If Ron Paul had not have run....

[tfelice]

If Ron Paul had not have run for the GOP nomination what would you have done this primary cycle.

1) Voted in the GOP primary/caucus
2) Voted in the Democratic primary/caucus
3) Not Participated in either nomination process

 

[Trigonx]

i would say 3

 

[bobmurph]

1.

 

[AlexMerced]

I'd probably be on Obama train honestly cause I knew noithing about the issues before ron paul

 

[snaFU]

Um...3 for sure

 

[tfelice]

bump - to try and get 100 responses to the poll

 

[Hook]

You need to add Libertarian, Constitution, Green parties.

 

[tfelice]

You need to add Libertarian, Constitution, Green parties.

They don't have traditional primaries. Those parties nominate their candidates at conventions. So if you were a member of a third party and didn't change your registration (or vote in an open primary states) you would have sat out (option 3)

 

[redchina]

Before Ron Paul, I was planning on voting in the Democratic primaries, because I supported John Kerry in 2004. Now I hate the dems and I'm only supporting Ron Paul.

 

[xerigen]

I was an Obama supporter before Ron Paul came along. *headdesk*

 

[tfelice]

There are some very interesting observations that can be drawn from this. Hoping to get a better sample though

 

[chandlerLBT]

I'd probably be on Obama train honestly cause I knew noithing about the issues before ron paul

Me too. But more likely I would have supported Gravel if he was still around Feb 5th for my primary. Then I would have supported a Libertarian in the General Election.

 

[AlexMerced]

Ron Paul made me heavily dislike all other cnadidates cause I demand a higher calibur

Honestly, Ron Paul is the minimum the country should hold for itself, but everyone has lowered the expectations so low that Ron Paul is a shocker

 

[Ogren]

I'd be supporting Obama unfortunately.

 

[mmazin]

I was going to vote for Graval. But here we have a chance for something.

 

[amy31416]

I'd probably have been looking at Richardson, Dodd, Obama, Kucinich, Edwards and McCain (shudder). Holding my nose to vote for any of them (except Kucinich, at least he's principled).

I wasn't supporting anyone until I found Ron Paul.

 

[Abobo]

I would still be a registered Libertarian if not for Ron Paul.

 

[olehounddog]

Fate stepped in for me. As I was leaving home to leave the party, I heard someone say, we just marched in, we just march back out. I thought who in the hell is that. I've been hooked ever since.

 

[mjp1025]

Before I learned of RP, I was leaning towards the Obama camp...he was the closest to anti-war I could find at the time.

 

[tfelice]

Doesn't look like the ratios will change much so I'll post my observation. Granted this is just a snapshot, but is pretty much what I expected to see when I created this poll.

These numbers are almost the exact reverse of what they should be and have been in the past for other successful runs by traditional conservative/libertarian Republicans.

Buchanan had some new people in the process and some blue-dog Democrats but his base was primarily Republicans. This allowed him to contend and win (though he ultimately failed)

Reagan's base was almost all Republican in 72 and 76 and brought in some old-school Dems over those years. The Reagan Democrats referenced often were the ones that went for him in the general election.

The same for Goldwater, it was a Republican coalition that got him the nomination.

What is sad is that Paul was not able to reach deeper into the GOP for his support base. Most of you wouldn't have been in the game if Paul wasn't in the race, and quite a number of you would have supported a Dem. In order for a traditional conservative to win the nomination again, he needs to do so by capturing the base first, and then pulling in people from the Dem party & other areas. For those of us who will continue on in this fight long after this election is over, this is something we need to keep in mind.