Gary Johnson reaching out to the Libertarian Party?

[Brandon H]

But one advantage to taking the Libertarian party line is that they have ballot access in the most states, meaning less work for his campaign. If Paul ran as an Independent or Constitution, he'd have to struggle a bit more. 

In 2004 Nader ran as an Independent, but he still sought the Green Party nomination which would have given him ballot access on all of their states. Paul could possibly run as an Independent, and still seek LP and CP ballot access.

However, I think Rand is going to run in 2016 or 2020 and I agree this would hurt Rand if Ron ran outside of the Republican Party.

[NCeriale]

God if Paul ran third party he'd get to troll the general election debates as well

[Zarn]

God if Paul ran third party he'd get to troll the general election debates as well

Holding people to the US Constitution is trolling?

[Jbrase]

God if Paul ran third party he'd get to troll the general election debates as well

lol, you think they would let a him in?

[Zarn]

God if Paul ran third party he'd get to troll the general election debates as well

lol, you think they would let a him in?

It depends on the polling. He likely will have a decent percentage, at least to start off.

[Reluctant Republican]

I think Paul would have around 15% or so if and when he first ran third party. Especially if Romney's the nominee, you'd see many( though not all) conservative voters supporting him out of spite. However as the campaign progressed, I think we'd see an Anderson/Perot like effect, and Paul would steadily decline as voters decide they don't want to support a "spoiler". If he could somehow manage to get in the debates, he could do really well. The problem is he'd need to be doing really well(15%) to get in the debates to begin with, so it's sort of a chicken and egg situation.

I'd say he could maybe get up to 7% without being in the debates, but that's assuming everything went his way. 2-3% is more likely.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Paul/Johnson would, jokes aside, very possibly get 2-3% of the vote, which is relatively impressive for a third party candidate.

Paul could get up to 15-20% if he goes independent. If he actually takes the Libertarian nomination, it might actually hurt him. Remeber, the purist like Mary Ruwart want legalized assisted suicide, and open borders. The party holding these kind of views can only hurt Paul. If anything, Paul takes the Constitution Party ballot line.

You think that a candidate who can't manage 8% in the GOP primary is going to get 20% of the vote as a third-party candidate???

[Pictor Ignotus]

Paul/Johnson would, jokes aside, very possibly get 2-3% of the vote, which is relatively impressive for a third party candidate.

Paul could get up to 15-20% if he goes independent. If he actually takes the Libertarian nomination, it might actually hurt him. Remeber, the purist like Mary Ruwart want legalized assisted suicide, and open borders. The party holding these kind of views can only hurt Paul. If anything, Paul takes the Constitution Party ballot line.

You think that a candidate who can't manage 8% in the GOP primary is going to get 20% of the vote as a third-party candidate???

Yep. Exactly what I was going to say.

[ChairmanSanchez]

Paul/Johnson would, jokes aside, very possibly get 2-3% of the vote, which is relatively impressive for a third party candidate.

Paul could get up to 15-20% if he goes independent. If he actually takes the Libertarian nomination, it might actually hurt him. Remember, the purist like Mary Ruwart want legalized assisted suicide, and open borders. The party holding these kind of views can only hurt Paul. If anything, Paul takes the Constitution Party ballot line.

You think that a candidate who can't manage 8% in the GOP primary is going to get 20% of the vote as a third-party candidate???

Yep. Exactly what I was going to say.

8%?? He is at least 12% (3rd place) in every state, and is likely to bump up to second in the coming months. Ron Paul could take in anti war Democrats who hate Obamas policy, Libertarians, and dissatisfied Conservatives from Romney. That is at least 10%.

[CultureKing]

This thread is a goldmine

[bgwah]

As Mikado said, even if Paul only got 3%, that would be impressive for a third party candidate (who isn't a billionaire, at least).

Depending on who the Republican is, I don't think it's impossible that Paul could get 7 or 8%. Speaking of billionaires, maybe the Libertarians could get a Koch running mate again...? (though that would make the ticket awful as a result).