This is so serious, that RP may need to consider 3rd party

[max]

Not to sound pessimistic, but this nonsense of states suddenly closing their primaries with just 2 weeks notice is SERIOUS!

A mad rush to get enough Dems and Indy's switched over within the next 7 days isnt going to happen folks...to say nothing of the future Independent voters who havent heard of RP yet

If Independents are shut out in enough states.....we got problems! I'm so mad at these gangsters right now I could spit!

Let's keep working our butts off...but if these last minute rule changes prove too much to overcome...then I sure hope RP will reconsider his position to rule out 3rd party....people are flat out being denied a chance to vote for him.

I hope RP will realize that if he is to lose, he should lose fairly....not because of this crap...read this


http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/10/states-closing-primaries-to-republicans.html

[paulitics]

or we can in a civilized manner, persuade the state board of elections to be reaonable folks, and push back the deadline to a more reasonable date. Even an extra 30 to 60 days can make a huge difference.

I agree that this is serious, and if NH gets away with it, you will see alot more sates following their lead in the next few weeks.

[risiusj]

Yes, it sucks.
However, there are still tens of millions of unregistered, untapped voters out there.
Keep chopping away.

[theseus51]

He has said over and over that the system is very unfair to 3rd parties. Plus you have to spend all your time getting on ballots. He has said numerous times that he will not run as a 3rd party.

[scubasteve01]

The last time an independent won was.... NEVER!

He only has a chance as a Republican.

[Perry]

I think if it got too far out of hand Paul would reconsider running on a third party ticket. He's good at thinking on his feet. It would have to get pretty bad however before his chances as a third party candidate would improve his odds at winning the election.

[max]

or we can in a civilized manner, persuade the state board of elections to be reaonable folks, and push back the deadline to a more reasonable date. Even an extra 30 to 60 days can make a huge difference.

I agree that this is serious, and if NH gets away with it, you will see alot more sates following their lead in the next few weeks.

The problem with switching over is that it's hard enough to get people to go to the polls, let alone fill out a form in time...months in advance.

The problem with any deadline is that most voters dont decide until final week of campaign....so its asking a bit much for someone who isnt already an RP supporter to switch now...or even next month...

they stickin it up our butts real good...here in NJ, 50% of voters are registered Independent..if we lose them as potential voters, no way the existing Rudy base of GOP stalwarts is gonna win us NJ..

Without Independents, we are left with a base of GOP morons like that servile bunch that cheered for Rudy in South Carolina when he attacked RP's patriotism...

To compensate, RP needs to focus on other themes besides the anti-war....to win these pro-war GOP people, he should focus on taxes and immigration

[max]

The last time an independent won was.... NEVER!

He only has a chance as a Republican.

Ross Perot was actually leading in the polls before he flaked out in 1992...If it's Rudy vs Hilary....believe me, the people will be begging for a third party..

dont get me wrong...I'm not throwing in the towel by any means.....but the shutting out of Independents is a huge punch to the gut...let's not kid ourselves

[Ozwest]

As I understand it the Democrats require registration in New Hampshire, The Independents are O.K... Am I correct?

[max]

As I understand it the Democrats require registration in New Hampshire, The Independents are O.K... Am I correct?

thats how it always was..but here's what i read at gambling.com

As of this moment, in New Hampshire you may be registered as an Independent and still vote for Ron Paul. Not so in New York. In New York you must be a registered Republican by October 12, to vote for Ron Paul (Independents cannot vote in the primaries at all). However, for those of you in New Hampshire reading this, I wouldn't trust that come election day the rules won't have been changed on you again.

[jgmaynard]

The date moving up in NH will affect Ds only - undeclareds can still vote in either primary day of the election here. I know, I'm an undeclared NH voter and have been doing so every other year for the last 20 years :O)

JM

[4Horsemen]

RP will ride this horse until it throws him off. If he feels like he's got the support, I wouldn't be suprised to see him go independent. Don't think for a second that people aren't sick of the 2 party system.

[Johncjackson]

Republicans already want to keep him out of debates and MSM ignores him now. If he ran as a 3rd party, his momentum would be lost. No debates. Little media. Lower fundrasing. And the BEST hope would be Nader ( 2000) type numbers. Probably somewhere in between Ed Clark 1980 and Nader 2000 results, IMHO.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

why third party? we can't convince republicans to vote for him? lol

[max]

Republicans already want to keep him out of debates and MSM ignores him now. If he ran as a 3rd party, his momentum would be lost. No debates. Little media. Lower fundrasing. And the BEST hope would be Nader ( 2000) type numbers. Probably somewhere in between Ed Clark 1980 and Nader 2000 results, IMHO.

UNLESS...he were to raise 50 Million bucks...money talks with MSM

[erowe1]

The last time an independent won was.... NEVER!

He only has a chance as a Republican.

This is not true. Abraham Lincoln won as a third party candidate when the Republican party was a third party.

Also Woodrow Wilson won with a pretty small minority of the vote because it was a 3 or 4 way race that year. Granted, he was in a major party, but at that time the Democratic party was in the doghouse nationally.

Those two presidents won because the votes that were to go to the dominant party were split. And they are two of the most impactful presidents ever (for better or for worse). The same thing could happen again in a four way race with Hillary, Giuliani, Bloomberg, and Paul. Paul could win that with only a third of the votes and be similarly impactful. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

And of course Paul says he won't run as a third party candidate. He has to say that! He's trying to get the GOP nomination. That doesn't mean he won't change his mind if he fails to do that.

[paulitics]

The date moving up in NH will affect Ds only - undeclareds can still vote in either primary day of the election here. I know, I'm an undeclared NH voter and have been doing so every other year for the last 20 years :O)

JM

Is this OCT 12th deadline out of the ordinary, or is always this short notice?

[TooConservative]

I think Perot spent $60 million. And he could have won except for flaking out and dropping out for a while because he said some Republican dirty tricksters took naughty lesbo photos of his daughter and were threatening to release them just when she got married.

Anyway. Dr. No says no third-party run. He says the system is too structured for anyone but a billionaire to win it at present.

So third-party isn't really an option. Unless Giuliani is the GOP nominee and all the leaders of the Religious Right commit to supporting the CP candidate which they are discussing. And the CP and the LP have already indicated they'd run Ron Paul as a dual-party candidate. Toss in the Religious Right vote, you'd maybe have a chance. A real longshot still.

[speciallyblend]

If anything we should maybe email all this press and stuff to the unity project and let them hopefully see the biased and have them put him on the ticket ,we need to watch all the shows today if possible and hold everyone accountable period

A CALL TO ARMS with the pen

[TheIndependent]

If he said this early that he'd run third-party, this would happen:

1. The opposition would have used it to marginalize and undermine his comment that he stands for true conservatism in the Republican Party.

2. He would have been further perceived as a 'kook' (not my opinion obviously)

Now, a problem with a third party run is, as he's said, getting on the ballot. That's where most of his LP funds went in '88. However, this run is MUCH higher-profile, but if he ran 3rd he'd also have to contend with states that didn't have him on the ballot.

[Nash]

The problem with switching over is that it's hard enough to get people to go to the polls, let alone fill out a form in time...months in advance.

The problem with any deadline is that most voters dont decide until final week of campaign....so its asking a bit much for someone who isnt already an RP supporter to switch now...or even next month...

they stickin it up our butts real good...here in NJ, 50% of voters are registered Independent..if we lose them as potential voters, no way the existing Rudy base of GOP stalwarts is gonna win us NJ..

Without Independents, we are left with a base of GOP morons like that servile bunch that cheered for Rudy in South Carolina when he attacked RP's patriotism...

To compensate, RP needs to focus on other themes besides the anti-war....to win these pro-war GOP people, he should focus on taxes and immigration


Just keep repeating this mantra: Ron Paul is the only conservative who can beat Hilary Clinton. Say it over and over and over to every Republican you know. They'll eventually start paying attention.

[devil21]

Has anyone checked into whether this is actually legal for NH to do? A lawsuit and injunction would stop these changes. Anybody in NH talked to an attorney?

[paulitics]

why third party? we can't convince republicans to vote for him? lol


We can't convince enough registered GOP, because its not his strongest voting block.
His strongest voting block are independents and libertarian, folowed by alienated GOP and DEM. I beleive combined its the biggest yet fairly dormant demographic in this country right now. Just look at the president and congress's approval record at historical lows, this should tell you something. The problem is 75% don't know what to do, to vote and have not heard the message yet.

[speciallyblend]

Unity Project doesnt need HQ,if we just get supporters to join and nominate him,then we have the unity ticket and all the ballot access ,that they say they will pay for.Just a thought

[michaelwise]

How should Independents and disenfranchised voters vote, if the fail to switch parties on time? Should they write in Ron Paul, or vote for someone other than top tier?

[Ozwest]

thats how it always was..but here's what i read at gambling.com

As of this moment, in New Hampshire you may be registered as an Independent and still vote for Ron Paul. Not so in New York. In New York you must be a registered Republican by October 12, to vote for Ron Paul (Independents cannot vote in the primaries at all). However, for those of you in New Hampshire reading this, I wouldn't trust that come election day the rules won't have been changed on you again.

This is how I understood it. New Hampshire is our Waterloo... Time to roll up the sleeves, physically and financially. The money raised thus far is soon to be released, raising spirits... Balls of magnificent steel are now required.

[RevolutionSD]

We need to push as hard as we can to win the GOP. That's our #1 goal no matter what, until the primaries are all said and done.
But if he does not win, we already have enough support (& even money!) to draft him to run as an independent in the general election.

This is a win-win, let's do everything humanly possible and our efforts will pay off one way or another!

[EvilEngineer]

or we can in a civilized manner, persuade the state board of elections to be reaonable folks, and push back the deadline to a more reasonable date. Even an extra 30 to 60 days can make a huge difference.

I agree that this is serious, and if NH gets away with it, you will see alot more sates following their lead in the next few weeks.

I might not be willing to be "civil" about this. Those that find them selves pushing for these closings might find them selves roasting over a pit of hot coals... either in this life or the next.

[Taco John]

Get it through your head... Ron Paul is running for the Republican nomination.

Say it again and again and again if you have to. Quit this third party talk nonsense. It's NOT going to happen. And if it does happen, it won't be until AFTER September 2008.

FOCUS ON THE PRIZE: The Republican Nomination.

[zahirakids]

Not to sound pessimistic, but this nonsense of states suddenly closing their primaries with just 2 weeks notice is SERIOUS!

A mad rush to get enough Dems and Indy's switched over within the next 7 days isnt going to happen folks...to say nothing of the future Independent voters who havent heard of RP yet

If Independents are shut out in enough states.....we got problems! I'm so mad at these gangsters right now I could spit!

Let's keep working our butts off...but if these last minute rule changes prove too much to overcome...then I sure hope RP will reconsider his position to rule out 3rd party....people are flat out being denied a chance to vote for him.

I hope RP will realize that if he is to lose, he should lose fairly....not because of this crap...read this

I believe that in NH only democrats will be stopped from voting in the GOP primary. Independents will still be able to vote.


http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/10/states-closing-primaries-to-republicans.html


I believe that in NH only democrats will be stopped from voting in the GOP primary. Independents will still be able to vote.

[FreedomLover]

How many votes were you expecting from democrats?

[Man from La Mancha]

I think Perot spent $60 million. And he could have won except for flaking out and dropping out for a while because he said some Republican dirty tricksters took naughty lesbo photos of his daughter and were threatening to release them just when she got married.

Anyway. Dr. No says no third-party run. He says the system is too structured for anyone but a billionaire to win it at present.

So third-party isn't really an option. Unless Giuliani is the GOP nominee and all the leaders of the Religious Right commit to supporting the CP candidate which they are discussing. And the CP and the LP have already indicated they'd run Ron Paul as a dual-party candidate. Toss in the Religious Right vote, you'd maybe have a chance. A real longshot still.

$100 x 10 million people = $1 billion

doable

:D

[Bison]

Regardless of wether or not Ron Paul runs in a third party at some later date, we all should be involved with and vote for third parties on a local level. Thats where we can have the most influence right now, so that we can build a viable third party to be reckoned with in the big elections.

Ron Paul can't do it alone we will need to send him some people he can work with. Send him Libertarians or Constitution Party candidates. The two major parties are worthless.

[torchbearer]

He has said over and over that the system is very unfair to 3rd parties. Plus you have to spend all your time getting on ballots. He has said numerous times that he will not run as a 3rd party.

the libertarian party already has access for 48 states, if Ron paul went with the libertarian party, he wouldn't need to spend anytime worrying about ballot access. This is why we have maintained the libertarian party's strength... to give access to a libertarian candidate.

[Man from La Mancha]

the libertarian party already has access for 48 states, if Ron paul went with the libertarian party, he wouldn't need to spend anytime worrying about ballot access. This is why we have maintained the libertarian party's strength... to give access to a libertarian candidate.

Beautiful. That and mucho funds and the army of supporters = unbeatable:D

.

[tekkierich]

The last time an independent won was.... NEVER!

He only has a chance as a Republican.

Actually it was George Washington ;-)

[Man from La Mancha]

Actually it was George Washington ;-)

LOL and this is the New Revolution.

.

[MGreen]

The only way Paul would go 3rd party, I think, is if he won the majority of primary votes but lost the delegate votes at the convention. There would be tremendous uproar and I think enough support to get Paul to continue on.

But let's not think about what ifs. Let's stick to the original plan, no matter how hard it might get.