Ron Paul running as a third party candidate will hurt Republicans like Ross Perot did in 92

First off, Merry Christmas, solarman and to everyone at Debate.org. As for the subject of the debate: Will a Ron Paul independent / third-party candidacy "hurt" the Republicans like Ross Perot did in '92? My answer is two-part: (1) NO, because if Ron Paul does not win the nomination, the party will be irreparably damaged anyway. The problems Reagan created by the "fusion" of fiscal conservatives, militarist war-hawks, and Bible-thumping religious extremists are coming to a head with this election. The coalition lasted nearly thirty years, but like the New Deal coalition that preceded it, its days are over. The political elites have converged in bi-partisan consensus, leaving the majority of Americans feeling as though the two parties are essentially the same. The new winning coalition will be bringing these disaffected voters from across the political spectrum together with the unifying message of freedom. Ron Paul brings people together. The message of freedom is one that can even bring together solarman and Lindsay, if given time. (2) NO, because very few Ron Paul supporters will support a pro-war, pro-inflation neocon Republican. Even fewer are likely to vote for Hillary, but if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, then a good hunk of Ron Paul supporters will vote for him (if Paul does not run) over Giuliani, Romney, McCain, or especially Huckabee. (This is because a good number of Ron Paul's supporters are not constitutional scholars or Austrian economists -- they are attracted to Ron Paul's authenticity and honesty, and for whatever reason, a great deal of people see that in Obama, too. A fair share of Paul supporters are former Obama people who saw the light). Mostly, Ron Paul's supporters will vote the Libertarian or Constitution Party candidates (or another independent) if Ron Paul is not running, or they will just write Ron Paul's name in, which I plan to do (IF he fails to win the GOP nomination and does not run independent). Thus, in an electoral sense, an independent / Libertarian Ron Paul will neither hurt nor help the GOP in 2008 -- the Republicans will be doomed whether he runs or sits out. It makes virtually zero difference to me who the president is if it's not Ron Paul. The most fundamental political issue of our time is the Federal Reserve and the coming dollar crisis, and every single other candidate -- from Fred Thompson to Dennis Kucinich and everyone in between -- is in unanimity on that issue. I just don't see Hillary as a Great Satan that you do. Why would our country be any better off with another four years of George H.W. Bush than with Bill Clinton? They ran on virtually identical platforms, just as Hillary and every Republican (except Ron Paul) do today. If you voted for Perot, you should be proud of your vote. Even though he was a protectionist and far too liberal, he was worth voting for (just as many good liberals see Ron Paul as worth voting for). The fact is that we don't really even vote for president -- we vote for presidential electors. And our individual votes, by themselves, are unlikely to be the deciding factor in determining which electors get sent to the College. In 1848, Martin Van Buren (one of our greatest and most underrated presidents) ran as a third-party candidate, on the Free Soil Party ticket. He got over 10% of the vote, despite the fact that everyone who voted for him knew he could not win the election. But these voters could not bring themselves to voting for the pro-slavery Whigs or the pro-slavery Democrats -- they wanted to vote AGAINST slavery and for Free Soil. Similarly, Ron Paul supporters, by and large, will be unable to bring themselves to vote for a candidate who stands for the slavery that is imperialism, police statism, confiscatory taxation, and worst of all, inflationist fiat-money printing. Your vote is your ultimate expression of your First Amendment rights -- selling it out to the lesser of two evils is a rejection of American republican principles.