Comments on: Libertarian ticket 88 votes shy of 500,000

By: paulie cannoli

paulie cannoli — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:55:29 +0000

I believe if Ron had run himself, he could have pulled more than 1%,

I think he may have pulled more than 10% as an independent, at least 2-3% as CP or LP or both.

By: rdupuy

rdupuy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:41:02 +0000

Of course, one can slice and dice up the numbers the way one wants too. But I think overall these are encouraging numbers for 3rd parties.

Ron Pauls republican movement fluttered into nothingness by the time the general election came about. I believe if Ron had run himself, he could have pulled more than 1%, although, he too would have suffered the same fate as most 3rd party candidates.

The argument of ‘vote wasting’ has become very effective, for the time being. But I think the war of ideas can be waged on that front as well…it doesn’t have to always be that way, and it won’t.

We’ve seen over the years, any time you run a weak candidate, your numbers can tumble. Badnarik, Bergland….or infighting causes disgust and donations and support to drop off, as for example in Browne’s 2nd run.

My take on it…the fact that Barr got this far, with infighting raging full force…Ron Pauls attempt to harm the LP, along with the internal holy war…it impresses me, he did well for a newcomer.

I will certainly not support anyone who refused to come together as a unified party, for 2012.
But if we get someone that does unify the party…i.e. someone new who did not behave badly in 2008…could be looking at some real growth!

By: paulie cannoli

paulie cannoli — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:28:30 +0000

Nowhere near the celebrity that Nader is. I’ll guarantee her name recognition is not even close.

Raw total benchmarks I am also looking at:

Nader 700,000
Baldwin 200,000
McKinney 150,000

All still doable with write-ins etc.

By: TheOriginalAndy

TheOriginalAndy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:21:36 +0000

“McKinney did the best for a Green who has not been a celebrity for decades, but Cobb was the only other one, so itâ€™s not newsworthy.”

As a former member of Congress, McKinney is somewhat of a celebrity.

By: paulie cannoli

paulie cannoli — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:28:19 +0000

Nader ’96 vs. ’08 is another benchmark we’re watching.

McKinney did the best for a Green who has not been a celebrity for decades, but Cobb was the only other one, so it’s not newsworthy.

By: George Dance

George Dance — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:19:28 +0000

Now it’s time to start paying attention to Chuck Baldwin’s totals: The previous high for a CP ticket being 184,820.

By: Mike Gillis

Mike Gillis — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:58:28 +0000

Oooh. You mean the 500,000. My mistake.

By: Mike Gillis

Mike Gillis — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:58:09 +0000

Not OFFICIAL official, as there are at least a few hundred thousand votes to be counted in my home state and rumored at least a million in CA…

Those totals will likewise crawl upwards.

By: paulie cannoli

paulie cannoli — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:53:07 +0000

It’s official:

Nader
679,465

Barr
500,045

Baldwin
180,864

McKinney
146,559

By: joeydauben

joeydauben — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:08:04 +0000

This is good news, but still kinda sucks that we didn’t get 1 percent nationwide. I liked the Indiana results, but perhaps if we were on 50 states and not 45, it would be different.