Ron Paul no doubt has some very important things to say - things that just can't wait any longer… there is no point in delaying this rally. The Campaign for Liberty needs to be launched as soon as possible and the good citizens who support it will also support hurricane victims as soon as possible.

Show must go on, great!!! I hope they air it on T.V. That means they won't air the republicans convection. Whoopi!!!

Good Job for covering this event, CNN - this is a great member of Congress, the only man who stands up for true free-markets( not government managed, priviledged trade for major corporations). This is the only man who will be back true Republican Party values.

While some people say that Texas Congressman Ron Paul is ignoring the plight in Louisiana, other people say that John McCain's just trying to "look presidential", since he was celebrating his birthday with Pres. Bush when Katrina hit, and he wants to "act the part" to put the superhero image into peoples' minds.

While Obama was visiting war-torn middle-eastern countries, was his purpose to make McCain look bad for not having thought of it first?

Even Mary Magdalene was criticized for anointing Jesus, when the oil could have been sold to benefit the poor, but she was where she was needed, doing what she needed to do.

Rep. Ron Paul is doing his civic duty. He's putting his all into saving the country, and he will keep on doing it while his support is there. WE CALLED HIM to this task, and he's doing it. The voters called him to defend the constitution in Congress, and he's doing that.

What kind of pathetic attempts at this do Barack Obama and John McCain pretend? They've been nothing but self-centered, self-serving, sycophantic, immoral frauds. Can you compare their voting records to Rep. Paul's? Can you even compare them with his 50-year marriage?

This campaign is simply amazing beating all odds and taking on the establishment GOP in their faces. Thing is, the revolution is just starting! Hahahah!!!!

GOOD 4 RON PAUL!!!

Paul has some good ideas and experience, but it's throwing away your vote. Unfortunately, it is the lesser of evils again.

Vote McCain / Palin

Abolish the Federal Reserve!

Dear Lisa,

I live in indiana where we were pelted with floods the beginning of the summer, I didn't see anyone canceling events due to that, face it tragedy always happens. Besides its in St. Paul no where near the hurricane. People who live near the coast know better yet they continue to live there so really why should the rest of us land locked citizens be concerned. GO RON PAUL! Google building seven, know the truth………

Would that be former governor Jesse Ventura?

Ron Paul is just plain silly. I don't know why he bothers to campaign any further in a race he has clearly lost.

I AM A 70 YEAR OLD DEMOCRAT THAT HAS SEEN WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS DONE TO THIS COUNTRY. RON PAUL IS THE ONLY REPUBLICAN THAT HAS ANY SENSE.HE WOULD MAKE A DARN GOOD DEMOCRAT. IF THE REPUBLICANS HAD ANY SENSE THEY WOULD HAVE NOMINATED HIM. BUT NO. THEY WANT PEOPLE LIKE BUSH, CHENEY AND MCCAIN.

I find it pretty hilarious, some of the posts that a few "conservatives" have put up on here. Paul has garnered far more respect and admiration than Cain can ever hope for. His knowlege for foreign policy and monetary policy completely embarrases anything McCrazy can hope to acchieve. Your last hope, as a republican, is "going down the drain" with dr. Paul. You are now going to lose your idiotic empire to a socialist and all because of your shortsightedness and a lack of respect for the constitution. I think its time for an awakening for you people.

I, for one, am more than happy with Ron Paul, this upcoming rally and everything he is doing to wake the dumbed down citizens up in this nation. I find it very entertaining to know that dr paul will likely draw more people for a freedom rally than the republicans can gather for the RNC! We need more energized and awakened to the raping of our constitution. If not we will ALL one day come to live in a country that has NO Bill of Rights and NO constitution. Welcome to 1984, now its time to take the red pill!

Go Ron Go!

I don't understand it. Hillary was being constantly picked on to drop out. Ron Paul who is clearly far behind McCain gets no such verbal abuse, why is that?

Go Paul Go!!! I hope Paul draws millions of supporters. They will all be voters who do not vote for the tired old man who is a Bush clone. This country cannot survive another 4 years of Republican rule.
Obama for President!!!

Dr. Paul doesn't have as much campaign money as RNC has so he cannot move the dates as easily as he would like.
I hope Mrs. Paul has recovered well. My best wishes!

Why is everyone talking about a tragic event when one has happened yet, if one is going to happen at all? Good For You Ron!

For all you Republicans who were attending the GOP convention, The GOP will setting policy rules while your at home on Monday.

I, BEING A DEMOCRAT. . .WOULD CONSIDER PAUL A "REAL MAVERICK"

OBAMA & BIDEN

This is what the world needs.

I think mcain should have pick ron paul for VP instead of Sara Palin!!!!!Houston Texas

Here's the repubs chance to oust McBush. Better call your delegates before the vote!!

wow! i forgot all about ron paul.

He is the ONLY sensible choice for president. Too bad neither republicans nor democrats want actual change. They just like to parrot that word in speeches but have zero substance.
Vote Ron Paul! Change you can TRUST in!

Thank you CNN for covering this event. The GOP can RUN but they CAN'T HIDE. The rEVOLution will be televised.

I see no problem with this.

Aside,

Everyone, please stop calling Mr. Paul a Repukeican. He is not. He does not fit in with them anymore, nor the Deamoncrats.. He is an INDEPENDANT!

P.S. "Patriot" you are mistaken."Democrats lifts people up with positive encouragement" Hah! Try Democrats lift people up with welfare $$ and Big Government.

This decision reflects the libertarian ideology pretty well, actually. We certainly empathize with the residents of the Gulf Coast, but they need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and stop expecting others to swoop in and save them. After all, they made the individual choice to live there, just like we're making the individual choice to drink champagne and wallow in our own philosophy.

Ron Paul '08!

Go Ron Paul… at least he has an agenda.

The republicans DO NOT HAVE AN AGENDA other than Drill and Surge. As of today, the drilling argument is now gone.

The republicans just can't pretend they care right now after all Mccain knows a little bit of something about helping the people affected by Katrina….

HE voted against Emergency Funding Bill, including $28 Billion for hurricane relief?

HE voted against five months of medicaid for hurricane Katrina victims for up to five months?

HE voted twice against establishing a commission to study the response to Katrina?

HE opposed granting financial relief to those affected by hurricane Katrina?

Go Paul Go!
I can't believe people actually think Paul can change the course of a hurricane. I hate to be the one to say this but what he does at the Rally for the Republic will have greater bearing on the future of America than if he were to stay in his district. So stop saying he needs to be some place where all he can do is wait around rather than be some place where he can start setting America back on her track to true freedom and liberty and avoid the fall she's approaching thanks to these socialist politicians who are driving this country into the ground and providing us with new wars and new enemies.
Go Ron Go!

I'll be glad when its over, traffic is crazy already.

I seen this huge bus with Bush's picture plastered on the side of it~like I said I'm counting the days…

Rob Paul –can you say COO COO? The guy has been know as a crazy, sometimes scary (can you say white power?), whack job by knowledgable people for years. The bizarre thing is that this year he cast a spell on some gullible folks. Absolutely crazy.

The RNC is the one being self-indulgent. They can say what they want, but it's painfully obvious they're only "truncating" the convention so that they don't have to share the news cycle with the hurricane. I'm sure they view it as an annoyance.

Some people would rather the Paul convention be postponed in some sort of typical, pointless symbolic gesture, as is the current trend.

Even though I support Obama over McCain, I was and am intrigued by Ron Paul. Ron Paul was the REAL MAVERICK this year for the Republicans. The Republicans could have had the change message to if they had selected Ron Paul. Ron Paul should continue to speak about issues. Ron Paul was right to point out that Ronald Reagan would not have supported nation building. That is exactly what is going on in Iraq. The U.S. troops were not designed to help build a foreign nation. Our troops were sitting ducks and too many of our service men and women were killed and should not have been. GO! Ron Paul GO!

Let's hope Ron Paul doesn't do to this election what Ralph Nader has done for the previous ones….

I HOPE SO…

We are all tired of the two choices from the two-party system.

The democrats have permanently lost many good female voters after the way Obama treated the female base of his party and the disrespect shown to Hillary Clinton.

Thank you Congressman Paul for all you done. Unfortunatlely the rest of the Republican party seems to ignore you.

I wish you had won, but since you didn't any reform minded supporters should vote for Obama instead.

As an Obama supporter, I respect Ron Paul and even considered voting for him early on. I also respect his right to carry out his convention, as I do with the RNC convention.

With that being said and as a former Florida resident and staff member of an elected official's office charged with forming and implementing disaster plans related to hurricane season, I do wish John McCain and any other unaffected politicians would steer clear of the Gulf Coast until the after effects of the storm are known. It has already been announced that any remaining residents will not receive the benefit of core services (police, fire, rescue, etc.) and even though I doubt that, it would be truly shameful to see those services diverted for the benefit for the purpose of non-residents.

This is outstanding, but just out of curiosity why is Tucker Carlson speaking?

Ron Paul should be getting way more coverage.

RON PAUL 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how come we don't hear endless commentary about how divided the R's are?!? Ron Paul has refused to suspend his campaign and endorse McCain. Thousands of his supporters wil go to his rally, rather than the RNC convention. Isn't this a bigger split in the party than the PUMAs were for the D's? So how come we heard endess (and still continuing) coverage about how the D's were divided and had to work on unifying the party. How come we don't hear all that about the R's who really do have this division? Don't they need to work to unify the party? Shouldn't we speculate that they won't succeed in Nov because of that?

Congrats Mr. R.Paul.
Mc Cain makes himself idiot and hypocrite . We will always remember Katrina and McCain`s birthday cake with Bush.

Ron Paul is far more versed in economics and constitutional issues than McCain. His experience as an "outsider" would've been far more effective against the Obama campaign.

At the end of the day, the american financial system will collapse, and no one will be able to say that not one politician warned them.

This liberal (me) would've considered voting for a Ron Paul.

At least Ron Paul has one good idea and that is to get troops out of Iraq and quit interferring in the business of other countries which will help restore some economical stability and hopefully create some better world wide opinion of the U.S.

Many Americans likely don't realize the importance of good global relations but just one facet will be very important. That is the world wide countries now supporting the small contingent of U.S. forces in afghanistan. If John McCain gets elected you can almost bet most of these countries will begin a withdrawl of their troops as public opinion will demand this type of action.

Go Ron. Someone needs to expose those guys for what they really are although, Macain's choice of vp already shows that there is no good republican left in the senate .
Enemies of progress.

Katharine,

Please, get over yourself. This convention is about much more than this election and you don't seem to comprehend why people like Ron Paul. Do some research before opening your mouth.

This hurricane is indeed news, even if the American news organizations gave little coverage to storms overseas that killed tens to hundreds of thousands.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Republicans & Democrats.
Republicans can pretend to be happy about Palin even though they don't know her. Republicans have succeded in actually brain watching people with fear. Macain with experience has been wrong with judgement especially in areas where he is supposed to be good-Foreign policy. Yet——-
And if Republicans are coming up with executive experience. What they are actually saying is that Palin has more experience than Macain who has only senate experience as Obama. Ignorance is a desease.
Republicans are good in putting fear in people.
Democrats lifts people up with positive encouragement.
And for those who thinks that there is no money to do what Obama is proposing, Republicants have always said no money for health care but we can afford to pay 10b monthly in Iran. Where is common sense. I wil rather take a chance on Obama than same 8 yrs of experience of abuse of power.
Independent for Obama.

i totally agree john,, when people who are runnin for officew snub those goin through a tragity,, then the world has fallen apart… instead of help the victims,, they go on with this rep campiagn,,, wheres the caring,,,,?????? none as suspected by mccain,,, now that he has his"pretty woman"beside him,,,

Lisa Graas,

It truly saddens you? Do you expect him to waste 1million and 10,000 people's plans for something happening thousands of miles away so he can symbolically "roll up his sleeves and help out".

He can raise money with those 10,000 people for the people in the Gulf rather then using tax payers dollars, that's pretty conservative dontchya think?

Anyways, can't wait to see the convention to start. Hopefully no one is hurt and the Hurricane isn't as bad as they say. (It was supposed to be 5 but now it's 3? That's a good sign, right?)

I am glad Ron Paul is going forward with the rally. I hope it gets major press. Go Ron Paul Go!!!

McCain is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) I wish Republicans would actually look at McCain's voting record.

Natural disasters happen, life goes on. At least citizens in N.O. have warning and a chance to get out. Families lose their homes every day to fire and they have no warning. Please put things into perspective.

Ron Paul you should've been the VP candidate…THAT would have shown good judgment on McCain's part…that he really is a maverick, not afraid to surround himself with people who don't agree with him all the time, someone on the fringes of his party's establishment, someone with real ideas for this country.

Instead, I will vote OBAMA. I do wish you'd come out and say that he's the better of the two choices we have.

If I had to choose between Ron Paul and McShame, it would be Ron Paul without a doubt.

Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella called Obama's comments a disgrace and "an absurd accusation."

GET A LIFE MARIA COMELLA. You, whatever her name is and the entire Republican Party know that this entire VP is a joke. If any of you think for one second that America would take a chance of "Whatever her name is" to run this country if something happened to McShame, you have lost your minds! BTW, thanks for the early Christmas gift.

OBAMA/BIDEN 08!

If I was Obama I would ask him to head up the Federal reserve. Paul has the ability to boil the financial problem down to a focused plan like nobody else I have heard. Problem is you can't buy happiness.

I wish that Ron Paul was President. He's a real American.

Jeez. So remind me again why I should care about this convention of whiners? Your candidate was never viable and lost- get over it and let the real news take over, like the HURRICANE that is inevitably going to be hitting the Gulf coast in the near future.

Really the Republicans help people? I dont remember them doing much help in 2005 until 3 weeks later. Also Conservatives are the ones who are against health care, education reform, are anti-choice and havent a clue.

Every Republican vote for Paul is a vote for Obama. Just dont go dipping in to the Obama leaning-Independents too much!

Obama/Biden 08!

I think Paul belongs in Texas with his district during this storm..His wife is also ill in Texas and his rally really isn't important in the scheme of things. The real convention will nominate McCain, but there is no real substance to just another protest meeting of sorts..I guess he does have a give the money back problem..I think snubbing the hurricane victims will reflect poorly on his cause..The news on Monday and Tuesday will be the hurricane..

Lisa: I am a long time fiscal conservative and I can tell you, AND you already KNOW, there are few if any real conservatives in office right now. Being conservative has nothing to do with helping neighbors, That's and American trait, not a party trait.

Joey: excellent point that many seem to forget; mb for party unity.

Ron Paul can't stop Gustav. This rally has been planned for months. Over 10,000 tickets have been sold. The show will go on!

to louisina, those real "Republicans", those neo-cons sent mercenaries to relief the people of Louisiana of their pain!!!

Ron Paul is right on, he doesn't play politics: Oh, hurican underway, duck and cover, cancel everything, let's show our support, bla bla bla

Give me a break, Ron Paul is the only true conservative still existing in Washington DC, check out his record for your convenience, start reading!

Mr. Wooller,

The rally is not about Ron Paul or self-indulgence. It's about the idea that the federal government tries to do way too much, including providing disaster relief that should be managed by cities and states independent of Washington.

Federal government activities have created the inadequate levies and are the primary cause of the erosion at the mouth of the Mississippi that is ultimately what is making New Orleans so vulnerable, all efforts originally intended to solve some problem.

The more we look to Washington to solve problems, the more problems we have to solve. The only way out is to stop depending on Washington in the first place, not depend on it more.

i would take Paul any day over McCain

I like Ron Paul but all the typos in your story make it hard for me to read!. Please proof your stories before posting them.

"Rick Ellis, and late-night speech by Paul."

" former Minnesota Gov. Jesse and another appearance "

"ready to work with them if steer back to"
Thanks,

Dave

ya, let's all stop eating to show support for N.O. let's stop breathing too. What's the big deal. I'm sure Mayor Nagen has everything under control.

Robert Woller and Lisa, get over yourself. Bush and McCain were having a birthday party when Katrina hit. Do you seriously expect every city and every event to stop?

Good luck

I think this man is a true conservative– in the true meaning of the word. The way it was meant way back when. He is fiscally conservative, but not a war monger. And I'm an Obama voter. But I have a very high regard for Ron Paul. He is really the person the conservatives should be voting for.

Go Paul go!

The only credible republican.

Paul 08.

Hello:

Ron Paul should put up a fight at the Republican convention to take the nomination away from McCain. Ron Paul is the best Republican choice for nomination.

Charlie D of Atlanta, GA

It is obvious, the Republicans are using Gustav for a 'cover-up' for their failure.

It is sad to think that the Republicans are probably glad this hurricane is going to hit. Because why is this the first hurrican the Republicans are paying attention to? They didn't care before when Katrina hit and devastated thousands of lives.

18,000 will go to whom, if not elected? just wanted to know…….

Why not? Katrina = Gustav Hurricane = Votes for you, right. LAST thing on their minds. Former Republican?

I don't understand these people. Real conservatives roll up their sleeves and help their neighbors which is what the RNC is doing, but Ron Paul is concerned more about his ideology than what is going on on the Gulf Coast. It just saddens me. It is truly sad that he can't have a bit more respect for this very serious situation.

Go Paul Go!

Ron Paul's rally will just get more attention compared to the Republican Convention and make Republican Convention less noteworthy. The headlines for next week will be about Hurricane Gustav. Then the following week is the 7th Anniversary of 9/11. I expect to hear about another Al-Qaeda/Bin Laden tape release which will dominate the news cycle until Tropical Storm Hannah turns into a Hurricane that same week and hits Florida or the Gulf Coast.

Funny how people will blast folks for having a political rally while a tragic event happens elsewhere. Very partisan indeed. The US is continent-size. There's almost always a tragic happening somwhere at virtually every moment. You're talking about more than 300 million people in a giant empire - which Ron Paul is trying to bring back to a constitutional republic.

"Just how can he live with himself? Having a self indulgent political rally when a major US city is in turmoil?"

Robert from England, I'm hoping that's sarcasm. If it's not (and I'm sure there actually are people out there who really do believe that), then just what exactly is he supposed to do instead? Sit in front of the TV and follow coverage of the hurricane…as if that somehow makes any difference? Canceling or changing the event will have absolutely no effect whatsoever on anything that is going on with Gustav.

If you were just kidding, then never mind

if he had been nominated for republicans ,this independent may have voted for him over obama. republicans just picked their worst nominee. the bush 'twin'.

boy this guy has a big ego.

Why is this being inserted below Biden?

Just how can he live with himself? Having a self indulgent political rally when a major US city is in turmoil?

Good for you Ron Paul

The REAL conservatives should be supporting you anyway!