On June 10 , 2008 the Ron Paul Campaign announced the first promotional event for the organization , a " Rally for the Republic " . After not being offered a speaking slot at the Republican convention , Ron Paul , who did not support GOP nominee John McCain , decided to stage his own parallel convention in Minneapolis . This event occurred at the Target Center on September 2 , 2008 , which was the second day of the GOP Convention . On July 22 , 2008 , the event 's official website launched , which provided details of the Rally , and of other events which were to occur in the same week including a leadership summit , book signing , and free concert . Notable attendees were announced , including the Rally 's emcee , MSNBC 's Tucker Carlson , former Governor Jesse Ventura , Governor Gary Johnson , Barry Goldwater Jr. , Bruce Fein , Howard Phillips , Thomas Woods , Bill Kauffman , Erik Vendt , Grover Norquist , Lew Rockwell , Barb Davis White and Doug Wead . Country music star Sara Evans and singer/songwriter Aimee Allen headlined the musical portion of the event . On September 1 , more than 10,000 tickets were sold out . Most of the rally was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2 and a live stream was set up on the Campaign for Liberty website
Republican convention
2008 Republican National Convention
Campaign for Liberty