Actually, my guess is that Paul has conceded the GOP nomination and is laying the groundwork for a third-party run. That's where this warchest will be directed.
If he declares as an independent, I am writing him the biggest check the law allows. He'll doom the Republican nominee.
I just spent about 3 minutes trying to parse "warchest" because I was reading it as "warch-est." I thought maybe it was some kind of Ron Paul cult term I didn't know.
Posted by: Karen | January 30, 2008 at 07:41 PM
If the Democrats nominate a warmonger like Ms. Clinton, Paul would take more votes from that party than the GOP. Personally, I would vote Green, but others would vote for Paul.
Posted by: libhomo | January 30, 2008 at 09:53 PM
Karen-
I just spent about 3 minutes trying to parse "warchest" because I was reading it as "warch-est."
I hope it was an entertaining three minutes, because you're never getting them back.
libhomo-
If the Democrats nominate a warmonger like Ms. Clinton, Paul would take more votes from that party than the GOP.
Right! Please, please, please, Republicans, don't encourage Ron Paul to run as an independent! Because the natural home of gold bug, racist, isolationist libertarians is ... the Democrat party!
Posted by: Mithras | January 31, 2008 at 01:53 AM
You really think it's those positions that will motivate Ron Paul supporters? Especially when the race becomes a Republican who more or less supports a continued presence in Iraq versus a Democrat who will leave, when circumstances permit, or in an orderly fashion or some other phrasing that means "not right now," and Ron Paul is right there promising to end things immediately?
Posted by: Gib | January 31, 2008 at 09:00 AM
He'll doom the Republican nominee.
I wish I were certain of that, but I've run into a distressing number of lefties who are either clueless or dismissive about how truly right-wing Paul is.
That said, I do think it really depends on who the nominees are. McCain has pissed off the nativist fringe enough that the immigrant-hating Paul might actually take a significant number of votes from him. Obama's anti-war cred may be enough to keep a lot of those lefties from bolting.
Posted by: Tom Hiltont | January 31, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Gib-
You really think it's those positions that will motivate Ron Paul supporters?
No, that was just me being snide. But the center of gravity of Paul's issues is clearly on the right. His anti-war and anti-immigrant stances are strongly Buchananite. The specie fetish and desire to roll back federal power are the kind of thing people who load their own ammo in case the UN invades worry about. Yes, as Tom Hilton says, an independent Paul would pull in some liberals, but I think the effect is muted by such positions as calling for overturning Roe v. Wade and abolishing the Department of Education.
Posted by: Mithras | January 31, 2008 at 02:46 PM
Buchananite
Lord help me, for a few seconds I thought you were referring to James Buchananan.
Posted by: Michele | February 01, 2008 at 06:41 AM