Rise of Ron Paul

This is interesting.  Ron Paul is given an 8.6% chance of winning the GOP nomination.  This puts him in a distant second to Mitt Romney.  It seems that Newt Gingrich's campaign has lost steam.  He is given even less of a chance than Paul.  This seems to be the pattern.  A candidate is seen as an alternative to Romney, and his chances go up with his name recognition.  However eventually the unattractive features of the candidate come to light, and they drop in the polls and betting markets.

I think it is unlikely that Paul will get the nomination.  Mitt Romney's idea that we need a strong national defense may be misguided, but it is quite popular within the GOP.  Besides having unconventional views for a Republican, he has some embarrassing features as a candidate.  He allowed racist views to be published in his name(see details here).