Dr. Paul's current party affiliation?

[MattRay]

It's a very trivial matter, but it did make me a bit curious whether this information from the Washington Times was accurate as of July 2015. I know he's said he remained a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party even after rejoining the GOP, but this seems to imply he now has no more involvement with the GOP. I'd have thought he might have stayed to support Rand, but then again Texas has an open primary.

"And a lot of people find him sort of funny, and love him, even Libertarian types," Mr. Paul, who is now a registered Libertarian, lamented on Fox News Radio.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/16/ron-paul-calls-donald-trump-a-dangerous-authoritar/

[scm]

I wouldn't be surprised if he registered as a libertarian again, he only reason he was with the GOP because it helped him spread the message of liberty.

I think the better question would be. Does anyone really know what Donald THUMP is registered as? He is a DEMONkRAT after all.

[MattRay]

Yeah, it doesn't surprise me because it's pretty obvious parties came to just be an election vehicle for him. He recalled Larry McDonald telling him to run with whatever party could help him get elected. Of course, Dr. Paul has generally always been an advocate of 3rd parties in general. In particular, even though he clearly hasn't been very happy with recent LP candidates, he has suggested voting for the party rather than the individual as a vote for the NAP. Dr. Paul did seem to think it was a worthy cause to try to build the LP from '87-'91, and I think initially stopped appearing on their behalf because good opportunities arose within the GOP to get his message out, such as the Pat Buchanan coalition followed by a return to Congress. He really has tried all kinds of strategies and vehicles to get his message out there, but what's so great is that it's been the exact same message no matter the strategy, party, outlet etc.

As for Trump, he has been a Republican most of his life except for when he became a Democrat during the Bush years and when he was with the Reform Party from '99-2000 to campaign for their presidential nominee. Back then, he was pretty much selling himself as a business-oriented, populist centrist just like Ross Perot, which made sense because he was in Perot's party. That's actually pretty much still who Trump is, except he's made a point of trying to appeal more to Republican base voters. But it hasn't been as dramatic a shift as the one Rudy Giuliani made to try to appeal to GOP primary voters. Trump has basically been the same business-oriented, populist outsider, except he took a pro-life position(and even when he was pro-choice, he still said abortion made him uncomfortable) and his rhetoric has just taken on a bit more of a right wing tone. Trump did lean more towards Republicans even when he was in a 3rd party, except for his inexplicable support for single-payer, universal healthcare.