I think I'll revise my earlier statement that Paul's chances are less than one in a million....I give him two, maybe three chances in a million these days.
The changed assessment is based on a variety of things, but especially things like this ->
link.
Military [financial] support for the republican candidates
NAME: TOTAL [ARMY] [NAVY] [AIRFORCE] [VETERAN] [USMC**]
RON PAUL: 24,965 [6,975] [6,765] [4,650] [5,075] [1,500]
McCain: 17,475 [6925] [6305] [1795] [800] [1600]
Romney: 3,551 [2,051] [0] [1500] [0]
Giuliani: 2,320 [1,450] [370] [250] [250]
Hunter: 1000 [0] [1000] [0]
Huckabee: 750 [250] [0] [500]
Tancredo: 350 [350] [0] [0]
Brownback: 71 [71] [0] [0]
Thompson: 0 [0] [0] [0]
Units are contributions in dollars by employees of the respective military organizations.
Source: Finance Reports for the 2007 July Quarterly.
Percentages**:
49.5% Ron Paul
34.6% McCain
7.0% Romney
4.6% Giuliani
2.0% Hunter
2.3% Others
Certainly there are a lot of possible explanations for this, but if Paul is well-received in military circles than this could be a good leading indicator of credibility and acceptance amongst conservatives.