Two very important things happened at the end of the Iowa Caucus on Monday. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton beat rival Bernie Sanders by 0.5 percent with just two additional delegates. As for the Republicans, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept past fan favorite Donald Trump to win the state primary. In the midst of it all, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul placed fifth among the other Republican candidates with a whopping 4.5 percent of the vote, or just one delegate — hence why the incumbent senator has reportedly decided to suspend his campaign.
The presidential candidate said as much in a statement released after Monday’s caucus. According to the Huffington Post:
“It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty,” the senator said in a statement on Wednesday, following his fifth place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
…
“I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term,” he said.
Later that morning, Paul’s official Twitter page posted a minute-and-a-half video montage of clips and sound bytes from the 2016 campaign trail.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 3, 2016
Interestingly, the news that Paul is removing himself from the race for the White House seems at odds with the final speech depicted in the video post. While the senator seems to suggest that the end is nigh, he also tells attendees at a post-caucus rally that the fight will continue — albeit without his candidacy.
“I think the idea of liberty lives on in you, in us. We will continue to fight. Tonight is the beginning. Liberty will live on. We fight on.”
Aside from his poor performance in the Iowa Caucus, Paul’s campaign suffered from repeated fundraising difficulties. During the second quarter, his campaign raised $7 million — an amount that, while sizable, put him well behind his rival Republican presidential hopefuls. The third quarter proved even more disastrous, as Paul only managed to take in $2.5 million.
(Via the Huffington Post)