Ron Paul to campaign for fellow libertarians

HOUSTON — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday night he is ending his campaign but will keep spreading his message by working to help elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to public office.

"The campaign is going to shift gears. It's going to accelerate. It's going to get much bigger," Paul said.

Paul, 72, announced his decision to supporters attending the Texas Republican Party state convention.

The announcement was a formality. The Texas congressman won few delegates during the Republican primaries, but he raised large amounts of money online and developed a huge grass-roots following.

Jesse Benton, Paul's campaign spokesman, said Paul is beginning a "Campaign for Liberty." The presidential campaign has about $4.7 million in the bank, which can be used for the new effort, Benton said, describing it as a "permanent campaign."

Paul opposes the war in Iraq and is a champion of small government. His campaign also drew support from independents and Democrats opposed to the war. His supporters have been pushing for him to have a speaking role at the GOP national convention. He has refused to endorse likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Foreigners have more faith in Obama

WASHINGTON — Foreigners overwhelmingly expect the next American president to change U.S. foreign policy "for the better," but have more confidence in Democratic candidate Barack Obama than Republican rival John McCain, according to a multination poll released Thursday.

The survey of nearly 25,000 people in 24 countries also found, for the first time in a decade, a modest uptick in the United States' dismal global image.

One reason for that may be the boisterous U.S. presidential campaign, which is being watched closely from Asia to Europe and the Middle East. More Japanese (83 percent) are following news about the race than are U.S. citizens (80 percent), the poll showed.

The annual survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, found that if foreigners had a vote in November, they would vote in a landslide for Obama.

Of the two dozen countries surveyed, publics in just two, Jordan and Pakistan, rated Obama and McCain about evenly. But in both countries, there was little confidence in either candidate.

Also

Huckabee job: One-time Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee has a new gig: political analyst on Fox News. The network officially named the former Arkansas governor as a contributor to its election coverage Thursday.

Ageism? Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that he backs Republican John McCain, 71, "for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming [Group of Eight summits], because McCain is a month older than me."

Seattle Times news services