Posted on 03/28/2012 9:54:50 AM PDT by mnehring
Will Ron Paul be the next Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the race?
Unfortunately, Ron Paul Nation, it’s looking like that.
The libertarian’s recent primary showings and fundraising figures have been far from stellar, and Paul now looks like the shakiest candidate in the race. All other candidates — even the mostly down and out Newt Gingrich — still have something going for them.
Paul, of course, has yet to win a state primary. Yes, he “won” the popular vote in the Virgin Islands earlier this month, but all but one of the eight delegates in that race ended up choosing Team Romney. Paul had a disastrously performance in the recent Southern primaries, coming in dead last in Alabama and Mississippi. In Tuesday’s Illinois primary, the libertarian managed a lackluster third place finish.
The Texas congressman’s fundraising has also dipped bad, raising $1.5 million less in February than he raised in January. Paul’s Super PAC, Endorse Liberty, also saw fundraising plummet. The organization raised less than $282,500 in February — a far cry from the $2.4 million it raised the month before. Endorse Liberty’s ability to support Paul also cratered: The Super PAC spent under $136,000 last month, down from about $2.9 million in January.
In comparison, Gingrich (who is also a dead man walking in the GOP race) on Tuesday notched a $5.5 million life-line. Ouch, Ron Paul.
Paul currently is last in the delegate count. Before the Illinois primary, Romney led with 522 delegates, Rick Santorum had 253, Newt Gingrich had 135, and Paul trailed significantly with 50. Crushing.
So why is Paul still in this race? Some speculate that he’s only trying to influence the wider Republican dialogue, to help steer modern conservatism towards a more libertarian mindset. Some in Paul’s inner circle say that the congressman is hoping for a major cabinet or possible vice presidential position. Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign chairman, said in response to this sort of speculation: “It's something we'd like but it's not terribly important to us. We're looking potentially for Ron to be the vice presidential nominee ... we're not looking for easy concessions like a speaking slot." Bombshell.
I’m sure a big share of the fanatics that make up Ron Paul’s deeply committed grass roots base still think Paul can win the presidency.
The fact of the matter is that he can’t win the presidency. And will likely not get a VP spot (Tea Party Senator Marco Rubio would be a much better VP). And can leave the “influencing” to other up-and-coming libertarians, like his son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
The truth is that Paul really has no reason to stay in this race and his situation in the contest is quickly becoming more and more precarious.
Expect Ron Paul to be the next to drop out of the race.
I believe Paul will stay in it to the end and amass as many delegates as he can. Truth is, if Romney does not win it outright, then it is likely that Paul will hold enough delegates to put either Romney, or the not-Romney camp over the top.
He will play that for as much influence as he can...and it is likely to be large because he will hold that key, IMHO, if Romney fails to get enough delegates or to win on the first ballot.
GOP Presidential Primary Tracker
http://www.jeffhead.com/GOPTracker.htm
Among the three candidates, only Newt Gingrich deserves consideration from Paul supporters.
The idea is to drastically reduce the scope ang power of the Federal Gov’t and return state issues to the states.
Newt is also on board with Paul on several economic issues.
Newt isn’t Libertarian, but there’s same track agreement between some Republicans and some Libertarians. That is self evident, since Paul the Libertarian has run and served as a REPUBLICAN.
Romney is way out of that sphere, as is Santorum and his nattering on about moral and religious matters in terms of Government.
Santorum’s comments about Zimmerman were awful, and certainly not remotely conservative or libertarian.
Paul himself is rumored to be seeking a deal with Romney if his delegates can be used as bargaining chips.
But his followers would mostly NOT be on board with that.
The majority of the young Paultards that I’ve talked to, I’m a Republican PCO and am active in local and state GOP going’s on, will get behind the nominee. Some will stay home undoubtedly as will many Freeper’s. (we know who the nominee will be unless there’s a brokered convention, which we can hope for but will not happen this year)
What I find most interesting about the Paultard’s are many of these exuberant young American’s are decidedly conservative, much more than their parents half of the time. It will be very interesting when a genuine conservative Republican emerges and taps into the fire in the belly these young voters possess.
I’m talking to you Christie, Cuccinelli, Jindall, Rubio, et al!
I think we can almost bet that Romney already did cut a deal with Paul. It happened around the last debate.
Romney may ask Paul to be the Sec. of the Treasury, which would not be such a bad thing. Which of course, would include that Paul hand his delegates over to Romney.
And it all hinges on, if this rumor will be true in the first place. Paul knows this is his last run for the Presidency, so he could care less if he ticks off a bunch of wet nosed College age Liberals who voted Populist this election.
Giving the Paul delegates to Newt will not happen. Paul has been partnering with Romney for at least six months.
I hate sloppy reporting designed to force your reading...
Headline - “Ron Paul Will”
Story - “Will Ron Paul?”
Romney told Letterman that he had not begun to think about a list of possible of VP running mates, yet he has told GOP elite in several states that someone from their state was on the short list. Of course that was in the weeks just before the state caucus or election. In WA State, Romney said that a conservative woman congress representative was at the top of his short list. Then we heard that it was Rand Paul. I’m sure that some of you have also heard that someone from your state was under consideration, as well.
I never saw that pic before! Holy cr@p, they ARE fake eyebrows!
I too open my mouth to the heavens and ask WHY??
And nowhere does it say in this article that he is dropping out.
I didn’t know that fake eyebrows existed. It seems odd that the real eyebrow isn’t gray to match his hair.
Fixed it. No charge. :-)
No, he won’t quit. He never had a chance to begin with, but when has that ever stopped the guy? He loves being a spoiler.
And that’s aside from the possibility that he made a deal with Romney to attack the other candidates but never Romney, if Romney would offer the VP slot to Rand Paul. We don’t know that for sure, but there was at least some evidence that it might be the case.
I know that most of the Paul supporters will back the eventual nominee. The question was about who they’ll support in the primaries. If they all went to Santorum, he’d be competitive with Romney. If they all went to Romney, he’d probably be over 50%. I think they’ll sit out the primaries or divide fairly evenly.
Dr. Paul;
Thank you for your years of service, all of the healthy babies you delivered, your steadfast support for pro-life, and your diligence in looking after the Federal Reserve.
Now, please exit, stage right.
Is the Mother Ship ready to beam him up?
One thing the GOP needs to do is go back to what they were for... SMALLER GOVERNMENT!! The GOP of today is the Democratic Party of the 1950s. Left of Center.. the tea party is helping, but we need to tell the RNC that we hate RINONMEY. Between RINOMNEY and Obama.. (and truthfully it is.. I'm voting for Mitt, but I'm not going to be out campaigning for him.)
Paul, please stay in...
Paul should never have run as a Republican, a conservative, or a human.
I knew his chances were slim when he was agreeing with the truthers and OWS idiots.
He only did as well as he did because he promised the slackers that he would legalize dope and hookers.
I don’t see why there is so much rage against Paul and his supporters on this site. I would think that as a hard-right website, Paul would get a little more respect than this.
Sure, there’s no way he’s getting elected. That’s a given. But I voted for him in my county’s caucus, and he actually won my county by a landslide. I don’t even agree with him on everything. But the fact is, he wants to restore America to the founder’s vision. To full Constitutionalism. And he’s honest about it. As far as we know, even Gingrich and Santorum could be RINOs acting conservative to get themselves elected. Remember how many “tea party” pandering candidates voted for the NDAA last year?
Ron Paul may not be perfect, but nor is anyone else. But when I read comments on this website, it seems as if he is closest to what most Freepers truly want. I just don’t understand what you have against him.
The problem is that when it comes to selecting a tribal leader, most of the decision processes are emotional.
_______
Consider Obama: he is an arrogant, natural Dictator. Who among his supporters is seriously bothered by the following two questions?
_______
A mandate is merely a dictate. Thus, if we are dictated to, do we then live under a Dictatorship?
If our freedom of choice is taken from us by the dictates of a hostile Federal government, then what Liberty do we have left?
_______
Emotions override Reason in a Dictatorship.
With our Republican Candidates, the voting record and logic is over-ridden by emotion.
Game, set and Match - - - .
First of all, where in the past two posts did I say anything against him? I agree with what you say to a point. However, Paul’s cozy relationship with some skinhead publications, 911 truther’s, stand on Iran and other points make him look extreme. Not to mention he’s antisemitic.
I would vote for Paul too if it weren’t for those issues, and the fact he’s less than honest about these past and present coalitions make me trust him about as much as I do Bill Clinton.
He’d govern like Jesse Ventura did in Minnesota and before half way through his term the base would abandon his quirkiness and put him in a big gilded box for the remainder of his term.
For the record, Paul won my precinct at our county caucus too, but how that relates to delegates is insignificant. How many national delegates does RP have 50?
I feel like we are experiencing Clinton’s second term race again...doesn’t really matter who the nominee is out of this group, they all seem too Bob Dole-ish to me. We remember how that turned out.
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