Most of his supporters don't care. The fact that he's running and talking about traditional beliefs that the GOP should have been promoting all this time will be his legacy.
He should be given a slot at the convention, and he should endorse someone like Fred Thompson so that his supporters will stay in the GOP and help defeat Hillary.
Your hero Ron Paul has already stated quite clearly that he won't endorse Fred Thompson or anyone else in the race unless they join him on the sinking "Out of Iraq Now!" bus. Ron Paul won't be on stage with Fred unless Fred loses his mind and begins yapping about "neocon quadmires" or hell freezes over and Ron abandons his isolationist views.
And the funny thing is he has never "pledged" not to run as a third party candidate, your claims notwithstadnding. The exactly quote is he doesn't "plan to run in a third party". Obviously, a third party will only be "neccessary" if he fails in his current bid in win a major party nomination.