Jay Leno Asked Ron Paul About a Third Party Run -- Here's His Answer

On last night's Jay Leno, Texas Congressman and Republican Party gadfly Ron Paul gave a series of comments that suggest, probably to the relief of many Republicans, that he likely won't run for president on a third party ticket.

Paul made a statement to that effect after Leno asked the retiring congressman several questions about lesser topics, such as the speech by Clint Eastwood at last week's RNC, or whether Paul himself could have gotten a speaking slot if he'd officially endorsed Mitt Romney. As reported by Mediaite this morning, when asked about running third party, Paul seemed to rule out the idea because he didn't believe it would be effective in getting his message across, and that he could not win.

"I’ll tell you what: the system is very biased," Paul lamented. "We talk a lot about democracy. We send our troops overseas. We want to spread democracy. But democracy isn’t all that healthy in this country because, if you’re in a third party, an alternate party, you don’t get in the debates. The truth is, if I would have tried in the last several years to do exactly what I have done in a third party, I probably wouldn’t have gotten — wouldn’t have made it -- to your show. But there is, you know, something about it that — and if you ever come to a conclusion, heaven forbid that the two parties aren’t all that different, then what is left?"

Watch Paul's interview with Leno, including his comments seemingly throwing cold water on a third party run, below: