Who would a Ron Paul 3rd party run hurt the most?

[B2G]

Us or them? I'm really wondering how much of the young vote, disillusioned he could siphon off...support that went to Obama in 2008.

[justiceischeap]

1. I think Ron Paul would be like Ross Perot and hurt the incumbent

I think, historically, 3rd party candidates always seem to hurt the incumbent.

[wyldwolf]

33. Every statistic from the '92 election showed Perot hurting Bush and Clinton equally.

Further, Clinton would have still won the electoral college without Perot in the race.

[banned from Kos]

2. Ron Paul running as the Libertarian would assure Obama's reelection.

He would cost the GOP 5-6 million votes.

[justiceischeap]

3. Yet, you're not taking into consideration the Independent voters

who, last time voted for Obama, may instead vote for Paul, leaving a closer race between Dems & Repubs. For example, Ron Paul could take a swing state from Obama that he will desperately need in the upcoming election. You can't automatically assume that Paul as a 3rd party candidate will reassure Obama's reelection. The President doesn't win by majority vote but by the points from the electoral college.

[B2G]

6. Exactly

And he has a cult like following on campuses these days. These are kids who voted for Obama last time around.

[txlibdem]

10. He's the only one calling to dismantle the Fed

I think that's his only appeal (to me at least).

[banned from Kos]

15. Yes - he is stuck in the 19th century. Every modern economny has a central bank.

The Fed will be here permanently.

[txlibdem]

30. The Fed is *not* a central bank - secret $7 Trillion is graft

North Dakota has the right idea: a state bank to keep state money in, loan to state and local agencies, businesses and individuals: all profits go back to the ND coffers.

[banned from Kos]

36. What???

"A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on printing the national currency, which usually serves as the nation's legal tender.[1][2] Examples include the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve of the United States, and the People's Bank of China."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank

[DCKit]

37. The Fed is owned by the banksters, not the peoples.

That's how and why everything went off the rails.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Few kids who voted for Obama last time are still on campuses

since they're 22 or older (yeah, there are some, but a small part of the whole student body). And once his views on abortion and education funding get a general airing, most students will reject him. The right wing students are OK with those; centrist and left wing ones won't be.

[roguevalley]

24. none of us are taking account of his numbers under real scrutiny. racist nazi views

Will doom him.

[unionworks]

4. Ron Paul is an ugly rethug troll

...as are his followers

[Marnie]

29. Not really. He is a libertarian.

He wants as little governmental control as possible.

In a heavily populated, highly interdependent social/economic complex, the virtually absolute freedom he wants are the definition of anarchy.

He would come off very badly in nation wide debates that would include more than the Teepeeers who are allowed to attend, and who mostly watch the Reponazi debates.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I think it would most hurt the people who vote for him

and then the GOP.

But I feel genuinely sorry for the people Ron Paul has attracted to his candidacy. It's almost a cult. The man is nuts but manages to convince mostly young gullible voters that he is the miracle America has been waiting for.

[SixthSense]

7. the GOP nominee for sure

Paul represents a faction of the GOP that only grudgingly went along with the rest of the party in the past - it's similar to what happened with Ross Perot. That was the revolt from the first Bush. Ron Paul represents the even deeper split that resulted from 8 years of the second - there's virtually zero areas of agreement between a libertarian and a neo-con. With the right split... things would have to be pretty bad for Obama not to walk out of that with an easy win.

[Skink]

8. Is he even on the ballot in most states?

[banned from Kos]

13. The Libertarian Party is - Gary Johnson may go for it. Their convention is in May.

They select then. By then Ron Paul will be is third place.

He can go LP or maybe force a brokered GOP Convention.

[B2G]

16. Not sure but he was on 46 of them in 1988

Enough to do serious damage this time around.

[JoePhilly]

9. If all they care about is the legalization of pot, then he draws from us ...

If they care anything about broader domestic policy, the youth who voted for Obama won't touch Paul with a 50 foot poll.

[Wait Wut]

11. The young voters need more information if they're considering voting for Paul.

Unfortunately, young voters can think in a vacuum and will only listen to each other. I've asked our county Democratic Party to approach the Young Democrats here and they just sighed. "We're too old. They don't want to have anything to do with us."

I had the same attitude, way, way back then in the stone age. I felt that anyone over 30 was out of touch and a sell out. The internet is a good place to start the discussion since they can't see how old we are.

I have faith that any young person that is given the info on Paul will come around. Most of the Paul supporters I know are pretty conservative, so I'd have to go with he'd hurt the GOP more.

[DCKit]

38. Then let us please wait until Paul is nominated...

THEN we can inform those younger voters.

[Zorra]

12. He's a total right winger. It would be the clincher for us if he ran. nt

[Richard D]

14. It's astounding how many (former) . .

. . . liberals I know who are supporting Paul. I think a lot of it has to do with his idea to decriminalize drug use though.

[B2G]

17. That and his foreign policy

or lack thereof.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. The

Forty-somethings and fifty-somethings I've had the displeasure of coming into contact with voted as follows:
Bush / Cheney 2000
Bush / Cheney 2004
McCain / Palin 2008

I say the Republicans who hated admitting they voted that way the past three elections. One, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving told me she hated Bush and Obama - they were one and the same. Got really pissed when I pointed out well "Someone voted for Bush twice and it wasn't liberals and progressives so there must have been a difference."


She didn't like that. Didn't like it one bit.

[LuvNewcastle]

19. He would hurt them more.

Ron Paul would be irresistible to the libertarians, and they make up a good-sized chunk of the GOP electorate. He would hurt the Democrats too, of course, just because of his position on the War on Drugs. Even I would be tempted to vote for him if I thought he could really end the WOD when elected; that's how important I think that issue is. Most Dems and Indys know, however, that he wouldn't be able to do a lot without help from Congress and the courts, so they would be much less likely to vote for him than the libertarians.

[banned from Kos]

20. He couldn't do a thing on the Federal Reserve either. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 is in stone.

Congress would not approve his wacky gold standard or anything else.

[Ship of Fools]

21. If someone would be so kind as to

point out to these deluded *kids* that RPaul has nothing
but general contempt for women, he may not draw away from
the Obama vote as dramatically. I love pot, but I put respect for
women first (duh).

[B2G]

22. When was the last time you tried to reason with an 18-21 year old? n/t

[Ship of Fools]

23. Well, if this is a serious question,

I do pretty well with my step-kids. They seem to think carefully
about my opinions ... even got one coming around here on occasion
(and they were all born & raised in an evangelical Republican household.)

[Autumn]

25. Some of the Independents that I know are

jumping on the Paul Band wagon.

[On the Road]

26. I Think It's Not Clear Yet

You may be right that "change" voters might just pick a different kind of change, even though it's in a radically different direction.

But I am really not worried about Paul in any capacity since another poster quoted from an old newsletter of his. The material was race-baiting in a way that is going to turn off most independent voters. It really put him in a bad light.

If Romney wins, I think there is a significant chance that a social conservative runs third party. That could have a impact, even if its just a few percentage points.

[maximusveritas]

27. I don't think it'll make a big impact either way

Most of his voters are people who wouldn't vote for either Obama or the GOP candidate. I think he would take more voters from the GOP side, but not enough to make a huge difference.

[Sgent]

31. Ron Paul is the Ralph Nader of Republicanism

a nationwide run by him almost assures Obama of re-election.

[ThomWV]

32. No one, because anyone else that they would have voted for would have lost anyway.

[NorthCarolina]

34. Ron Paul would draw the youth vote for his stance on

ending foreign wars, and closing foreign military bases. In that area he is far more progressive than Obama. He is of course no advocate of Social Security or Medicare, but then Obama has proven to himself to be no advocate of their sanctity either. My gut tells me that a Ron Paul run would hurt Obama more than the GOP candidate, since none of the current crop of GOP candidates stands an ice cubes chance in hell of winning anyway.

[txlibdem]

35. I think the Libertarian Party should field a candidate

They stand a better chance of putting serious competition to Obama than the fidelity-challenged insider Newt or the reality-challenged Mitt.

The one thing I do NOT want is a landslide for Obama... I want him to have to work for every vote... and then I want Obama to win. He'll think twice about his pro-corporate, tax cuts for the rich extending, Jello-Spined failure to use his bully pulpit to rally the people. Maybe he'll actually be the President we thought we were electing (Candidate Obama rocked!).

[Iggo]

39. I heard something like 80% of his votes would come from republican voters.

[txlibdem]

40. The more the better

I don't want Pres. Obama to "walk away" with this election. I want him to know that his idiotic policy of bending over for the Repukes is NOT what we elected him to do. I want Obama to win but I want him to have to work for it. No freebies this time, Mr. President.