Ron Paul won the Saturday debate and will run as a third party

Two things struck me about the Saturday Republican debate. The first is
that I believe that Ron Paul won the debate hands-down. He was on the
offensive throughout. The second is that Paul virtually ignored
Romney, rather than challenging Romney, and directed his fire at
Gingrich and Santorum.

This post is not about my personal political views, it is about my political analysis of what is happening, which is:

Ron Paul is not running against Romney right now, he’s running to become
the leading alternative to Romney right now. As long as multiple
alternatives to Romney survive, Paul has a good shot at being a clear
second place.

Most likely, Ron Paul will have a substantial presence in every primary and caucus from now until the convention. At the convention, Paul and his people will have a large number of delegates and will be a huge and highly visible presence throughout the convention.

I do not believe most pundits are adequately factoring in a Republican convention where Ron Paul and his people will be such an enormous presence with huge visibility to the nation for every minute of every day of the Republican National Convention.

I suspect Ron Paul has a plan to run as a third-party candidate, but this is pure speculation on my part.

My political analysis is: Whether Ron Paul and his strategists have a plan or not, Paul will be perfectly set up, from the primaries through the convention, for a third-party or independent run for the roses in November.