Does Ron Paul have a shot at the Republican nomination?

Question

If not who will win the Republican nomination and who will the vice president be?

Answer 1

No chance.

Answer 2

I think Ron Paul has garnered the interest of mainstream media because he is saying somethings that are dramatically different than what many of the other mainstream candidates are saying.

However, many of his key propositions essentially work to return the United States to a pre-WWI state (i.e., back on the gold standard for currency, abolish the IRS, "shrink" the federal government). The problem with these tenants is that for as bad as things are right now, they were a whole lot worse 100 years ago. For example, currently the writer's guild is on strike. 100 years ago, the national guard would have been called out to beat and shoot picket workers because workers did not at that time have the protection of the federal government.

Likewise, on the gold standard, the amount of currency was limited by the amount of gold that could be mined and owned by the federal government. This A) held high the price of gold (great if you owned gold) and B) kept the amount of currency relatively fixed despite changes in population. This led to cyclical financial "panics" roughly every 20 years that have been eliminated. Money is the lubricant that keeps the economy moving, and returning to the gold standard would create a shortage of lubricant and would limit the governments ability to stabilize currency. Without a federal reserve, we would return to an age of recurrent financial panics, deflations, and depressions.

So its good that he's saying different things, but I think that only a small minority of Americans would benefit by returning to the gold standard, and the abolition of the IRS would hurt too many lawyers for it to pass congress. You talk about an economic shock, how about thousands and thousands of tax lawyers instantly out of a job?

Answer 3

You will have to wait and see what comes of the first primaries .

This will effect the candidates chances of being elected .

If the Paul campaign is smart it will blanket the media with ads promoting freedom and reduced taxes along with returning our troops home before next Christmas .

People do not want to hear about the details .

They get that we pay to much to government and that we have to many laws already and that the war is not working and costing to much .

SO hit those issues and he has a chance .

Use local settings for the ads . Landmark locations in the state to spread a message of reducing taxes .

When some one makes statements like end the IRS people shake their heads because its to big a concept for them to grasp . How will we pay taxes without the IRS come on is the thought that goes through their minds and the media jokes about statements such as those .

SO if Paul stands any chance he needs to soften the pitch a little use land marks and speak of freedom and return our troops home and making this nation strong against terrorists .

Answer 4

Of course not, just look at the polls numbers.

Either Romney or Giuliani will win the republican nomination.

No telling who the VP would be.

Generally, the candidate who wins the nomination, never chooses one of the candidates who ran for the nomination against them, as their VP.

I cannot think of any who have done so, in my life time.

So you would figure that, either Romney or Giuliani would choose a VP from the south or Midwest to help balance their ticket.

And in both their cases, someone with impeccable conservative credentials

Answer 5

A very slim shot. . .

I think a lot of people, Republicans included, are disenfranchaised with the choices that are available. If enough of them look at Paul and decide, "He's different from the others. He's someone I could vote for", then you could possibly see a lot of those undecideds in the Paul camp.

However, I do think the chances of that are pretty slim. At 1%, he could have to capture just about every single undecided voter. That's no small feat.

Answer 6

Let's see, Paul gets about 1% support from Republicans in all the polls. I'd say NO.

My guess at this point is that either Romney or Huckabee will get the nomination. Either will be trounced in the general election.

Answer 7

The chances are low, however it is not entirely unlikely. There have been candidates in the past who have "come out of nowhere." I've heard recently on CNN that Paul has been getting a LOT of money from online donations and CNN anchors said they find themselves having to cover him more and more because he's becoming more viable (that could just be talk, though).

In the end, I doubt that he will, but it may to see what will happen.

Answer 8

This is a joke, right? Ron Paul couldn't win the nomination to be community dog catcher outside of the small congressional area in Texas that he represents. The guy is a loon. He has pie-in-the-sky impractical ideas that would never make it out of committee let alone to the full floor for vote in either house of Congress. I know it is hard to believe that Congress still makes laws because of Dubya's attempts and desire to be a dictator but it is true the Congress still exists and all the President is supposed to do is execute the laws they pass. They are not likely to pass any of the goofy laws Ron Paul would propose for them. If you want a stalemate or continued flow backwards instead of making progress in this country Ron Paul is certainly your man.

Answer 9

No right now it is between Rudy, Romney, and Huckabe. They are the three strongest going into primary voting while the first two seem to be losing steam Huckabe keeps gaining on them and according to a recent Zogby poll he can beat Clinton. The thing that complicates everything is Oprah stumping for Obama. I still don't think a Dem can win congress took care of that but I by no means think the election will be a landslide either

Answer 10

He does have a shot.

He could seriously win it.

He doesn't need multi-millions dollar ad campaigns as long as he has the people.

Winning the nomination shouldn't be about money, you shouldn't need 100's of millions to be president. It's about us the people. He can and I sincerely hope, for America's sake, that he will.

Answer 11

Since the media forms who they would like to see at the top, Ron Paul is largely being ignored. But more servicemen send him money than any other candidate.
I think his day will come, and most people will be surprised.