Truthfully, I don’t see a single Democrat candidate anywhere that can pull more than at most, 46% of the general election.
But this is why 3% missing from the RNC vote can make a difference.
Perot made it possible for Clinton to win twice by taking more than 3% away from Bush Sr. and Dole. That was when the race wasn’t going to be close. Now days, elections are decided by less than a 3-4% margin.
So every 3% counts...
Absolutely. Ron Paul and/or his supporters (time will tell whether he's instrumental in this or not) are both mounting a major campaign for 'acceptance' by main-stream conservatives, and being used by MoveOn/Truther/Code Pink type wackos in a very real attempt to influence the GOP primary.
If left alone, RP would not have the popularity among Republicans to go anywhere. I'm sure he knows this. Whether this knowledge has caused him to sign on to such a disinformation campaign or not, I don't know. But the campaign is genuine, insidious, and can't be ignored.