Do you think any of these 3rd party candidacies will go anywhere?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Bloomberg?
or possible bids by Ron Paul, Dobson's group or Ralph Nader?

and if so, which party will be hurt more?
It seems that both are on the verge of nominating people who aren't exactly beloved to their bases.

[sellitman]

1. Nader will run.

His ego will force him too.

[Catchawave]

5. Not if Edwards is the nominee....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7647.html

[Pab Sungenis]

2. Any of them could enter the race.

Bloomberg hurts the Democrats if Hillary is the nominee, takes equally from both if Obama or Edwards.
Ron Paul hurts the Republicans more than the Democrats.
Nader hurts Democrats.
Dobson's group, depends on the nominee, but may hurt Republicans.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. i tend to think Paul hurts the Dems more

most Paul supporters I've met like him for his views on the war, but ignore his overall rightwing nutiness.
These people I guess are what I would call uninformed pseudo-anti-establishment - people who basically opposed the war, but haven't done the homework on who he really is. all they know is what they see on you tube. these are the types who look up to crackpots like art bell and alex jones as subversive.
though there may be enough of a mccain backlash for the GOP to lose people to paul for his libertarian fiscal views and rightwing fundamentalism

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

4. Bloomberg could easily get 30% I think.

Especially in Clinton/McCain, possibly sending the election into the House.

Let's play with numbers

McCain 33%
Clinton 31%
Bloomberg 30%
Paul 4%
Nader 2%

[RB TexLa]

6. If Dobson puts a religious right nutjob in, the Democratic nominee should only debate him

Say that internal polls show them to be the highest polling challenger. When CNN says their polls show otherwise, just say something like "you can choose to ignore it but we aren't." Leave McCain or whoever out of the campaign. The nutjob will go along with it, they'd love the exposure and it would help them take GOP votes away. Of course the DNC or whoever would have to pay for and stage the debates, they would have no problem getting some newsreader to moderate it.