The Fight Over Ron Paul And His Supporters

THE EXAMINER | Karl Dickey | April 24, 2012

Ron Paul is currently running under the Republican Party with a large, passionate number of Americans supporting his candidacy. The issue at hand for his campaign is

his lack of delegates he has received as the primaries have continued throughout the country. Ron Paul has received 67 delegates as opposed to Mitt Romney's 697. Newt Gingrich is widely expected to suspend his campaign later this week, which would put Paul and Romney in a two-way race within the Republican race.

The issue at hand for Mitt Romney is his lack of appeal to conservative voters, which could be the reason we saw Florida Senator Marco Rubio next to him yesterday. Rubio is thought of as a "Tea Party Candidate", which if he became the Vice-Presidential nominee, could help sway some conservative voters to Romney. We saw it in 2008 when conservatives would not back McCain until Sarah Palin came into the fold as the VP nominee. However Rubio's flavor has soured some Tea Partiers and he also has stated he will not run for vice-president with Romney.

Mitt Romney needs Ron Paul's supporters and it is unlikely he will get them. Many of them decribe themselves as "principled" and have openly said there is no way they will vote for Romney in Tampa as the GOP's nominee or in the general election this November.

The question is over where Ron Paul will go should he not win the Republican Party's nomination in August. Some have speculated he will still run for President and either run under the Libertarian Party or as an indepedent. Recent speculation has arisen he may run under Americans Elect. It is clear he will not run under the Libertarian Party as the they are holding their national convention in early May, nominating their selection for President at that time. Paul could run as an independent as his supporters will actively work to make sure he is on as many state ballots as feasible.

As the Americans Elect nominee he is almost assured to be on the ballot in all 50 states and is their top draft candidate by a wide margin. There is a question regarding a few states allowing Paul on the ballot under Americans Elect as there are some laws across the country prohibiting a candidate from changing parties once he showed up in their presidential primaries as a Republican. Although Americans Elect does not consider itself a political party, for legal purposes in many states, it is a party and could come under the rule prohibiting Paul on the ballot.

Two things are clear, Romney or Obama will not be garnering too many Paul supporters, no matter how desperately they may want their passion injected into their campaigns. Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson has stated he would love to have their support as he and Paul have the most in common than any of the other candidates.

It could be Ron Paul will end his campaign should he not win the GOP nomination, then go on to endorse and campaign with another candidate for the office of President.

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