Should Ron Paul run as a third party?

HumanityBlues

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HumanityBlues
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Heard some talk on the radio about the possibility. Let's be real, he's not going to win GOP nomination. So, do you think he should run as an independent? Do you think he could have the Nader effect?

I'm not enamored with Ron Paul or anything, but I do think it would be interesting to have him debate Obama and the eventual GOP candidate.
 
How many votes could he seriously remove? The Ronulans can't spam a voting machine.
 
HumanityBlues said:
I'm not enamored with Ron Paul or anything, but I do think it would be interesting to have him debate Obama and the eventual GOP candidate.
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Even if he were to run, which I doubt, he would not be invited to the debates. Nader was not included in the 2000 debates.
 
Brainster said:
Even if he were to run, which I doubt, he would not be invited to the debates. Nader was not included in the 2000 debates.
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At what percentage was Nader polling in 2000? You definitely could be right, but if Paul could get at 10% in the polls, he might be invited.
 
HumanityBlues said:
Heard some talk on the radio about the possibility. Let's be real, he's not going to win GOP nomination. So, do you think he should run as an independent? Do you think he could have the Nader effect?

I'm not enamored with Ron Paul or anything, but I do think it would be interesting to have him debate Obama and the eventual GOP candidate.
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I think it would be interesting to se him siphon off votes that might have gone to the Republicans. Go, Ron, go!
 
Brainster said:
Even if he were to run, which I doubt, he would not be invited to the debates. Nader was not included in the 2000 debates.
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He's being excluded from the debates anyway.

Supposedly this is Paul's last campaign and he's going to retire after this one and not run for re-election to his house seat.

So, he doesn't have anything to lose if he wants to run as an independent.

I think he should run, but if he has any such plans he will keep them under tight wraps and not even hint about that until after the Republican primaries are over.
 
I found this:

According to a IBOPE Zogby poll of 2,061 likely voters, 16 percent of voters would “likely” vote for Mr. Paul if he runs as a 3rd party candidate in the 2012

Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/artic...-a-popular-3rd-party-candidate/#ixzz1fpFd4xGV
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and this older (Nov) NBC/Wall St journal poll:

Paul would earn the support of 18 percent of voters in a three-way race with President Obama and Mitt Romney, according to the poll, with Romney earning 32 percent and Obama receiving 44.
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It is likely that RP will not win the GOP nomination and I suspect that he will then announce the 3rd party candidacy (why wouldn't he with figures like these?), so I think that there is a fair chance that he could be in the debates.

I believe that the bar for the Presidential debates is 15% across 5 national polls? If 16-18% is accurate, then he will get over that bar.
 
HumanityBlues said:
Heard some talk on the radio about the possibility. Let's be real, he's not going to win GOP nomination. So, do you think he should run as an independent? Do you think he could have the Nader effect?

I'm not enamored with Ron Paul or anything, but I do think it would be interesting to have him debate Obama and the eventual GOP candidate.
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Ron Paul has run for President as a member of the Libertarian Party in 1988. I don’t really see him going back in that direction, he became a Republican because he simply wasn’t getting any traction as a third party candidate.
 
Democracy Simulator said:
It is likely that RP will not win the GOP nomination and I suspect that he will then announce the 3rd party candidacy (why wouldn't he with figures like these?)
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Because Ron Paul is pretty much a realist about many things. He is a Republican Congressman with a very safe seat. If he torpedos the Republicans by running as a 3rd party candidate in the next election, it is quite likely the GOP will no longer allow him to run as a Republican in Texas, meaning goodbye to his safe seat. Also, he knows he can't win.

I respect Ron Paul for his straight shooting. I don't like all of his ideas, but he is no idiot. The same cannot be said for many of his truther followers.
 
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lomiller said:
Ron Paul has run for President as a member of the Libertarian Party in 1988. I don’t really see him going back in that direction, he became a Republican because he simply wasn’t getting any traction as a third party candidate.
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Became a Republican? He's been a Republican congressman since the 1970's. He switched for one year to run for President.

I hope he runs so all his supporters can bitch for the next ten years about how the election was fixed by the main stream media or something like that. They will need something to hang on to after Paul retires, I wouldn't want them to go cold turkey.
 
Tricky said:
Because Ron Paul is pretty much a realist about many things. He is a Republican Congressman with a very safe seat. If he torpedos the Republicans by running as a 3rd party candidate in the next election, it is quite likely the GOP will no longer allow him to run as a Republican in Texas, meaning goodbye to his safe seat. Also, he knows he can't win.

I respect Ron Paul for his straight shooting. I don't like all of his ideas, but he is no idiot. The same cannot be said for many of his truther followers.
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He's already said that he is not seeking re-election for Congress. I still think that if he does not get the GOP nomination that he will go 3rd party and that he may very well have enough support to get into the final debates with Romney or Gingrich and Obama. Which would be interesting, to say the least.
 
Democracy Simulator said:
He's already said that he is not seeking re-election for Congress. I still think that if he does not get the GOP nomination that he will go 3rd party and that he may very well have enough support to get into the final debates with Romney or Gingrich and Obama. Which would be interesting, to say the least.
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How much support is "enough support"? The way I understood it, the debates are run by a committee made up of representatives from the two major parties, and they simply don't allow third parties into the debates...no matter how much support they have.
 
HumanityBlues said:
Heard some talk on the radio about the possibility. Let's be real, he's not going to win GOP nomination. So, do you think he should run as an independent? Do you think he could have the Nader effect?

I'm not enamored with Ron Paul or anything, but I do think it would be interesting to have him debate Obama and the eventual GOP candidate.
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He is irrelevant either way
 
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