Tea party favorite Ron Paul running for president

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) â€" U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, a favorite among the ultraconservative tea party movement, announced Friday that he will run for the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

Though there is not yet a clear favorite among the Republicans looking to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama next year, Paul is considered too unconventional to have a much of a chance at the nomination.

Paul has said he wants to abolish federal tax agency the Internal Revenue Service and favors returning the United States to the gold standard in monetary policy.

Three years ago, the physician and longtime congressman became an Internet sensation â€" and a prodigious fundraiserâ€" when he made a spirited but doomed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. The 75-year-old Paul also ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988.

"Time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what I've been saying for 30 years. So, I think the time is right," he said in his interview with ABC television during which he made his announcement.

He was elected to Congress in 1976. His son, Rand Paul, won a Senate seat in Kentucky last year and has become an ardent proponent of spending cuts and smaller government.