RIP Kent Snyder

Ron Paul's right hand man/top aide Kent Snyder has passed away at age 49. I was lucky enough to be able to speak with Kent a couple of times over the past year or so during Ron Paul's run for the Presidency. The first time I met him was back in April of 2007 at the CRA State Convention in Ontario. Ron Paul came and spoke to us during lunch and I had a chance to chat with Ken for about twenty minutes after Ron was done speaking. The last time I saw him was last September at USC when Ron came to speak in front of Tommy Trojan. Here is Ron's eulogy of Kent:

"The Freedom Movement has suffered a great loss. Kent Snyder, chairman of my presidential campaign, lost his tragic battle with pneumonia last week. Kent was a true lover of liberty. He was an American patriot. He was my friend. And, he will be missed.

"Kent was a gentle man who carried himself with quiet dignity. While soft spoken, great inner strength lay behind his kind blue eyes. He was filled with conviction, and principles of decency, loyalty and respect ran to his core. Those fortunate enough to work closely with Kent were touched by his integrity and old-fashioned American work ethic. Stories of his youth in Kansas and lessons taught to him by his two greatest influences, his mother and father, were often shared with friends and colleagues. During difficult times, Kent was always a calm at the center of the storm.

"I first met Kent in 1987 when he, as a young man in his late 20’s, served on my first presidential run. Over the next twenty years, we worked together on countless projects in the name of Freedom. It was Kent, more than anyone else, who urged me to run again for president last year. I was skeptical, but he was much more confident that the time was right. Without Kent, I don’t think it would have happened. Though he was an optimist, in the end, even he didn’t expect what we achieved.

"Like so many in our movement, Kent sacrificed much for the cause of Liberty. He sidetracked a blossoming political career when he chose to work for a third-party candidate. He walked away from a lucrative career as telecommunications executive to work for me in Washington when I returned to Congress in the late ‘90’s. Ultimately, he sacrificed his health as he worked tirelessly around the clock on our presidential campaign, ignoring the pleas of his doctors to pull back.

"Kent poured every ounce of his being into our fight for Freedom. He will always hold a place in my heart and in the hearts of my family. We deeply mourn his loss.

"I hope we can celebrate Kent’s life, the wonderful man he was, the tremendous success of his contribution to the cause of liberty, and the bright path he helped blaze to a future where freedom springs alive once again. Kent should be remembered with every victory we achieve as we move forward together. Without Kent Snyder, the fight for liberty would not be where it is today. We all owe him a great debt."

Here is a pic of me with Karl, Kent Snyder, Eddie Karam, & Max Ukropina from the SC event. You will be missed a ton Kent.