With all of the money rolling in, will Ron Paul (like Bloomberg) also run as an Independent?

[snowbear]

I mean.. think about it --- he really hemmed and hawed when Anderson Cooper asked him if he'd stay in the race and run as an Independent. If Anderson wouldn't have moved on to another question so abruptly, he likely would have answered it.

Depending on who the Democratic nominee is .... and depending on who the Republican candidate is.. I can see more than Bloomberg jumping in as an Independent.

What do you think?

[davidinalameda]

1. I really hope so

that would be great

[snowbear]

3. I actually thought he was more likely than Bloomberg to get in..

But even with Bloomberg in, Ron Paul has some kind of freaky following that is raising enough money for him to stay in this thing until it's over.

I say he runs as an Independent.

[annie1]

2. i voted no. but just curious, what happens to all the funds people have raised if they drop out?...

or to they just spend every last dime. ?

oh, also, larissa, it is speculated that Bloomberg will run in that article, rumors,but nothing solid.

[snowbear]

5. Thanks annie.. Just scanned that thread.. but I do have another question if anyone knows...

How does it work when there are more than one Independent candidate running? Can they run as many as they want to?

For example.. let's say Bloomberg and Paul decide to run as Independents.. then (if Hillary wins) Nader will likely keep his threat to jump in... and if Rudy doesn't get the Republican nomination, he may seek an Independent run.

How many can run?

[Captain Angry]

12. There were 14 candidates on my ballot in 2004.

Dem
Rep
Green
Libertarian
Constitution
etc.
etc.
etc.

If a candidate can get on the ballot, based on the individual state's requirements, they can be voted for.

[Occam Bandage]

4. God I hope so.

Let that asstard play Nader.

[TwilightGardener]

6. He wouldn't be able to even get on the ballot in most states, due to

"sore loser" laws, so it would be a purely symbolic run, if he did it. I doubt he will.

[snowbear]

7. That would apply to Ron Paul and Rudy both, right?

So Bloomberg and Nader can still run as Independents if they choose to..

[TwilightGardener]

10. Yep--if you run in a party primary, many states prohibit "sore losers"

from disrupting the race when they lose (er, except Connecticut, apparently). So Bloomberg is a go, Rudy and Paul, no-go.

[snowbear]

Yeah.. what a pisser that Connecticut didn't have the sore loser law..

...

[snowbear]

11. dupe..

[Kucinich4America]

13. Too bad Connecticut isn't one of those states.

We would have been rid of Senator Palpatine for good last year. :(

[BurningDog]

14. Sore loser laws may not apply to President

Generally speaking, “sore loser laws” (election laws that say someone who failed to be nominated in a party primary, cannot then be independent candidates in the general election) don’t apply to presidential candidates.

We know this, because of precedent. John B. Anderson ran in two-thirds of the Republican presidential primaries in 1980. On April 23, he withdrew from the race for the Republican nomination (since it was obvious Ronald Reagan was going to be the nominee) and declared as an independent candidate. He got on the ballot in all 50 states and D.C.

Other individuals who ran in presidential primaries, and then got on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate, over the years, have been Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, Robert La Follette in 1924, David Duke in 1988, and Lyndon LaRouche 1984 through 1992. Thanks to Steve Rankin for reminding me about Roosevelt.

When one combines the precedents set by Anderson and these others, one finds a precedent that sore losers do not apply to presidential candidates, in almost all states. The exceptions are Texas, Ohio, Mississippi and South Dakota (where elections officials have said the sore loser laws do apply), and Pennsylvania (where the law has never been tested).

Even in the four states that say their “sore loser” laws apply to presidential candidates, there are sound reasons why a court might disagree.

http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/07/20/do-sore-loser-laws-apply-to-presidential-candidates/

The question is would there be enough time to hash out all the legal stuff between declaring to run and the election.

[CK_John]

8. Don't forget the matching funds. n/t

[snowbear]

9. Which Bloomberg would NOT need since he'd pay his own way...

. . .


Rudy.. I dunno about his fiances?