In between now and the actual candidate selections, he could also end up splitting a lot of support of a nonstatist Republican and give the nomination to Rudy or Romney, which would not be much better than just letting the Democrat win.
Not much better? In Rudy's case, not much better than starting the day with a double-shot of hemlock. Romney? Maybe hemlock mixed with good Scotch.
Maybe not quite that bad...maybe.
I voted for Perot (as did several of my friends, and my sister), and I'm well aware of the result. I kicked myself for the next eight years. That said, my subsequent voting for the "lesser of two evils" has brought me nearly full circle. I will not vote "against" someone again.
I will vote "for" Hunter, Huckabee, Tancredo (in that order, as of about four months ago, and unchanged as of today) in the primary. Then what?
In the general election I will either vote "for" someone I believe in, or if the candidate is Giuliani, McCain or (maybe) Romney), I will abstain from voting for a President for the first time since 1976.
I will still vote for Senatorial, Congressional, Gubernatorial and local candidates...if I can find some that have remained true to their stated ideals. Being a Texan, I won't have much trouble there, Governor aside
...and Ron Paul? Hey, we finally got around to him
Ron Paul is a great American, but he is not a great speaker or statesman. While he is absolutely right on a lot of Constitutional issues (including the declaration of war) his just-come-home position on Iraq is going nowhere. He had my attention four months ago, and I still listen to what he says, but all kidding aside, if I were in the market for a cut-and-run candidate, there is no shortage of those out there...
I interact with a good number of people day-to-day, and get into some rather spirited discussions about politics and candidates. I know absolutely nobody who takes Ron Paul seriously, and that is sad. I would welcome the discourse.
At this point, (IMHO) the only thing he can do is to help ensure Hillary's presidency by playing Perot (Part Deux). That is a sad commentary on both the State of the Union, and moreso, on the choices offered to us by the Republican Party.