Ron Paul on 2012: Haven't Decided; Good Year for Libertarians; Check out Gary Johnson

The Daily Caller interviews the rEVOLutionary about the current political moment and the next presidential election cycle. Excerpt:

Noting the "big libertarian influence in the Tea Party movement," Paul says libertarian beliefs are making their way into the lexicon of traditional Republicans.

"I think even the issue of the Federal Reserve — that issue is almost mainstream," he said. "And I think things have shifted because of the financial crisis as well as the bogging down of our foreign policy. So the American people are looking for some different answers."

Paul, whose anti-Iraq war views won him jeers at some Republican events in 2008, says a libertarian-minded GOP candidate will be better received when Obama runs for re-election. But he cautioned that he himself has not decided to run. "It's too early for me to talk much about that because I haven't made a decision. I haven't ruled it out, but I'm not on the verge of making a decision anytime soon," Paul said.

Asked to name other potential presidential candidates he could support, Paul replied, "I guess the best one would be Johnson from New Mexico — Gary Johnson."

Whole thing here.

From the Reason archive: Brian Doherty's February 2008 cover story on the Paul campaign, Doherty's November 2009 feature on Paul's anti-Federal Reserve initiatives, and Reason.tv's February 2010 interview with Gary Johnson, the condensed version of which you can view below: