Joining Paul on Montana's presidential ballot are Bob Barr, Libertarian Party; John McCain, Republican Party; Ralph Nader, independent; and Barack Obama, Democratic Party, said Secretary of State Brad Johnson.
David Hart of Kalispell, who ran Paul's campaign in Montana, predicted that Paul's candidacy would hurt the other four candidates on the state's presidential ballot, particularly McCain.
Hart predicted Paul may also draw some votes that Obama would otherwise pick up because Paul's message “is really unifying in terms of liberty and freedom and that goes across the party lines.”
“It's an exciting development,” Hart said. “People will have an opportunity to not vote for the lesser of two evils.”
Disagreeing was Montana Republican Party Chairman Erik Iverson of Missoula.
“I've got all the respect in the world for David Hart and Ron Paul,” he said. “But I think the only candidate in Montana that it hurts is Bob Barr.
“Montana voters who would vote for him (Paul) on the Constitution Party ticket are folks who probably wouldn't have voted for John McCain anyway and they certainly wouldn't have voted for Barack Obama.”
If he weren't on the ticket, Paul voters would either vote for Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, or not vote at all, Iverson said.
“John McCain is going to win because he is going to coalesce the Republican base behind him and bring in some independents and some conservative Democrats,” Iverson said. “At the end of the day, he will win Montana by 8 to 10 percentage points.”
Kevin O'Brien, Montana Democratic Party spokesman, said Paul obviously has a lot of support in Montana and defeated McCain in the February GOP caucus here. He remains confident that Obama will carry Montana.
“Our priority is registering new voters and turning out our supporters,” O'Brien said. “We feel there is enough support to put Obama in the blue column this fall.”
The Constitution Party of Montana, which split off from the national Constitution Party, said Monday it nominated Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, for president. Paul did not seek the Montana nomination, but did not oppose it either, said Jonathan Martin, chairman of the Constitution Party of Montana.
“There was a time in America when people, because of idealism and personal conviction, voted for the best, most qualified candidate, regardless of his chances to win,” Martin said. “We in the Constitution Party of Montana would like to give the voters in Montana a chance to return to that tradition.”
Paul supporters also are trying to get him on the Louisiana ballot under Louisiana Taxpayers Party ticket.
State Rep. Rick Jore of Ronan, the vice chairman of the Constitution Party of Montana, said Paul has a 20-year track record of voting according to his oath of office and has “been exemplary in that regard.”
In the binding Montana Republican caucus in February, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed first with 38 percent, followed by Paul with 25 percent and McCain with 22 percent. In Missoula County, Paul came in first in the February caucus.
In the nonbinding June Montana Republican primary, McCain won 76 percent of the vote to Paul's 22 percent, with 2 percent having no preference.
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