The other day I recived an email from Rep. Ron Paul inviting me to a family Bar-B-Q event in Galveston, Texas which is usually the traditional kick-off to his Congressional camapaigns.

I’m happy to invited to be such events and no doubt I support Rep. Paul’s re-election bid. But it occurred to me that I and others across the country who were getting this email would have to spend hundreds of dollars to attend an event in a Congressional District we can’t vote in. In other words, instead of being a kick-off for another Presidential campaign, Ron Paul fully intends to run for re-election Congress in 2010.

That’s fine but, I was hoping that Rep. Paul would spend 2010 traveling across the country in support of “Ron Paul Republicans” and using those travels to build a campaign apparatus for the White House in 2012 . That could still happen. The primary in Texas is in March and the Democrats could give Rep. Paul a pass like they did last year leaving Rep. Paul free to campaign for those candidates he endorses for the remainder of the year.

However, assuming Rep. Paul is re-elected, where does a potential presidential campaign fit into his term in Congress? If he intends to try and completly fullfill his duties in the House by making every vote and attending committee hearning in order to question Ben Bernanke, how much time can he realisitically put towards another run to the White House?

This was a major problem the last time he ran. As a skilled retail politician, Ron Paul needed to be in states that put a lot of emphasis on retail politics like Iowa and New Hampshire. And yet of all the major GOP candidates in 2007-08, he spent the least amount of time in both states. His campaigning consisted of weekend jaunts and longer stretches of time spent during Congressional recesses. This will not do in 2012, especially when, once again, his main opponents for the GOP nomination (Romney, Huckabee and Pawlenty) do not have day jobs. They can campaign in any state as often and as much as they like. And while its admirable that Rep. Paul is trying to keep his word to his consitutents by his service, it puts him at a competitive disadvantage against those not currently working or not as attentive to their Congressional duties while running for President.

It may very well be that Rep. Paul really has no plans to run in 2012. That’s fine too. But if so, then he needs to communicate this to persons like Gary Johnson and Mark Sanford who are, no doubt, waiting to start their own campaigns predicated on what Paul ultimately decides to do. And for them, they need to know right away because they need more time to organize and get their names out to the public, especially in the early states of the primary and caucus system (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) compared to Rep. Paul, who become a regular on many cable TV news program and best selling author (his new book End the Fed will be released this summer).

I like Bar-B-Q as much as the next man but I was hoping that this campaign kick-off picnic would have been for the White House rather instead of another run for Congress. Maybe that will still happen, but Rep. Paul can’t wait too long to let all of on the email list know what the 2011 Bar-B-Q will be for.