What Actually Needs to be Done for Ron to Head the Libertarian ticket?

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Let's say that Ron decides he wants to go third party and accept the Libertarian Party's invitation to head their ticket for the Presidency, what legal or logistical hurdles will he have to clear? What actually needs to take place to get him on the ballot? Do signatures need to be gathered?

(And before anyone throws out the old bullshit line about "third parties can't win" keep in mind that Perot got 19 million votes in 1992 and could have won the Presidency had he not dropped out and had a meltdown.)

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Anyone?

[newbitech]

we should start thinking about this if for no other reason than the party has given Dr. Paul carte blanche support and will rally to his flag.

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Absolutely. They already have a party in place, and would surely welcome the addition of a few million new members and tens of millions of dollars!!!!!!!! :)

[Mogwai]

Perot wasn't running on a party ballot, but as independent. In 96 he was running on the Reform ballot, but got a lot less votes.

I think the best thing is to run as an independent with Congressman Dennis Kucinich and ask the libertarian party to endorse them. This coalition will attract the democratic and republican party and independents. They should run as the anti-war choice and to get rid of the influence of big corporations in Washington. I think the fundamental difference between Kucinich and Paul is health care and Paul should compromise for a non for profit health care system which is the best alternative to a true free-market health care system.

[rollingpig]

Ron has no intension of running as an independent

[Mogwai]

Did he say that after coming fifth in New Hampshire?

[LukeNM]

Not going to happen -- thread closed!

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Not going to happen !


Wanna bet?

[Karsten]

Ron has no intension of running as an independent

We're talking about the Libertarian Party, not indpendent.

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Perot wasn't running on a party ballot, but as independent. In 96 he was running on the Reform ballot, but got a lot less votes.

I think the best thing is to run as an independent with Congressman Dennis Kucinich and ask the libertarian party to endorse them.

What is the difference between running independent and Libertarian? Voters can vote for anyone they want in the presidential elections, right? Would a party be helpful in gathering the signatures needed?

[Mogwai]

He will get the anti-war vote (at least half of the 70% of the americans who want to out of Iraq) and when he gets Kucinich as VP he will get lots of Democrats. If America wants CHANGE, a third party winning presidency is a huge change.

[RonPaulVolunteer]

Ron WILL be in the general election, that is a given. Either as the Rep nominee or on the Libertarian nominee. No doubt about it.

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[RonPaulVolunteer]

I wonder about John Edwards as VP... THAT would get the Dems!!

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[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Maybe Bill Richardson? He and Ron are friendly and share views on foreign policy.

[Mogwai]

What is the difference between running independent and Libertarian? Voters can vote for anyone they want in the presidential elections, right? Would a party be helpful in gathering the signatures needed?

I don't know about how getting on the ballot works. But when you think Ron Paul will have enough votes to win, he should have no problems getting on the ballot :p.

[Mogwai]

Maybe Bill Richardson? He and Ron are friendly and share views on foreign policy.

During the ABC debate Richardson said that he would form a cabinet with Democrats and Republicans. So he would probably accept VP if he doesn't agree with the democratic nominee. But I think Kucinich would be a better choice. Edwards would attract lots of democrats, but he wouldn't accept it.

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

I like Dennis but I worry a little that he might be seen as kooky. The UFO thing makes it easy for people to dismiss him rather than actually listen to his ideas. But yeah, maybe.

Ron and Dennis would have to sit down and talk and see if they share enough in common for a ticket. Certainly foreign policy and civil liberties are issues to rally around.

[trey4sports]

kucinich wouldnt work, imagine the medias spin, "a racist and a UFO cook make a bid to end american supremacy"

John Edwards will be on the dem ticket as the VP. thats a given.

who knows maybe we can get the good judge to team up with the good doctor

[Mogwai]

kucinich wouldnt work, imagine the medias spin, "a racist and a UFO cook make a bid to end american supremacy"

John Edwards will be on the dem ticket as the VP. thats a given.

who knows maybe we can get the good judge to team up with the good doctor

UFO's are real :rolleyes:. I like Judge Napolitano, but would he also attract votes from the democrats? An independent run needs a broad base to win, so a democratic VP would be the best option in my humble opinion.

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Ron himself can attract a lot of Dems with his antiwar and pro-freedom views.

[Mark Rushmore]

"a racist and a UFO cook make a bid to end american supremacy"

That's one I'd gladly pay the ten dollars to see in the theater.

[stevedasbach]

Let's say that Ron decides he wants to go third party and accept the Libertarian Party's invitation to head their ticket for the Presidency, what legal or logistical hurdles will he have to clear? What actually needs to take place to get him on the ballot? Do signatures need to be gathered?

(And before anyone throws out the old bullshit line about "third parties can't win" keep in mind that Perot got 19 million votes in 1992 and could have won the Presidency had he not dropped out and had a meltdown.)

He doesn't need to do anything now. The convention is in late May. The LP pursues ballot access on its own -- should be on over 40 states no matter who the candidate is. Several tough states don't come up until after the convention.

Oklahoma is always a problem -- needs lots if signatures and the deadline is in early June (unless it's changed in the past few years). It's a very tough drive. There should be enough time to gear up and get the rest of the tough states done.

There are a few states with sore loser laws, but I'm pretty sure ballot law expert Richard Winger has said he believes they will not withstand constitutional challenge.

Bottom line -- Paul doesn't have to change course anytime soon. He has time to play out his strategy in the Republican primary before he needs to consider another path.

[Taco John]

Remember: Ross Perot was WINNING until he mysteriously dropped out of the race. He was ahead at that time. For whatever reason he dropped out (I'll leave that up to you to speculate), when he got back in, he was instantly at like 9%. He then managed to pull enough from Bush to raise his total to 19% at the time of the general.

[Taco John]

He doesn't need to do anything now. The convention is in late May. The LP pursues ballot access on its own -- should be on over 40 states no matter who the candidate is. Several tough states don't come up until after the convention.

Oklahoma is always a problem -- needs lots if signatures and the deadline is in early June (unless it's changed in the past few years). It's a very tough drive. There should be enough time to gear up and get the rest of the tough states done.

There are a few states with sore loser laws, but I'm pretty sure ballot law expert Richard Winger has said he believes they will not withstand constitutional challenge.

Bottom line -- Paul doesn't have to change course anytime soon. He has time to play out his strategy in the Republican primary before he needs to consider another path.


The real question is, how many losses can Paul take in these primaries and remain politically viable? Can he really come in 5th place in all of these, and then jump tickets and convince people to switch streams?

I'm skeptical of that.

[jenninlouisiana]

I wonder about John Edwards as VP... THAT would get the Dems!!. John "I became a millionaire by suing people" Edwards? I wouldn't vote for Paul if that happened because that would mean Paul sold his soul to the devil....

[John P Slevin]

The LP can nominate Paul at its' convention, in May, in Denver. Anyone wishing to join the Libertarian Party can learn the delegate rules from the party website at http://www.lp.org

The LP clearly would nominate Paul, and it is a logical way for him to go, but he doesn't have to exclusively go with the LP. He can accept other party nominations as well, and he always can go independent.

In fact, in many states, the ballot access laws favor him going independent. Some states make it easier to get on the ballot.

As for sigs, each of the minor parties has ballot status in some states, and must petition in others.

Main obstacle is court fights by the R's and maybe also some D's to keep him off the ballot.

[MayTheRonBeWithYou]

Well we've got the people and the money to do this.

[MN Patriot]

Let's say that Ron decides he wants to go third party and accept the Libertarian Party's invitation to head their ticket for the Presidency, what legal or logistical hurdles will he have to clear? What actually needs to take place to get him on the ballot? Do signatures need to be gathered?

(And before anyone throws out the old bullshit line about "third parties can't win" keep in mind that Perot got 19 million votes in 1992 and could have won the Presidency had he not dropped out and had a meltdown.)

Every state is different. some require tens of thousands of signatures collected over a certain period. Some already have ballot access from previous elections that met a certain threshold.

In Minnesota there is a two week period where you need to collect 2000 signatures in a two week period, not hard at all for statewide offices. But congressional candidates need to collect 1000 signatures, considerably harder since they have to be in that district. It might have changed since I was involved with the LP.

I strongly believe Ron should run for the LP, and have the LP run a candidate in EVERY congressional district, plus senate elections, governors, etc. Flood the races with Libertarians, all running decent campaigns so that the message keeps getting out there.