The Hill News

A third-party bid by Ron Paul or New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg could seriously disrupt the 2012 presidential election, a new poll from NBC and The Wall Street Journal says.

Paul would earn the support of 18 percent of voters in a three-way race with President Obama and Mitt Romney, according to the poll, with Romney earning 32 percent and Obama receiving 44. 

That 18 percent exceeds the 8 percent that Paul earned in the last poll of Republicans by USA Today/Gallup, showing some of the crossover appeal to independents and Democrats of the libertarian Texas congressman. Paul mounted a third-party bid in 1988, but has said so far that he didn't anticipate running if he does not win the Republican nomination.

Read more...