Do we want Romney and Thompson to drop out, or to stay?

[AggieforPaul]

On one hand, the more neo-cons, the more diluted the pro-war vote. On the other hand, the fewer there are, the more attention RP gets. What's ideal here?

[kushaze]

I think we need Thompson to drop out and Romney to stay in. Romney is more like Giuliani and would dilute that vote. Besides his views on foreign policy and some civil liberty issues, Thompson is the most like Dr. Paul and I know some of his supporters would support Ron Paul.

[Mitt Romneys sideburns]

We want as many people as possible to stay and dilute the votes.

[eric_cartman]

We want as many people as possible to stay and dilute the votes.

i agree. the main issue is the war. ron paul is anti-war. everyone else is pro-war. that's what the election will come down to unfortunately (even though monetary policy should be the big issue). so ya, we need to dilute the pro-war votes so that ron paul will stand out as the anti-war guy, getting 100% of the republican anti-war vote.

[john_anderson_ii]

Romney isn't going anywhere until after Super Tuesday at least.

[hueylong]

Thompson is probably gone after NH no matter what. That said -- we want as many to stay in as possible to dilute the anti-war vote, and to make it harder for one of the other candidates to 'break out' as a front-runner.

The longer this goes on, the better for us.

[Micahyah]

we need them to stay.

I think Thompson's last stand will be SC. If he doesn't win there he'll drop out and endorse McCain.

The fact that there is no frontrunner on our side is good.

[FreedomProsperityPeace]

I want them to drop out. More air time for Ron Paul to contrast himself from the others and to get his message across. Dr. Paul can go toe-to-toe with any of these guys, and will take voters away from them if given a chance.

[j6p]

Dilute the delegates too

[Eponym_mi]

Yes, we want them all in for as long as possible. But we need delegates!!

[politicus]

The sooner they drop out the better. Thompson's out after New Hampshire. Giuliani's next, then McCain, finally Huckabee. It will come down to Paul vs. Romney.

Then we can focus on the Democrats who want "Change".

[Yom]

We can't just win a plurality, we need 50% of the delegates +1. The dilution is helpful early on, but we want the field to eventually narrow down somewhat to get him more exposure and more delegates.