Paul supporters looking to third parties

LAS VEGAS, July 6 (UPI) -- Some supporters of former Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul say they cannot support the likely GOP nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Paul, a longtime Texas congressman, ran on a platform that called for a strict adherence to the Constitution, radically shrinking the size of government and expanding individual liberties, and an end to the Iraq war, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Sunday.

"I can't vote for McCain," said Paul campaign volunteer Wayne Terhune. "I don't think he's a real conservative. I'll probably go to a third party."

Paul has not endorsed McCain, and many analysts wonder if his supporters will look to the Libertarian Party, which has nominated former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Paul was the Libertarian presidential nominee in 1988.

In Nevada, where Paul got more caucus votes than McCain, Paul's supporters succeeded in getting some of their positions included in the official state Republican platform, such as abolishing the Patriot Act and the Federal Reserve.

"They totally threw the establishment for a loop here, and the Republican Party is still reeling from it," said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.