Ron Paul supporters are dedicated to their candidate. Most will not vote for another candidate, regardless. They are as principled as the candidate himself, vowing not to hold their noses when they vote. They would rather abstain, than to vote for the “status quo” be it a Republican or Democrat.
Knowing this, we can draw a few conclusions if Ron Paul DOES NOT win the GOP nomination.
- His supporters will convince him to run third-party, and they will vote for him, or
- Paul will not run third-party, and a large portion of his supporters either vote for another third-party candidate, or vote for no one.
Most arm-chair pundits conclude that if Paul runs third-party, it will hand the general election to Obama. While this is not a given, he will most definitely be labeled a spoiler should this happen. But what most Republicans don’t understand is that the “spoiler threat” does not deter “hard-core” Ron Paul’s supporters. They will vote for him regardless, and campaign for him with all of their might in hopes of winning.
So if Paul runs third-party, the only way the GOP can assure themselves a win over Obama, is to vote for Ron Paul in the general election.
However, before we even get to that point, it must be understood, that if Ron Paul does not get the GOP nomination, and does NOT run third-party, a large percentage of his supporters will not vote for the GOP nominee. It’s unlikely that Paul will endorse those he has called the “status quo”. He is a man of principle, after all.
So, while it may “burn you up” that Ron Paul’s supporters are so dedicated, it really leaves the GOP with one option to cruise to a win over Barack Obama. That is to nominate Ron Paul as the GOP nominee.
If you would like to read more about this phenomenon, check out this article.
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