Below The Beltway

Even The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder is curious about Ron Paul’s appearance at the National Press Club tomorrow:

Ron Paul’s holding a press conference at the National Press Club tomorrow.

He’ll reveal a big secret, he says.

A third party run? Endorsing McCain-Palin? I don’t know.

Any guesses?

It won’t be a third-party run, because it’s too late for him to get on the ballot.

He won’t be endorsing any of the third-party candidates because he doesn’t want to lose his seat on the House Banking Committee.

He sure as hell won’t be endorsing John McCain.

My guess, based on what I’ve read in various places and what I’ve been told by sources who are in a place to know what’s going on, is that Paul will appear on stage with Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and perhaps other third-party candidates for President and make some statement about how McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden aren’t are only choices in November.

In other words, something totally lame that will have no impact on the Presidential race and will barely get any press coverage.

Update: It appears my sources were correct:

WASHINGTON — Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning, Houston-area congressman who waged a feisty Republican primary campaign for president, is expected on Wednesday to urge supporters to reject the two major-party candidates and vote for any of the four minor-party contenders on the November ballot.

“The two parties and their candidates have no real disagreements on foreign policy, monetary policy, privacy issues, or the welfare state,” Paul is expected to say at a news conference in Washington, according to an advance copy of his remarks obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

“They both are willing to abuse the Rule of Law and ignore constitutional restraint on executive powers. Neither major party champions free markets and private property ownership.”

Although he serves in Congress as a Republican, Paul has had strong disagreements with his party’s presidential nominee, John McCain, over the wisdom of the war in Iraq and the use of American military force around the world. Although Democratic contender Barack Obama, like Paul, has opposed the war, he also espouses expanding government programs that Paul has criticized.

In his speech, Paul is planning to say that voters can send a message to the major parties by voting for the non-establishment candidates: Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, Green Party contender Cynthia McKinney, independent Ralph Nader or Constitution Party standard-bearer Chuck Baldwin.

Why any libertarian would even consider voting for McKinney or Nader, or Baldwin for that matter, is beyond me.