obama/gingrich contest. head to head matchup matchup where obama comes out on top 51-43 but in a three-way race it's 43% to 32% to ron paul 21%. shirra, a significant ron paul factor? >> it is significant. i'm sure the white house is praying and hoping that that is what happens, that there's a third-party candidate that can chop off gingrich, romney, whoever the nominee's support is. i think democrats would really like that. whether or not that's going to be the actual result on election day if that indeed is the scenario, that's a little more undetermined. i think third-party candidates have huge hurdles to cross when it comes to getting on the ballots in a lot of states and the candidates need to be particularly well-funded if they are going to achieve that if that's going to be the result on election day. >> ken vogel, didn't rule it out certainly with david gregory? >> yeah, and ron paul, there are definitely enticements for him there to think about running as a third-party candidate. let's not forget in 2008 when he finished with 10% of the vote in the iowa caucus that he refused