If Trump was not in the race Rand would be 1st in the polls!

[rg17]

Rand would have dominated the polls, have massive crowds in his rallies. But stupid ass Trump took our voters and saying things like a dictator would say like Hitler, Stalin and Mao. Trump must be taken down!

This what Rand would of been with out Trump.

 

[mit26chell]

I think Cruz is probably taking more from us than Trump.

 

[rg17]

I think Cruz is probably taking more from us than Trump.

Possible

 

[Crashland]

I think Sanders is taking it more than Trump. Practically every young Sanders supporter I talk to also likes Rand, or at least likes him the best among the GOP field. If it was Biden and Hillary instead of Sanders and Hillary, I think many of them would have voted for Rand

 

[nikcers]

At the very least Trump cages liberty supporters. We are lead by the media to believe that we can't make a difference. Just like when they tie elephants together by rope while they grow up and then they get used to it and they can remove the rope and they never try to leave they are still mentally chained.

 

[squirl22]

I think Cruz is probably taking more from us than Trump.

Yes, I can tell you that from phone calling ... he does have an organization that seems to be getting to voters before Rand.

 

[rg17]

Yes, I can tell you that from phone calling ... he does have an organization that seems to be getting to voters before Rand.

I think the majority is Trump then Sanders at a close second.

 

[hells_unicorn]

I think this election cycle has proven that Ron Paul's former base was easy to manipulate into voluntarily walking back into their cages. His social conservative contingent was sucked up by Cruz, his anti-war contingent by Sanders, and his libertarian base by Trump. The sad thing is, this turn of events reveals a grave stupidity that is rampant in all 3 of these groups given who is fooling them.

I literally can not speak to a single supporter of any of these candidates without feeling like I'm getting a full recap of the MSM news cycle. Ultimately the television has been our enemy, as it has been since its invention.

 

[erowe1]

Rand would have dominated the polls, have massive crowds in his rallies. But stupid ass Trump took our voters and saying things like a dictator would say like Hitler, Stalin and Mao. Trump must be taken down!

This what Rand would of been with out Trump.

So you're saying that, if Trump weren't running, the candidate who would be doing the best job as saying things that a dictator like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao would say, would have been Rand?

 

[nikcers]

So you're saying that, if Trump weren't running, the candidate who would be doing the best job as saying things that a dictator like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao would say, would have been Rand?

no, I don't think he was saying that- it seems he was saying that Rand would dominate the polls/have bigger crowds if there weren't a nationalistic candidate running on an authoritarian platform. I don't think he is insinuating that Rand has changed, but that Trump is moving the public in a different direction.

 

[CPUd]

WRT opinion polling, Trump has taken small chunks of supporters (3-5%) from everyone not named Cruz. Currently he is taking about 5-10% from Cruz, but that is really hard to measure because they are also exchanging supporters.

I would guesstimate if Trump were not in the mix, there would be 4-6 candidates including Rand in a statistical tie for #1. Between Iowa, NH and national polling, who those 4-6 were would differ.

 

[nasaal]

Trump isn't holding down Rand. People aren't sitting around saying...well Shit. I sure do like that Rand Paul, and if Trump weren't around he'd be my second choice.

 

[rg17]

Trump, Sanders and Cruz stole most of Rand's supporters and the media is also ignoring Rand anyway.

 

[RonPaulMall]

Trump isn't "taking" anything from anyone. There was a substantial block (probably 50% or more) of GOP voters that were extremely pissed off at the establishment and desperate for someone to be their champion. Those voters were just sitting there, ripe for the picking, for months before Trump even thought about getting in to the race. Any of the other candidates could have simply bent down and picked them up, but all the other candidates (not just Rand, but Walker and Cruz too) ignored them. Spit on them even. Then Trump came waltzing in months later and casually scooped them up.

Rand would have benefited from Trump not being in the race only if Rand were eventually going to go after the anti-establishment vote. But he had months to do that prior to Trump getting in to the race and showed no interest. If Trump hadn't gotten in to the race, Cruz probably would have been the one to make the move towards the anti-establishment vote, not Rand. Going after conservative and anti-establishment voters was never part of Rand's plan.

 

[nikcers]

Trump isn't holding down Rand. People aren't sitting around saying...well Shit. I sure do like that Rand Paul, and if Trump weren't around he'd be my second choice.

I don't know if you are being sarcastic but I usually see it worded slightly differently but that comment is in every pro Rand article comment section i can find on the internet. Some of them say specifically that they want Rand as Vp or after Trumps presidency

 

[laissez faire]

I think this election cycle has proven that Ron Paul's former base was easy to manipulate into voluntarily walking back into their cages. His social conservative contingent was sucked up by Cruz, his anti-war contingent by Sanders, and his libertarian base by Trump. The sad thing is, this turn of events reveals a grave stupidity that is rampant in all 3 of these groups given who is fooling them. I literally can not speak to a single supporter of any of these candidates without feeling like I'm getting a full recap of the MSM news cycle. Ultimately the television has been our enemy, as it has been since its invention.

This is on the right track. My assessment is as follows and it ends with good news: The anti-establishment segment is largest, it's immense this year and that has not gone to Rand but to Trump, Cruz, Sanders, Carson and a little Carly. The anti-war segment has largely gone to Sanders with the rest to Rand, the Civil Liberties (NSA, mandatory minimums) crowd is with Rand as well as most of the fiscal libertarians, though some to Cruz. I've been saying for a long time that Rand's narrow path to victory involves surviving into the Spring and collecting the anti-establishment vote that leaves T-C-S as they are pummeled with attack ads and the reality of them in the Oval Office sinks in.

Given Rand's campaign slogan, I think he is on the right track. A long shot, but not impossible.