of marijuana and expresses tolerance for same-sex unions but fiercely opposes abortion.

Insisting on a strict interpretation of the US Constitution, he cites the Second Amendment's right to bear arms in opposing any ban on gun ownership, while rejecting the idea of the United...