Outgoing Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) gave an exit interview to the Washington Post this week, capping off his career with a claim that he's driven throughout his 36 years in Congress: The two-party system is obsolete.
Responding to a question about a recent warning from his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), that the GOP was at risk of becoming a "dinosaur" if it remained unwilling to consider libertarian-inspired positions, the congressman argued that both parties were in fact on the brink of extinction.
“The whole government, and the Democrat party, the Republican party -- they’re all dinosaurs,” Paul said. “The principles are dinosaurs. The parties are going to linger because they’re locked in by law. You’re not allowed to compete; the laws are biased against us from competing. If you go third party you can’t get in debates, you can’t get on ballots.”
Paul went on to explain that he hadn't put any thought into a third-party campaign in 2012 because it was “absolutely not practical” to run outside of the two established parties.
The libertarian-leaning Republican has long fought the two-party system. In October, Paul declared that then-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney wouldn't be getting his endorsement, because the former Massachusetts governor represented a status quo perpetuated equally by both the Democratic party and the GOP.
"They represent a one-party system," Paul said of similarities between President Barack Obama and Romney in an interview with CNBC. "Somebody said 'why don't we get a third party?' and another one said, I think correctly so, 'Why don't we get a second party?'"
For more quotes from Paul's farewell speech in Congress, which he delivered earlier this month, scroll through the slideshow. Watch video of his entire address below.
