Hey DAS, can you please go on the record and tell us where you think Ron Paul will show up next Sat. Just so we don't get any post decision comments like "way to go Paul, you came in 4th". Where will he place and what % do you think he will get. Thanks.
I think mostly everyone here has already agreed that should Ron Paul appear to be getting any real momentum for the nomination, the GOP (as opposed to conservatives) would act to derail him.
Epic, I agree. The only shot Romney has at beating Gingrich are getting the independent voters from the northern parts of the state. Otherwise Gingrich wins SC and possibly knocks Romney out of the race. The conspiracy would have nothing to do with Paul.
Ricter, the so called "GOP" would act to derail any candidate who they think would hand the election to Obama. There is no conspiracy, it's called politics.
Sure, I can do that for you Mav....I think he has a very good shot at second but more than likely will come in a solid third (SC). Now, can you go on record and state that Ron Paul is a factor in this race?
Sure, he is absolutely a factor. He is the only guy left in the race that the tea party supports and the tea party contingent is still rather large. As you have noticed, not a one of them has gotten behind Romney. In my opinion, if Paul finishes 3rd in SC he is done. He needs to beat Gingrich. I think Paul and Gingrich are going to be tied at 20% and Romney will come in at around 35%. That 2nd place finish is very important in my opinion.
Ron Paul is second in total votes received so far (second only to Romney). We are two states in and he is polling second or third (depending on the poll) in SC. That seems like momentum to me. The GOP has already tried every trick to marginalize his support and has failed miserably. Fl is a question mark because it may remain winner take all. If that's the case RP will not waste cash there. Having said that, yes, the GOP could simply use some "creative" math and steal all or most of his delegates. If that happens, I'd wager he runs third party...to the GOP's great demise.
Yeah, you're right. I do think Paul's ideas represent a greater threat to the GOP's core than any other rep candidate, though. Credible threat? Not so much.
Ricter, we don't have to play hypotheticals here. We actually have a real life example on the left. Dennis Kucinch who is about as close to Ron Paul as you are going to get on the left, was also marginalized and laughed at by the left in 2008 when he ran. Even though he represented more of the values of most democrats. But again, the powers that be on the left knew that if they nominated him, McCain would have won in a landslide. This isn't rocket science. People want to win, just like in sports. And yes, winning means sometimes you have to play dirty. Ask the Clintons about that.