Lew Rockwell links to two stories, one at Politico and one at WSJ that discuss a third party run by Dr. Paul.
ABC New is reporting that the Libertarian Party is pushing for Congressman Paul to run as the Libertarian Party presidential candidate:
Paul, long a favorite of the Libertarian Party, is drawing enthusiastic support from its leaders, who are openly pushing him to consider a third party run for the White House.
“Absolutely, that would be fabulous,” said Jim Lesczynski, media relations director for the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
Lesczynski says his party agrees with Paul on most of the major issues, calling him an “ideal candidate.” ...When asked on FOX News this week if he would pledge to not run on a third party ticket, Paul coyly responded that he has “no intention” of doing so.
I was pretty sure from early on that RP would run in 2012. It's as Tom Woods phrased his question on the topic in a way to force his hand (all in good fun of course): Is there a reason you SHOULDN'T run?
ReplyDeleteThe freedom movement is gathering steam. Sure, there are a bunch of efforts to distract, like the redder than red Commies (I knew a few of those back in my college days in the 1980s). But the Fed as the ultimate target is gaining more and more traction. It's practically over when your plastic contenders call Bernanke treasonous for printing money. No one believes him, but he clearly feels he needs such make such an incendiary statement. As Dr. Paul says over and over. It's not any one person. It's the system.
Or how about dropping Mises' name as beach reading!
Back to a third party run. I believe he'll do it. He can pretty much rely on enough support to be reluctantly included in the debates. It won't matter if he doesn't win. Either other candidate will result in a completely trashed economy. Either people wise up now, and maybe the US in some salvageable form can continue, too weak to maintain an empire but still powerful enough to keep a power vacuum from forming, or the federal government completely collapses. There's not really a middle ground here.
I think he'll run. But I don't think he'll join the Big-L Libertarians. I think he'd put together his own coalition. They would be welcome to come on board as a group, but he'd be calling the shots, along with his supporters, who have the money, all the way. Along with the Constitution Party folks, and all the disaffected and de-indoctrinated (or is that un-?). They have the organization in place. He can do a better third party run than Perot, even though he had gobs of money at his disposal.
If this was up an InTrade I'd put money on it.
I believe he should keep going as is and focus on the Republican Nomination.
ReplyDeleteI am aware of the odds...however, what if there is a long-tail event (like an Oprah-like endorsement that comes out of left field). Again, long shot, but possible. That's the beauty of long-tail events, impossible to predict.
If nothing like that occurs and he doesn't get the nomination, then he MUST run third-party. He is the torchbearer of Liberty to millions and must stay in the public eye as long as humanly possible.
I am not sure how many state ballots the Libertarian party is on but that would be a huge money saver since ballot access is difficult and expensive.
ReplyDeleteWhy would Ron Paul run as the LP candidate? He is already more popular than the LP--as a Republican primary candidate in 2008, he received around 350,000 votes: 50% more than there are members in the entire LP. The LP obviously stands to gain by getting a bigger name Bob Barr (Roseanne's husband?) on their ticket, that means a ton of free publicity and RP fangirls, but Paul himself wouldn't gain anything. He'd spend a lot of his own time and his own money to get a platform no larger than what he has now. Probably much smaller.
ReplyDeleteThat is the key. Getting on the ballot is a long, difficult, and expensive process. If he takes the Republican Nomination to the wire (right up to the convention), it would be extremely difficult if not impossible, to get on the ballot in all 50 states as a third party. His best bet for a third party run would be if he lost the Republican Nomination early.
ReplyDeleteIf he did run 3rd party, I could see him poll at 40% with Romney at 20% and Obama at 40%. He'd definitely could take a huge chunk of support from Romney and a decent-sized one from Obama, too.
Breaking up the two-party system (which Paul could clearly do) might be just as important as, and lead to, ending the Federal Reserve.
If he does, I hope it doesn't result in taking out Romney (or whoever wins the primary) and letting Obama win the presidency. As much as I love Ron, I hate Obama more.
ReplyDeleteWtf?
ReplyDeleteLatest CNN poll has Ron Paul in 3rd place in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Arizona. He will probably move up to 2nd as Herman Cain goes bye bye. Why the hell is anyone focusing on a 3rd party ticket
He's in the perfect spot. He's not on top where there's still 2 months to the Iowa Caucuses, but he's not far behind to where he can't make a move. He has plenty of cash to burn
Ron should not be leaving the door open and tell the republican voters he's there man. If they think he will jump ship they may be hesitant to vote for him
Not to mention its difficult getting into the debates and on the ballots. Plus, don't a few states have sore-loser laws? Meaning he can't switch parties whenever he feels like it?
+1 Chris; this sounds more like something the RNC would like him to do. Ron needs to keep on just doing what he's doing, offering a choice between DC as usual or solutions to issues
ReplyDeleteThere is a push withing the GOP and MSM to winny down the field of candiates to Romney and ( insert god fearing neo-con name here).. draw your own conclusions as to why. I can guarantee you the GOP doesnt want a Paul third party run..
ReplyDeleteI hope that IF Dr. Paul doesn't win the Republican nomination that he will seriously consider running as an independent. And if the Libertarian and Constitution parties are serious about their platforms, they'll both endorse Dr. Paul as their nominee as well.
ReplyDelete