Today’s Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary (subscription only) has a write up of Dr. Paul’s announcement that he is formally ending the Presidential campaign and forming a new organization to continue his Campaign for Liberty:

Phase 2 of the “Ron Paul Revolution” begins this summer in Minneapolis, where Mr. Paul announced he will host his own “mini-convention” on the second day of the nearby Republican National Convention.

Mr. Paul, who dropped out of the presidential race officially yesterday, did so with his pockets still jingling from his prolific fundraising. His new effort will be a broad “Campaign for Liberty” that supports efforts to elect candidates in the Paul model, a “Phase 2 of the revolution that his presidential campaign has inspired,” says spokesman Jesse Benton.

“The campaign is going to shift gears. It’s going to accelerate. It’s going to get much bigger,” Mr. Paul himself told the AP.

The Texas Congressman has booked an arena in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota for September 2, hoping to fill it with 11,000 supporters. With nearly $5 million in leftover funds, his campaign has plenty of ammunition for the effort. The Republican National Convention will be held that same week in nearby St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center. “We will be a permanent presence on the American political landscape,” Mr. Paul vows.

Mmmm. That perhaps should worry John McCain. Mr. Paul’s supporters presumably would be tempted to vote for the newly crowned Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr. Mr. Paul himself yesterday stopped just short of endorsing Mr. Barr, saying: “He talks our language, so I do really believe that he can have a very positive effect in this campaign and let the people know that limited government is a very, very important message.”

Stay tuned to see if Mr. Paul, a Republican himself, uses his new group vigorously to play a spoiler’s role in the November race.

– Robert Costa

The Journal’s Washington Wire also reports:

Rep. Ron Paul ended his presidential campaign Thursday night, but the maverick Texas lawmaker who spurned a political movement vowed to continue his efforts through a new organization, the Campaign for Liberty.

Paul’s exit from the race was just a formality. He never had a shot at the nomination but his grassroots candidacy cultivated national interest and was fueled by an online fund-raising operation of small donors who saw promise in Paul’s political message. A video of his farewell speech Thursday night has been viewed nearly 600,000 times.

The Texas lawmaker is hoping that base will transfer to his new political effort, whose mission is to elect more libertarian-minded candidates, like Paul, to office. “We’ll make our presence felt at every level of government, where just a few people with our level of enthusiasm can make a world of difference. We’ll keep an eye on Congress and lobby against legislation that threatens us,” Paul writes on his new site. “We’ll identify and support political candidates who champion our great ideas against the empty suits the party establishments offer the public. We will be a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you.”