Ron Paul Suggests Third Party Presidential Run Still An Option

NASHUA, N.H. -- Ron Paul inched further away on Friday from any unequivocal promise not to run under a third-party banner if he fails to win the GOP presidential nomination.

In a brief interview with The Huffington Post on Friday, Paul acknowledged he will have a decision to make if he loses the GOP bid come August.

In his conversation with HuffPost, Paul noted that he had won nearly as many delegates in Iowa as Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum had, and that he was likely to pick up a good share here in New Hampshire and -- having hauled in $13 million last quarter -- in other contests to come.

With many delegates in a bloc heading into the convention in Tampa, didn't that mean he would remain committed to the GOP and not run an independent candidacy in the fall, even if he did not secure the nomination?

"I'll decide that later," Paul said while he was waiting for his son Rand Paul, a GOP senator from Kentucky, to finish an interview with the press.

When asked whether it would be difficult to run independently with a son who might want to run for the GOP nomination some day, the senior Paul said again, "I'll decide that later," before being hustled to a press event.

In the past, Paul has sounded more certain that he wouldn't seek an independent presidential run, though he has not flatly denied the possibility.

"I have enough on my plate right now," Paul said in a mid-December interview with "Meet The Press," according to the Boston Globe. "We have a lot of campaigning to do. We're going to be very busy the next couple of weeks. That’s what I’m concentrating on, and we’ll see what happens."

And last Monday before the Iowa caucuses, he told CNN's Dana Bash, "I have no plans of doing that [running for a third party]. Tomorrow's a big day. We're going to see what happens, but I have no intention of doing that. No plans, and no desire. Flat out, I don't want to."

Still, he added then, "I've never spoken in absolutes."

Comments

[JohnFromCensornati]

05:11 PM on 04/27/2012

Send me your money. Gimme, gimme, gimme.

[El Jefe]

04:02 PM on 03/01/2012

He should do it. The GOP is rigging the vote against him in their primaries.

[JohnFromCensornati]

05:12 PM on 04/27/2012

. . . by voting in large numbers for other candidates!

[El Jefe]

05:19 PM on 04/27/2012

The GOP is not a person, so that's impossible.

[reciprocat]

05:32 PM on 04/28/2012

Slam and...dunkenstein!!! :-D

[clueless no 9]

06:04 PM on 01/08/2012

That's a story? That's reporting? Try writing a real story, how Ron Paul's views align with liberals such as war & personal freedom. Try writing about how the US monetary policy is hurting the poor and middle class. But that would require real journalism with HuffPost seems to lack.

[JohnFromCensornati]

05:14 PM on 04/27/2012

"I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman and must be protected.­­­­­­­­­" - Ron Paul (R)

Liberty!

[reciprocat]

05:31 PM on 04/28/2012

good shot. now there's a story that needs more reporting.

[sagmann]

10:26 AM on 01/08/2012

If so, can we expect primaries between Paul and theTrump-et show-biz guy?

[reciprocat]

05:33 PM on 04/28/2012

please say, YES! please..please...please!

[EBL]

02:48 AM on 01/08/2012

Actually Ron Paul made it seem very unlikely he would run as a third party candidate, but he is holding the threat out there to give him bargaining power with the GOP.

[reciprocat]

05:35 PM on 04/28/2012

We'll see. If he doesn't run, like 2008, I will lose pretty much all respect for him.

[MGhamma]

12:26 AM on 01/08/2012

All he'll do is split the repub vote, ensuring President Obamas reelection.

If he doesn't realize that, then he's become delusional.

[reciprocat]

05:37 PM on 04/28/2012

If he doesn't and Romney wins then he will truly be just another republican.

If he does run on his own, we can still respect him as a true independent voice. Enabling republicans is a very bad thing.

[HunterHikes]

11:47 PM on 01/07/2012

Ron Paul is too loopy to get the GOP nomination, and America isn't quite stupid enough yet to elect a Libertarian as President. I can't conceive of a reality when that will ever happen.

[Joe Goforth]

11:11 PM on 01/07/2012

The old Libertarian is quite a wrecking ball just by telling the truth. What would happen if the main stream media was forced to listen to people telling the truth for a change?

[HunterHikes]

11:48 PM on 01/07/2012

Favorited by accident.

I think you are confusing "wrecking ball" with "train wreck."

Ron Paul is far too loopy to be taken seriously. On the other hand, he is very scary when he talks about his isolationist foreign policy views.

[prototype2118]

03:05 AM on 01/08/2012

Do you know the difference between isolationist and non-interventionist? Your superficial understanding of Ron Paul's message is what's scary.

[Joe Goforth]

11:08 PM on 01/08/2012

You mean isolationist as in not being in 2 o3 3 wars at one time?

[GoFig]

08:32 PM on 01/07/2012

This would be a good time for a new party to emerge whether it's Paul or someone else.

[reciprocat]

05:39 PM on 04/28/2012

Yes..now is the TIME!

[peteschwarze]

07:07 PM on 01/07/2012

Ron Paul vs Gary Johnson for the Libertarian nomination. Looks like Libertarian stock just went up. Personally I'll vote for Gary Johnson.

[Jake Stine]

06:45 PM on 01/07/2012

I'd really love for Ron to don Magneto's helmet.

[Shelly Jefferson]

08:13 PM on 01/07/2012

Only if he gets elected,and on Halloween.

[Antoinette Anderson]

06:42 PM on 01/07/2012

If Paul decides to get on the ballot as a 3rd party, Rand can kiss his seat goodbye.

[reciprocat]

05:41 PM on 04/28/2012

Nahhh....he can do it. Just claim he is doing the same thing he did in 2008. Can't blame him for being consistent.

[Party Animal IV]

06:40 PM on 01/07/2012

A lot of Democrats would vote for Ron Paul simply because they are weary of Obama's continued support and expansion of the same old George Bush policies, the very ones they hoped would end by soundly electing Obama over McCain. Many things Democrats would like to have happen won't happen under a president Paul, but since they aren't going to happen with Obama then Paul's strengths become very tempting as well as the fact Paul represents a genuine shake-up of the two party system of gridlock that is also not infinitely sustainable.

Yes, we need things like the EPA, education funding, health care, and corporate tax rates set back up to rational levels, things that Paul may work against; however the United States cannot continue on its path of infinite warfare and expansion of the police state.

Many of the criticisms of him are true, but Paul at least guarantees change, for better and worse.

[agbtpgpg]

06:25 PM on 01/07/2012

He should be Gary Johnson's running mate on the Libertarian ticket.

[peteschwarze]

07:09 PM on 01/07/2012

Makes more sense for Johnson to be the VP he's younger...he'll wind up being president anyway. A betting man would lay odds Paul don't make it four years. He'll be 80 before the end of his first term!

[klincklanc]

05:25 PM on 01/07/2012

Yes Dr. Paul, please run as a 3d party candidate. I will certainly send you some campaign cash in order to thwart the GOP/TP's chances. Run Ron run!

[FancyAmerican]

06:30 PM on 01/07/2012

All that would do is split the vote. He'll be what Nader was to Gore.

This country needs proportional representation, but that wouldn't work for presidential elections anyway.

[klincklanc]

06:36 PM on 01/07/2012

I believe Paul would drain more GOP votes than Dems, but you may be right.

[Jazrak]

08:56 PM on 01/07/2012

Paul is not getting any younger, this may be his last run at it... I would not blame him at all for running 3rd party, the GOP has never shown him much respect anyways he owes them nothing. If Paul running 3rd party effects the GOP that much, they need to step it up a notch, 3rd... 4th even 5th parties run every time... if the GOP is strong they will win no manner what, if they are weak... that's their problem Paul owes them nothing.

[peteschwarze]

07:10 PM on 01/07/2012

The GOP's dead anyway! Bush killed it and Boehner buried it!