POLL: Draft Ron Paul, indy run? I got 140 signatures today...

[libertarian4321]

I'm not really into balling my fists and crying, but let's suppose he only starts at 8%. or 6%. Whatever, he still has 8 more months of campaigning and spreading the message. Even if he doesn't get elected, which we all agree is something of a long shot, we could do a helluva a lot more for the freedom movement by campaigning nationally for 8 more months than just flying under the radar until the Republican convention in September. What else am I going to do with my spring and summer? The Republican party left Ron Paul, its time for Dr. P to return the favor and show America that principles are more important than party.

Well, if you have (or are planning to become) a delegate, you can try to influence the GOP platform- its hard to do, but we can try. We can also keep working to help RP-like candidates in other races (congress, state assembly). More importantly, we can keep spreading the message and build support for the ideas Dr. Paul espouses. Who knows, maybe Ron will run again in 2012, or maybe a like minded candidate will come along.

If you are, like me, a Libertarian who came to the GOP just because of Ron Paul, you can support the LP candidate. I know, its just as much "tilting at windmills" as anything else, but in a summer sure to be dominated by McCain vs Obama (or even worse, Hillary), it might make you feel better.

Or we can all just start drinking heavily

 

[libertarian4321]

Finally, a realist on the boards. Where were you during Iowa, NH, SC, combating all those threads claiming total and complete victory in the polls?

I was here, hoping for a miracle back then. I tried to tell some of the overly optimistic folks to get a grip on reality (the "we're going to dominate in Iowa and NH" stuff was just a bit over the top, lol), but I remained hopeful at first.

 

[Maltheus]

The best way to send a message?

Write in Ron Paul.

About as good as a message in a bottle, if you ask me. They won't even bother counting those write-ins until after the election and you'll probably have to hunt out the results. If he doesn't get the nom or go 3rd party, then you probably best off voting Libertarian or something. Since the Libertarians were the first we contacted while trying to get new Ron Paul supporters, any future Ron Paul types will know to contact you. But if it makes you feel good to write in, that's reason enough I suppose. I haven't fully decided myself.

 

[UK4Paul]

Isn't RonPaul2008.com supposed to be about getting Ron Paul into the White House?

If Ron thinks it's unlikely he'll get the nomination, then doesn't it just make sense to explore alternative routes, such as an independent run?

Sure, the media will ignore him, but... he's kinda used to that, now - so basically, nothing would change.

Except that time would now be on Ron's side. I'm pretty sure he could get 180,000 precinct leaders over time, and with 8 months until the election, that's plenty of time to bypass the MSM altogether and get Ron's message out to the people.

Quite frankly, I'd love to think he could pull off a coup in September, but if it doesn't happen, that only leaves 2 months before the election.

Remember: RonPaul2008 is about putting Ron Paul in the White House. Even if it means drop-shipping him in )

 

[colecrowe]

bump

 

[colecrowe]

bump

 

[colecrowe]

2/3 to 1/3. That's encouraging. That means people really believe in the message and are willing to give more and more.

 

[colecrowe]

Good idea: 68.18% (but 10.6% of those say he could NEVER WIN)
Bad idea: 31.82%

 

[CitizenPlain]

I'll support Ron Paul's decision,

...

 

[colecrowe]

If something happens to McCain, why would they vote for anti-war Paul, whom like 7% of them voted for in the Primaries--most of the others having a high unfavorable of him?

if he decides to run as an independent,

I'll support him.

I don't think he will. There is too big of

a chance that McCain will self destruct before

the convention. That is Dr. Paul's best bet.

I'm voting for him no matter what.

I'll write him in.

 

[colecrowe]

bump

 

[OptionsTrader]

Dec 10, 2007

http://www.lp.org/media/article_545.shtml

LNC resolution to Ron Paul

Party congratulates Congressman Paul for his success in spreading a message of peace, prosperity and freedom

Charleston, SC – In a meeting of the Libertarian National Committee held this weekend in Charleston, South Carolina, former Congressman Bob Barr proposed a resolution urging Congressman Ron Paul to seek the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.

The resolution passed unanimously and is included below:


WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party and Congressman Ron Paul share many common principles for liberty and prosperity in America, and

WHEREAS, Congressman Ron Paul is a member of the Libertarian Party in good standing, and

WHEREAS, Congressman Ron Paul was previously nominated by the delegates of the Libertarian National Convention to serve as the Libertarian Party’s 1988 presidential candidate, and

WHEREAS, Congressman Ron Paul, through the efforts of his current presidential campaign, has ignited a renewed passion for liberty across America, and

WHEREAS, for over 35 years, the members of the Libertarian Party have continually fought for liberty through activism, education and the political process, and

WHEREAS, the Libertarian Party and its members have remained respectful, and in many cases, supportive of Congressman Ron Paul’s campaign seeking the Republican presidential nomination, and

WHEREAS, the Libertarian National Committee encourages competition in the race for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination and is appreciative of all candidates who make the commitment to run;

NOW THEREFORE, in the event that Republican primary voters select a candidate other than Congressman Paul in February of 2008, the Libertarian National Committee urges Congressman Ron Paul to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party to be decided in Denver, Colorado during Memorial Day weekend of 2008.

FURTHERMORE, The Libertarian National Committee congratulates Congressman Paul for his success in spreading a message of peace, prosperity and freedom and also thanks the thousands of activists and supporters across the United States who have made this unprecedented success possible.

RESOLUTION ADOPTED unanimously by vote of the Libertarian National Committee, the 9th day of December 2007, in the city of Charleston, State of South Carolina, United States of America.

 

[Russellk30]

Ah, I see the rule of law is relative in your eyes.

Law? Haha, thanks for the laugh. Respect my authoritai!

 

[Russellk30]

Okay, folks, time for an adult to step into the room and hit you upside the head with a dose of cold, hard reality.

Lets assume for the sake of argument that Ron Paul is willing to throw away his seat in congress for a Quixotic run as an "independent" (not a chance in HELL that it will happen, but just for the sake of argument).

As an independent, Ron Paul is already TOO LATE to make the ballot in many states, even if he started today. On top of that, to obtain ballot access in most of the remaining states, you have to have millions of dollars or millions of volunteers. It ain't easy to get those thousands of signatures, folks- those signatures have to be from people WHO DID NOT VOTE IN THE DEM OR REP primaries, and given the closely contested races this year, it will be harder than ever to get those signatures (if you think its easy, ask the Libertarians- they spend so much money on ballot access that they rarely have much left for actually campaigning- and as an established party, they have automatic ballot access in some states).

An "Independent" run doesn't have a chance in Hell. At best, if you had some very rich donors help with ballot access, he might get on the ballot in 30 states if he STARTED TODAY. He'd be lucky to pull 0.5% of the vote in the General Election.

Running as a Libertarian would be his best chance to get votes (they, at least, have ballot access in most states). But he wouldn't be running to "win", he'd be running as a spoiler. With the full support of the Libertarian and Constitution Parties, and with full support of whats left of his following from the Republican primary run, Ron Paul might pull 3-5% (and thats a VERY optimistic estimate)- 1 or 2% is probably more realistic.

There is no Santa Claus, there is no tooth fairy, and Ron Paul isn't going to get elected President in 2008. Sorry to rain on the fantasy parade, folks.

Of course, this is all just silly speculation, because he's NOT GOING TO GIVE UP HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS TO TILT AT WINDMILLS!

If he was going to run as a third party or an independent, he wouldn't have spent so much time and money holding his congressional seat. Ron Paul isn't stupid, kids, he realized weeks ago that he wasn't going to win the Republican primary (whatever small hope there was ended when Romney dropped out). If he was going to run "indy" or third party, he would have started WEEKS AGO!

About all we can do now is continue to work to change the debate- whether you choose to do that inside the Republican Party or from the outside as a Libertarian is up to you.

Feel free to flame me or bitch and moan, but I'm giving it to you straight...

Sorry to rain on your parade, but you are a little too pessimistic.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=116207

 

[mkeller]

This needs to be bumped.

And I also am all for an independent run!

 

[FreeTraveler]

Leave the poor man alone. He's already done more and gone to more places than he ever dreamed he would be capable of doing. He started the movement, he gave us the big picture, and the blueprint, now it's time for us to do our parts and for some of us to rise up and run for office ourselves.

He's been fighting these windmills for 30 years for you and for me, but if he says "the movement isn't about me' and he says he doesn't want to run 3rd party, I think the least of what we owe him is to respect that.

+1776

That's EXACTLY the point I was trying to make:

RON PAUL DOES NOT SUPPORT THE DRAFT!

Our message is FREEDOM and you want to FORCE him to run???

Pure AssHats who don't understand his message at ALL!

SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!

Support Dr. Paul's position, which he has often stated.

If he changes his mind, I'm sure he'll tell you.

I have lost ALL respect for some of you who have been RP supporters in the past, but have now decided to HIJACK his campaign and try to force him to run third-party.

Edit: My Bad. I forgot most of you are from government school, and have no respect for other people or their wishes. Apparently that extends to your attitude toward the good doctor, as well.

 

[Russellk30]

I used to reply to these threads trying to explain that the man does not want to run on a third party, until I realized that this is about what these people want, not anything about Ron Paul, and as such, trying to explain that Ron Paul doesn't want to run on a third party doesn't do any good because that's not what these people care about. They have their own agenda.

Yes, our agenda is the promotion of liberty. How inconceivably wretchedly horrible!

 

[Russellk30]

+1776

That's EXACTLY the point I was trying to make:

RON PAUL DOES NOT SUPPORT THE DRAFT!

Our message is FREEDOM and you want to FORCE him to run???

Pure AssHats who don't understand his message at ALL!

SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!

Support Dr. Paul's position, which he has often stated.

If he changes his mind, I'm sure he'll tell you.

I have lost ALL respect for some of you who have been RP supporters in the past, but have now decided to HIJACK his campaign and try to force him to run third-party.

Edit: My Bad. I forgot most of you are from government school, and have no respect for other people or their wishes. Apparently that extends to your attitude toward the good doctor, as well.

Are you stupid? I have a few words I want you to look up the definition of. Here it goes...Persuasion....Coercion....Analogy....Imbecile...

 

[FreeTraveler]

Are you stupid? I have a few words I want you to look up the definition of. Here it goes...Persuasion....Coercion....Analogy....Imbecile...

No, I'm not stupid. Are you ignorant? I can see you as the Boy Scout who FORCES the old lady across the street so he can help her, even though SHE DOESN'T WANT TO CROSS THE STREET!

Dr. Paul has said in many different ways that he DOES NOT want to run except as a Republican. However, there's a boatload of people here who think THEY know better than he does, and are DETERMINED to PUSH him into a run that he knows would be far less beneficial to the Freedom Movement than the same amount of effort put into Grassroots efforts at ALL levels of government.

Great... go ahead, MAKE it a cult of personality, which is EXACTLY what Dr. Paul does NOT want! Go ahead, push for an independent/third-party run, AFTER Dr. Paul has said repeatedly that it's not a smart idea.

But DON'T call me stupid for respecting HIS WISHES and refusing to respect people who are nagging him to go against his own best judgement.

On edit: "Armchair Quarterback"... that's the term I've been looking for. When Dr. Paul names you quarterback, then you can call the plays.

 

[Russellk30]

No, I'm not stupid. Are you ignorant? I can see you as the Boy Scout who FORCES the old lady across the street so he can help her, even though SHE DOESN'T WANT TO CROSS THE STREET!

Dr. Paul has said in many different ways that he DOES NOT want to run except as a Republican. However, there's a boatload of people here who think THEY know better than he does, and are DETERMINED to PUSH him into a run that he knows would be far less beneficial to the Freedom Movement than the same amount of effort put into Grassroots efforts at ALL levels of government.

Great... go ahead, MAKE it a cult of personality, which is EXACTLY what Dr. Paul does NOT want! Go ahead, push for an independent/third-party run, AFTER Dr. Paul has said repeatedly that it's not a smart idea.

But DON'T call me stupid for respecting HIS WISHES and refusing to respect people who are nagging him to go against his own best judgement.

On edit: "Armchair Quarterback"... that's the term I've been looking for. When Dr. Paul names you quarterback, then you can call the plays.

Thank you for the "I know what Ron Paul wants" perspective. I don’t know what Paul wants, but I do know that he has never ruled an independent run out. It seems to me that you and your cohorts are the ones claiming to know the wishes of Ron Paul. To top it off, you make stupid claims of shameful actions and misinterpretations of the message.

If he was so tired of politics, then why stay in congress? He obviously wants to continue the fight for freedom, and if grassroots motivates him to run as an independent with a huge show of support for the idea, he might have something to think about. That’s not coercive, is it?