Thoughts on the 3rd party option

[JojobaJunebug]

While I still hope we can get Ron the Republican nomination, I think we also need to start thinking about what to do if he doesn't. Right now Ron has made it clear he is not interested in a third party run but he has left the door open just enough for a good argument to change his mind.

So first off, what are some reasons that Ron should/shouldn't run third party if he doesn't get the Republican nod?

If he does run, on what ticket should that be? Although I have been a Libertarian party member for over 30 years I'm not sure that's the best choice. Clearly he has strong support among Independents right now, I'm and not sure that all of these people would support him under a Libertarian banner.

Philosophically I'd like to see him run totally as an independent, but there are severe logistical problems to this approach. While the Libertarian party already has guaranteed ballot access in at least half the states, a totally independent candidate would have to start from scratch. Back in '88 when Ron ran as the Libertarian Party candidate the LP had less states with ballot access and Ron spent most of the cash he raised just getting on the ballot rather than spreading his message. We are not a true democracy. The system is rigged against 3rd party candidates in general.

One possible way around this dilemma would be a multi-party run. I'm sure the Constitution Party would support him but I'm less sure about the others. It will take a lot of work and coordination to get at least 3 parties to run him on their ticket and I think that's the minimum needed for this approach.

I'm not suggesting we spend a lot of time talking about this now, but I hope that people will start to kick some of these thoughts around in the back of their mind so that if it does become necessary we will have our intellectual ammunition stockpiled for the shoot-out :-)

June

[Johncjackson]

Rand Paul should run Independent.

[shadowhooch]

If you can't win or come close to winning the Republican nomination (which is the MINORITY party right now), it is pretty pointless to run as an Independent.

The only purpose would be to get the ideas out. Other than that, it is a waste of time.

[rdenner]

No No this is a VERY interesting idea.

I'll have to do some digging to get the real numbers but let's gestimate a little bit.

Libertarians captured about 1 or 2% of the vote with a relative NO BODY at the helm.

Constitution party I think grabbed about 1% of the vote with a No body at the helm.

Green Party is to much of a stretch to consider but you never know(another 1 or 2%).

Reform party

gaaackkk The Nazi Party.

And several others.

Individually these parties may only have access on a few ballots but combined they may have all 50 states accessed ALREADY.

All of them garner less than 1% of the vote, COMBINED THEY GARNER A BASELINE OF AROUND 5 to 6% with UNKNOWNS AT THE HELM and no money.

Bring Ron Paul into these parties and you have money and name recognition and ballot access..

Just throwing it out there.

Robert

[mtmedlin]

If he doesnt take New Hampshire or S Carolina the I think he should drop out so that the states that do have sore loser laws cannot penalize him because he didnt compete in their state as a Republican. I really think that he, along with Judge Napolitano would make a very interesting third party run. I wouldnt doubt that Nader runs and possible takes Kucinich as a VP. and then there is Bloomberg. IF it turns out to be a five way fight, this election could make history and really open up the debate in America about how fed up we are with a two party system.

[CelestialRender]

My prediction is that RP will be the Republican, Constitution, Libertarian, and Reform nominee for President. Hopefully.

Failing that, I still think the last 3 will happen. But let's not hype this; the MSM wants so badly to say that he's just gonna be a kingmaker for the Democrats.

[CelestialRender]

If he doesnt take New Hampshire or S Carolina the I think he should drop out so that the states that do have sore loser laws cannot penalize him because he didnt compete in their state as a Republican. I really think that he, along with Judge Napolitano would make a very interesting third party run. I wouldnt doubt that Nader runs and possible takes Kucinich as a VP. and then there is Bloomberg. IF it turns out to be a five way fight, this election could make history and really open up the debate in America about how fed up we are with a two party system.

Agreed. I don't like Kucinich/Nader so much, and certainly not Bloomberg, but it does create an interesting scenario.

[curtisag]

He should run for President on a 3rd party to punish the neo-cons and destroy any chance they have of winning the Presidency. If that means a Demo wins, so be it. I'm so angry at neo-cons right now I don't care.

[JenH88]

If Ron Paul doesn't get the Republican nomination (which with the people making the decision I highly doubt he'll get it- not negative, just realistic)

However, Ron Paul has left the "backdoor" open for him to run as a third party candidate.. with all the support we have Ron Paul would HAVE to continue on if we tell him he must!

If he is a true patriot (which we know he is) and his word rings true (which we know it does)- the cause will be more important to him than "winning", spreading freedom is "winning"- whether it's under the Republican name or another.

[RoyalShock]

According to the Constitution Party, their membership ranks 3rd behind the GOP and Dems.

Chuck Baldwin was their VP candidate in '04.

http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_history.php

[RoyalShock]

From the CP website:


NUMBERS
The CP is the third largest political party in terms of voter registration. There are 367,000 registered Constitution Party voters. (This number does not take into account the many states which do not tally voter registrations by party. In addition, hundreds of thousands of voters registered with other parties have chosen to vote for Constitution Party candidates at the national, state and local levels.)

[Alex Libman]

I will be very upset if Ron Paul DOESN'T continue the campaign as an independent candidate! I'm sure he'd get Libertarian, Constitution, and Reform endorsements, as well as smaller parties like the Independence Party of MN that was created by Jesse Ventura. He might even get Ross Perot and Ralph Nader's endorsement, and even the Green Party could endorse him if he promises to push Instant Runoff Voting or something similar!

I think the right time to do this is after "Super Duper Tuesday" (Feb 5th). I also think he should only concentrate on the states he can win - Alaska, in and around Wyoming, and especially New Hampshire! Putting a third color on the map and getting some electoral votes would be a huge accomplishment, a huge boost for local efforts like the Free State Project / Alaska Independence Party / Free State Wyoming (please Google all those), and it would definitely put fear into the two-party duopoly puppet-masters for 2012!

[paulitics]

The only purpose would be to get the ideas out. Other than that, it is a waste of time.

And injecting ideas into the mainstream is most important. A win has always been a long shot, My biggest gripe is that the campaign is not marketing the right message. Our country is in a constitutional crisis, and the message has been diverted into other areas that do not focus on our Bill of RIghts being eradicated. If the message that people are picking up is that we need to eliminate the DPT of ED, H.S, F.B.I, C.I.A, etc, without eplanation, he will not cross over. The idea of eliminating all federal tax without replacing it with anything sounds like a pipe dream to most people, and discredits otherwise sound principals.