DANG! - Fiorina now leading Paul, Kasich, and Christie in RCP Average

[Abraham Reagan]

Fiorina - 4.3%
Paul - 4.0%
Kasich - 3.8%
Christie - 3.8%

Few notes: So much for that Kasich debate "win", and I guess it turns out that NO ONE really won that Christie v. Paul spat.

[Eraserhead]

I'm hoping Kasich gets knocked out of the next debate.

[ElectionsGuy]

It's time for Paul to drop out.

No. People can come back, y'all need to stop saying this. We have 6 months until the primaries.

[mencken]

It's time for Paul to drop out.

Ideally he would do so around January, when a last minute endorsement of Cruz could make the difference in Iowa.

[Abraham Reagan]

It's time for Paul to drop out.

Uh, no. There is no real reason at this point for any candidate to drop out. There are many more books to sell and headlines to make. Besides, the longer they can stick it out the more likely they are to benefit from winnowing as others give up.

Yeah but if everyone had that logic, then who would ever drop out?

[Mehmentum]

Paul at least occupies an ideological space that no one else is in.  If Paul drops out there is no Libertarian candidate to push those ideas.

[heatmaster]

Well they did say a woman was gonna win in 2016, and who imagined that it might not be Hillary Rodham Clinton! , go figure😊

[Flake]

Rand Paul has been consistently dropping in the polls after the years of hype and how "libertarianism is the future of the Republican Party". He grew to prominence as a Libertarian, but now he's just a standard conservative who's only socially libertarian on issues such as the NSA programs. Any chance of him winning is completely shot because he's proved to be a terrible candidate.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Rand Paul has been consistently dropping in the polls after the years of hype and how "libertarianism is the future of the Republican Party". He grew to prominence as a Libertarian, but now he's just a standard conservative who's only socially libertarian on issues such as the NSA programs. Any chance of him winning is completely shot because he's proved to be a terrible candidate.

Atlas strikes again

Standard Atlas is the Kasich circlejerk. Flo's analysis is spot on.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Paul at least occupies an ideological space that no one else is in.  If Paul drops out there is no Libertarian candidate to push those ideas.

I don't think "pretend Libertarian" is actually an ideological niche, and his lack of support seems to back that up. He's polling worse than his father was in August 2011.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

Paul at least occupies an ideological space that no one else is in.  If Paul drops out there is no Libertarian candidate to push those ideas.

I don't think "pretend Libertarian" is actually an ideological niche, and his lack of support seems to back that up. He's polling worse than his father was in August 2011.

His father had more than just libertarian support. People fail to realize this though.

If Libertarian ideas are only supported by 4% of Republican voters, I don't think they're going to have much of an effect on the primaries, regardless.

[Blair]

Why is saying that Rand Paul is an awful candidate a controversial position?

[Mister Mets]

It's time for Paul to drop out.

He should start considering it since he's also trying to run for reelection.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Rand Paul has been consistently dropping in the polls after the years of hype and how "libertarianism is the future of the Republican Party". He grew to prominence as a Libertarian, but now he's just a standard conservative who's only socially libertarian on issues such as the NSA programs. Any chance of him winning is completely shot because he's proved to be a terrible candidate.

Very true!

This post explains very accurately Rand Paul's history and why he's proving to be a bust.  Being a Rand Paul fan is like a Christian who got saved at a Billy Graham Crusade listening to Franklin Graham; it's different than the original, and it's NOT better.  Rand's supporters wanted RON Paul, and they're not getting him.  He's not what the hard-core Ron Paul supporters wanted.  It's like eating canned or frozen Chow Mein instead of going to (at least) a decent take-out place.

Rand Paul's saving grace, and his almost-secret asset was the fact that for a long time he polled stronger against Hillary Clinton than any other Republican.  This put him in the position where however much the Establishment GOP didn't like him, they'd still deal with him if he got the nomination.  Now, even those numbers are slipping.  And I believe the reason is that (as Governor Flo suggested) over time, he's dropped (or, at a minimum, de-emphasized) his Libertarian positions and comes off as not much different than other conservatives.  He's no longer unique and that hurts him badly.  If he's just like Ted Cruz, most folks would just as soon have Ted than Rand.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Rand Paul has been consistently dropping in the polls after the years of hype and how "libertarianism is the future of the Republican Party". He grew to prominence as a Libertarian, but now he's just a standard conservative who's only socially libertarian on issues such as the NSA programs. Any chance of him winning is completely shot because he's proved to be a terrible candidate.

Atlas strikes again

Standard Atlas is the Kasich circlejerk. Flo's analysis is spot on.

THE RAND PAUL MELTDOWN . . .

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Fiorina - 4.3%
Paul - 4.0%
Kasich - 3.8%
Christie - 3.8%

Few notes: So much for that Kasich debate "win", and I guess it turns out that NO ONE really won that Christie v. Paul spat.

I don't think Kasich has ever really polled better than this. As for Christie and Paul, the once mighty have certainly fallen.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Fiorina - 4.3%
Paul - 4.0%
Kasich - 3.8%
Christie - 3.8%

Few notes: So much for that Kasich debate "win", and I guess it turns out that NO ONE really won that Christie v. Paul spat.

I don't think Kasich has ever really polled better than this. As for Christie and Paul, the once mighty have certainly fallen.

Christie and Paul were once "frontrunners".

[King]

Paul at least occupies an ideological space that no one else is in.  If Paul drops out there is no Libertarian candidate to push those ideas.

I don't think "pretend Libertarian" is actually an ideological niche, and his lack of support seems to back that up. He's polling worse than his father was in August 2011.

His father had more than just libertarian support. People fail to realize this though.

If Libertarian ideas are only supported by 4% of Republican voters, I don't think they're going to have much of an effect on the primaries, regardless.

This is true. But Libertarian support generally matters for the general election

But it doesn't. 4% of the GOP primary is even less in the general. Johnson's 1% to Romney wouldn't have made a difference in any state.

[TarHeelDem]

Kasich's policies are just too logical for the GOP.