With Mitt Romney out of the Presidential race, we are now facing several months of scattered Republican primaries and caucuses across the country. It’s likely that Mike Huckabee’s campaign will continue on a bit longer, and he may even score a few upset victories, but the odds are that he will be out of the race by March 1.
That leaves two active long-shots fighting to be the protest candidate for upset voters who can’t bring themselves to support Senator McCain. One is Congressman Ron Paul who has shown a regular ability to win about 5-15% of the vote in any Republican contest. He’s already picked up 20 or more delegates to the convention and odds are he’ll at least triple that number by the time all the votes have been counted.
Keyes, on the other hand, hasn’t had much success at all this year. He was a significant magnet for protest votes in 2000, particularly for conservatives. After Huckabee exits the race, we might just see Alan Keyes start to win some delegates as well.
The end of Mitt Romney’s campaign now marks the real start of these other fringe campaigns to rack up some delegates that they can carry to the convention. We’ll see what happens.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Perhaps Alan Keyes will allow true conservatives to vote and maintain their own integrity rather than be forced to accept they HAVE TO vote for a McCain. Not really a vote in protest, this time, but a vote in desperation
February 7th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Any conservative that votes for macain is a traitor to his/her principles.Its time to draw a line in the sand.This far and no further.!!!Paul would be better than a macain presidency!I have voted republican all my life.I backed bush twice.Im sick of voting party line and watching my values and beliefs thrown out the window!!No more!!!Huckabea isn’t much better either.Nope the way I see it,with Romney out Ron Paul is the only choice any true conservative can vote for with a clear conscience.I know hes abit eager to make some huge changes,but congress will keep him in cheek.One thing we can count on is that Paul will do nothing that isn’t fully constitutional,and That he would put his full attention toward getting the economy back on track.I haven’t seen anyone try to argue economics with paul as he is well known for his knowledge in that area.As for the big one, national security.Well after looking into pauls record there is no resone to believe he would do anything other than strengthen our badly weakened military.We need to focus on getting our country strong again.Real power.A Strong industry and A strong currency.Without either we cannot have a strong defense.Iraq is not worth what its costing us.hell if we were in so much danger why do our borders still remain so easy to cross?Please folks use the internet to do some real research.Our country needs the conservatives now more than ever,and we are failing.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Maybe Al Keyes could be Ron Pauls Vice Prez.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Brokencage said: “Any conservative that votes for machine is a traitor to his/her principles.Its time to draw a line in the sand.”
Now hold on a second there “Brokencage”, there is a hiccup in that line of thinking. A pretty big hiccup. As much as I dislike McCain, and I can’t stand him, he’s just a Democrat with an ‘R’ next to his name, the alternative is even less than favorable. Out of the three front runners (McCain, Clinton and Obama) who would I tolerate in the White House?….. At the moment McCain.
You draw that line in the sand come November and you, me and everyone else is going to be standing in line for our government mandated health care.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Ron Paul has been ELECTED to 10 Congressional terms. Wake me up when Keyes is elected to a position higher than dog catcher.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Well, Keyes was appointed to several diplomatic posts within the Reagan administration. So he does have governmental experience, if not elected experience.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Huckabee is the only conservative that still won’t sell out on the border.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:42 am
They aren’t going to get away with presenting us another left-leaning Republican. Conservatives are in the MAJORITY, and they want a true conservative who:
- Is pro-life (as in ending abortion in all 50 states) as #1 priority
- Will secure the borders, not just talk about it
- Will stop ILLEGAL immigration
- Is against judicial activisim
- Is a Constitutionalist
- Will protect American sovereignty. No submission to the United Nations, or coming under the authority of any other nation or group of nations.
- Will protect freedom of expression of religion
- Will restore individual freedom
- Will abolish the IRS and lower taxes
- Has the courage to resist the liberals
- Is not beholding to big donors who demand favors later
- Is strong on protecting us from terrorism and infiltration of radical islamists
The media, and apparently the Republican Party itself, don’t want you to know that that candidate is still in the race. That candidate is Alan Keyes. They know he can win, and they know the people will vote for him. That’s why they have been presenting a false image of him if they present an image at all. Read the truth for yourself at http://www.alankeyes.com and http://www.alankeyes.com/pdf/iowa_tabloid.pdf
February 8th, 2008 at 1:43 am
It’s hard to decide. But Paul seems to be the one. I saw this site, which kind of clinched my decision.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I am tempted to say “FU” at your attitude but instead I will say that Ron Paul with $20M and 4-5,000 people at rallies this past week is HARDLY fringe. He got a wonderful reception at CPAC.
He WON Louisiana, and got second in several other states, as high as 25%. He also has 42 delegates NOT 20.
McCain is the real fringer….SO why don’t you just STFU?
February 8th, 2008 at 2:35 am
OK get this straight! Alan Keyes was ambassador to the UN, wrote the Mexico City Policy for Reagan, was on National Security Council with Reagan, worked at AEI, helped with Minuteman Project, was by Terri Schiavo’s family side, and with Judge Roy Moore in Alabama. He stands with true conservatives, he is not a paper convservative like PAUL–
February 8th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Wow! check out http://www.OpenGOPconvention.com !
Some people are still fighting, even if the RINOs think they have a slam-dunk.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
i don’t understand this “true” conservatives thing. McCain is a bit of a lefty, but Ron Paul not conservative???? i don’t know much about Keyes, other than what i have read here. has he ever had an elected position? other than abortion being the #1 priority, sounds decent. personally, i prefer Obama to McCain, nearly the same views on everything except Iraq.
…also STEVE: check RonPaul’s voting record on the border. One of his very few Yes votes.
to all of you, thanx for speaking your mind and sharing ideas and information. no matter what or who you believe, speak up! listen! think! share!
thanx again
February 8th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
“he is not a paper convservative like PAUL”
Tim, what kind of credibility are you trying to draw here? I’ve got nothing against Keyes, but come on dude…
February 8th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Ron Paul spoke to 10,000 people at Liberty University today. Great news, looks like finally someone can rally up the conserative base. Limited government and lower taxes is no longer something a republican can talk about until getting elected and then forget about it.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Ron Paul is the only candidate who has brought in new republicans. None of the others. It’s very obvious that the GOP can either back Ron Paul, or be happy with giving the election away to a democrat. The GOP is not going to win with a guy who wants to keep us in Iraq for another 100 years, or the guy who wants to amend the constitution based on church.
I sure won’t vote for either of them. So if the GOP wants my vote, they had better nominate Ron Paul. I’ll have no problem at all watching the democrats win, rather than let a liberal like McCain in the white house. Atleast in 4 years we get an alternative if the democrats win, but no alternative in 4 years if McCain wins.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Ron Paul is also the only candidate who has been able to pull democrats over to the republican party as well, which is a must of any GOP candidate who has a chance, as the party shrunk so much in 2006 because of the war. McCain might be liked by the democrat establishment more, but the voter surely aren’t going to switch to him because of his war stance.
It’s a no brainer really. You got a candidate with huge grassroots support, gives real honest answers to our problems, means what he says and has gotten the most money donated of all the other candidates. The only thing he has not gotten is equal time on the media. Which btw McCain’s campaign finance laws only go to put more importance in. As TV time costs alot of money, but the media is able to give it to certain candidates for free. And the extra time given to those candidates over Ron Paul is apparent to anyone who watches TV, even if you don’t like Ron Paul.
I fail to see what there is to talk about. You’re either a conservative or you aren’t. If you are a conservative, you vote for the conservative candidate, no matter what part of the election it is. Having a -R behind their name doesn’t automatically make them a conservative. It’s not a free pass, the media is just trying to give them one.
I always thought the conservatives were the smart ones. I certainly hope I wasn’t wrong.
February 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
“Out of the three front runners (McCain, Clinton and Obama) who would I tolerate in the White House?….. At the moment McCain.
You draw that line in the sand come November and you, me and everyone else is going to be standing in line for our government mandated health care.”
You know what, their comes a time when people must do what is right, not just what is easiest. You do not purpose to do whats right, you admit yourself McCain isn’t a conservative. You just wish to do what is easy.
Ron Paul on the other hand is strong. He has taken the conservative voice and represented it well. Just like he has over 10,000 people at a rally today, and the other candidates are lucky to get 100. He is educating the people on what the Republic is about, why it is better and how this country has gotten off track. He is out there doing what is right, not just what is easiest. He tells the truth, even when it is not popular.
Because if he were looking for the easy way, he would just do what the others do and look for things to say to get people to vote for him. Instead, he understands that politics is more than electing a person, it’s about educating and getting people to understand why it is better and how it works. He gives real answers to people, no matter how much they might like it.
Because the real future of this country is not based just on who is elected. It’s based on having a country who understands the proper role of government. Because when people do not understand the proper role, it allows them to take any role, which only leads to tyranny. Even if you like GWB, or any candidate who gets elected. It’s only a matter of time before 1 gets elected who fully uses the power given to the office.
No different than the first abuse of the general welfare clause. You open that loophole, and way more than what you want is going to come out.
How long will people keep doing what is easiest, instead of what is right? How much longer will people surrender their rights, and hide behind a war rather than face the war on our liberties here at home? How much longer?
I’ve known since I started supporting Ron Paul it wasn’t the easy road. I knew I’d be dealing with alot of attacks and bias. I do have to admit I never expected the media to be so obvious in it’s bias, but that has worked against them in many regards. It was easy for them to attack Ron Paul, and not offer anyone better. Now as the field has gotten smaller, they can’t just attack Ron Paul without given an alternative, because the alternative is all clear. And now conservatives are sitting there wondering, how did this happen? How did we end up with a democrat for our nominee?
Ron Paul is leading the way, and you can either jump on those coattails, or you can get stomped on by the socialists.
February 10th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Dr. Worm –
Last year, Sen. Obama was rated the #1 most liberal Senator. Sen McCain has a lifetime rating of 82% from the American Conservative Union. I just don’t see the facts squaring with your delusion that their views are indistinguishable on everything but Iraq.