If you were a betting man, you wouldn't worry about such a statistically unlikely scenario as him being "knocked off".
It'd be like holding pocket aces and folding because you are worried about someone pulling a flush with 7-2 off suit.
Hell, the dude's going to be 76 this August. It's a far more reasonable assumption that his ticker gives out before the primaries than to worry about assasination.
Ron Paul is not young, but he is in far better health than McCain. If he drops from a heart attack than it probably wouldn't be a natural condition. The problem is, you think that sort of thing is beyond people in our government but that is far from the case. As it stands they will do anything they can to keep Paul from taking the helm of the Presidency. If it comes down to either letting him rise to the highest office in the land or snuffing out his life I think the calculations would be in favor of the latter option.
Honestly, the media coverage of Ron Paul has all the attributes of a media blackout. The way in which all the major media seek to isolate and demean his candidacy suggests very powerful people across the spectrum have very strong motivations for opposing him. We are talking about, in my opinion, people who would not bat an eye at killing their fellow Americans for political gain because they feel entitled to make those sorts of decision outside the public eye.
Certainly the establishment will do everything within its power to convince the masses that Ron Paul is not good for them, that Ron Paul is not the candidate they want to choose. Obviously they have succeeded with most people here, even a number of those who actually support him. However, all he really needs is to build up support in Iowa and New Hampshire. After that there would be no denying his ability to achieve what the establishment insists is impossible.
No doubt if he wins one or both of those major states you will see all sorts of attempts at demonizing him and defaming his character all over the media. A sudden U-turn will happen when the original states that are deemed to effectively determine the nomination become irrelevant in the eyes of pundits, just like the national polls have apparently become irrelevant. If directing the entire corporate media against him still fails to end his candidacy the tactics will just become increasingly dirty and if the only way to keep him out of office is to put him six feet under then some "lone crazy" is liable to take a few shots at him.
I get that you may have a hard time seeing that because you have been so heavily indoctrinated with the lie.
Today's polling numbers are meaningless. Given the time involved, the uncertainty is so great that even a candidate who is in the lead is not assured of actually winning the nomination.
That hasn't stopped them from using it to trumpet any other candidate, so why not with Ron Paul? Can you not see that there is an underlying motivation for denying Paul's candidacy? Any other candidate with these numbers would be getting all sorts of press coverage, but many in the media act like Ron Paul doesn't even exist. How can you not see that it is not about accurate press coverage and all about keeping people from voting for him?
His number is pretty high for the people who would never vote for him, though not as high as Palin's.
IBOPE | Zogby IBOPE Zogby Poll: Cain Now Second to Christie As Top Choice Of GOP Primary Voters
It seems pretty much every major candidate has similar figures. Only the lesser-known candidates have opposition lower than 25%. Notably the candidates who have higher unfavorability ratings all have far more media coverage and the preferred candidate of the establishment, Romney, is only a little lower than Ron Paul in terms of unfavorability.