If, ultimately, a candidate has no realistic shot at the nomination, will do nothing to shape who the nominee will be and will eventually end up with single digit vote totals, I am not sure how that candidate is anything other than minor.

And yes, by that definition Dodd and Biden are minor candidates as well.

Amen. I haven’t seen it said better.

The net effect of his running is not all that different than the net effect of him not running.

Hence, he is a minor candidate.

I’m not sure what this means. Ron Paul has stuck to his guns over the years. He is still working in congress. He has always addressed ideas and not the person.

For example, when encouraged to address the no-shows and say why he was there at a PBS debate, he only spoke to why he was there.

He has always spoken to the ideas that the next president must bring to the table.

How is that doing nothing to shape who that nominee will be?

Do you mean he does not change his position?

After all, he raised $1.2 million in online donations alone during the week of Sept. 24-30, $350,000 on a five-day swing out West, and $100,000 in one night at a private fundraiser in Dallas.