Why run if you cant win?

Question

Why do people run for president if they know there is no way they can win? For example, why would Ron Paul go through this long and expensive process. This is not a slam against him, I actually like a lot of what he has to say, but somewhere he must know the GOP will never nominate him. Is it just for principle? Hope for a VP run? I dont get it.

Answer 1

He thinks he looks like Perot, therefore he can win. Wrong. It doesn't work anymore. Perot is of the past, and no one trusted him after he flaked, like, Paul can't be trusted either, sticking it out or not. He is dreaming like the rest of his clan.

Answer 2

A lot of them run just to get their message out. That's basically what Tancredo did. He ran to put an emphasis on immigration reform. Then he dropped out and supported a "front-runner" that he thinks will be strong on illegal immigrants.

In Dr. Paul's case the message is foreign policy, national sovereignty, and getting back to our Constitutional small government. Since there is no one else on either side that supports his ideas he cannot drop out and throw his weight behind some one that the media says is "more electable."

Also, since most of Paul's supporters are unlisted, and previously not politically active, they are unpollable. This means that untill we actually have a primary vote no one really knows how big his support is. Therefore it would be foolish to quit now. It would be like folding in poker without looking at your cards.

Personally I hope that Dr. Paul wins the primaries by such a margin that it would be political suicide for the Republican party to not nominate him. However, If he does not win the nod my vote in November will be (in order of preferance) 1) Ron Paul on third party or independant ticket (not likely) 2) Mike Huckabee on the Republican ticket (at least he's against the IRS) 3) Whoever is on the Libertarian ticket (we survived 8 years with Bill we can last 4 years with hill).

Answer 3

Well it looked like Huckabee couldnt win either, until recently. Should he not have run? Anything can happen. Or Edwards? Or Obama until his rise in the polls? i am glad there are so many candidates to choose from I just wish they did not all seem in favor of continueing so many of W Bushs policies.

How come any time someone brings up this argument they mention Ron Paul? Then claim its not a "knock" when theyre are people running who poll Lower than Paul and have MUCH less money.

Answer 4

There are as many reasons as there are candidates, but most of them boil down the the same three themes:

Ego - Call it "dedication" or "delusion," if you like, but there are some guys who really believe that they can win it no matter what the polls say.

Ideology - Some guys realize that the race gives you an instant, albeit brief platform to present your cause. Look at a guy like Alan Keyes or whoever the Green or Libertarian candidate happens to be. As long as they're in the race, their "message" is getting out there (Think of it like figure skating in the U.S.....how many people really even think about it only when the Olympics is on every four years).

Self-Interest - Don't forget about good ol' fashioned greed. First, as long as a candidate is in the race he/she can have fundraisers....and if you raise a million and only spend a half-million, does anybody really notice?

Also, runner ups are putting themselves in position for VP or high-level cabinet positions....Let's say the Huckster loses the nomination, but his poll numbers show him as highly popular among Southern voters...unlike Rudy, Mitt and McCain....Can you say "welcome to the podium Mr. Vice President"?

Answer 5

Because we live in a Democratic society that allows anyone to run for president if they meet the requirements. It's not over yet. Though he is polling in some states poorly you never know what could happen that will make him the ideal choice for the GOP.lol.

Realistically: He's just trying to make a statement. I understand that these low-tier and third-party candidates have a right to run for president, but sometimes I feel the only thing they do is split the vote and cause elections to go sour...*cough* Nader *cough*

Answer 6

People run because of:
a) personal ego thinking himself/herself being the best candidate.

b) personal estimate that he/she may have a chance, because of political uncertainties that a candidate may fold and throws support to another candidate.

c) some candidates may profit from these funds raised. Giuliani is a example, in which his personal company, Giuliani and Partners, has made him a millionaire.

d) a win will make that candidate a multi-millionaire in the future. Just royalties from the book sales will be millions, plus high paying speeches and directorship.

Answer 7

To the first answerer: how are we the "sheeple" if your lot is the one chanting the same old lines over and over again like a broken record? Face facts, lemming, you are the one following a herd.

to the asker: There are several reasons why one would run.

1). He is as delusional as his supporters and believes that despite his low showing in the polls that he can actually win. Sure it worked for Huckabee, but Huckabee's supporters are normal people. They waged a respectful campaign using word of mouth and legitimate means of promotion and it worked. I am not a Huckabee fan myself, but I've got to give it up for his supporters - they did a hell of a job.

2). To incite a riot. Maybe he has no intention of winning and just wanted to send out the message, hoping to start a full-on rebellion. If he did plan it out this way - it worked. A lot of his supporters have the mindset of rabid zealots and I would be surprised if all 34 of them decided to stage their own coup against the U.S. when their man loses. Ron Paul may just be trying to get his word out the best way he can. Too bad Stephen Colbert's made more sense - at least he wasn't taking this crap seriously.

3). To get rich. Your assertion that his campaign is expensive is an incorrect one. His zombie hoard is practically throwing money at him - I don't think he needs to worry about how much his run is going to cost. And when he loses, he will probably bank the money. He has said that he will not be running under an independent ticket repeatedly (not that it would help his chances) so he will, if you will excuse the pun, have fleeced his entire group of supporters who will probably stay home in November out of spite, if not hang themselves altogether.

Answer 8

Are you speaking about him having the Democratic Nomination Wrapped up or the Presidency. surely, he don't have both wrapped up and McCain might want to conquer him customarily Election. Obama is a Republican unifier and there might want to be alot of McCain dems finding out on McCain over Obama. the subsequent President will be Hillary or McCain.

Answer 9

I think that some...not all...but some...might do it to get their views out in the open for people to look at and question the status quo. Just personal opinion.

Answer 10

We the people talk about being a free country under rule of law, but we are free no more. America is a country run by the rule of men and women without regard for the state or federal constitutions intended to limit, not expand, their power. Our leaders, all but a few, are corrupted by power. And worse is that we the people tolerate it on a daily basis and let the mainstream media manipulate our minds, feed us lies, disinformation and propaganda, and make decisions for us. Our choices for leaders are all from the same school with similar agendas.

We the people talk about democracy, but are run more like a totalitarian dictatorship with absolute disregard for the rights and property of the people of this country and the people of other countries around the world. Yet we stand by, do little or nothing and tolerate this abuse instead of accepting responsibility for our


present condition.

The American military fights wars of intervention to bolster our weak economy and dependency on oil, and has done so for fifty or more years. The American military is being used by the global elite to implement a new world order agenda of one world government, one world bank, one world money system, one world military under the absolute control of a plutocracy, and has done so for decades. This is not America, not the America I love and celebrate this July 4th.


Wake up America

The American people have fallen asleep at the wheel of the worlds only superpower. Its time to wake-up, stand up and be counted. With over 2.1 million people behind bars, mostly for nonviolent, political crimes against the State, America has the distinction of being the prison capital of the world.

While our children and their education has been all but abandoned by schools and parents alike; while the core family unit is broken; while the sick and diseased are left without health care and sold expensive drugs instead; while the environment is destroyed by over consumption and excess and while our moral condition is undermined by mass media, we the people have been asleep for decades. Isnt it time to wake-up America?


The tyranny of England in the 1700s has been replaced with the tyranny of an ever-increasing government presence and control over every aspect of our lives. Freedom and democracy are but dreams the past. While rights and liberties are being sacrificed for the illusory war on terror, America is drifting down the unholy road of tyranny, a tyranny of both an unlimited government and the tyranny of the masses of disenfranchised US citizens (i.e., economic slaves).

The emerging tyranny of the federal United States government is beyond compare and has been usurped by the global elite (e.g., 9/11) for the explicit purpose of creating a world government system under their absolute control (e.g., NAFTA, GATT, WTO, IMF). The American military is the new world army, invading any country (starting with the poorer ones like Afghanistan and Iraq who cannot defend themselves) daring to challenge a world authority by asserting national sovereignty.


Over six-hundred types of taxes, inflation and devaluation of the US Dollar burden the poor even more than the rich in America, as the power structure has found effective ways to structure assets and diversify to minimize liabilities.

Taxes consume up to 60% of the annual incomes of most Americans. Abolishing the personal and corporate income tax would not only provide an annual raise of household income, provide an incentive to empower the producers, but stop much of the corruption, theft of the public trust and wasteful pork in Washington DC

it will take more than fireworks, flag waving and hot dogs to restore independence in these united states of America. America of the past is gone. America before 9/11 is gone forever.


The America of the future will become a totalitarian, police state under the thumb of Orwells greatest nightmare. Worse is the majority of the American people dont care, stand by and do nothing except turn the channel. We the people are entertaining ourselves to death under the gray sky. Love for country and a moral conscience, besides hollow patriotism and blind obedience, have all but vanished from the political landscape of scarcity-based thinking, corruption, greed, violence, moral degradation, usury and exploitation.

Well, my American friends there are solutions for those with the ears to hear, if we the people bring them forth and dare to take action before its too late. The hour is passing and quickly Americans will be on the road of no return and extinction. As Thomas Jefferson once predicted, Americans will one day wake up homeless in the land of their forefathers And so it is happening. "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of
the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power,
than by violent and sudden usurpations." -James Madison