This week, Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. In fact, he’s likely to win more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined.
“Hold it”, you’re saying, “How can that be? Rep. Paul’s polling in single digits in Florida. He’s going to finish behind Gingrich and Santorum, as well as Mitt Romney, in Tuesday’s Florida primary. How can that translate into beating any of his rivals at all?”
We’ll tell you how – because he’s not winning those delegates in Florida. He’s winning, or will probably win, at least a few delegates in Maine.
Paul took a quick two-day swing through Maine over the weekend, in case you didn’t notice. He met with GOP Gov. Paul LePage. He spoke to big crowds throughout the state – in Lewiston, apparently, event organizers had to expand his conference room to handle the people who showed up.
He even landed the coveted L.L. Bean endorsement – that's Linda Lorraine Bean, heiress of the L.L. Bean empire and a lobster roll entrepreneur in her own right. She endorsed Paul on Saturday from her restaurant in the retail outlet mecca of Freeport.
Hat tip: Drudge Report
Paul's also focusing his campaign out West on caucuses in Colorado and Nevada where he's hoping to make major gains:
While his GOP rivals duke it out in a bloody Florida primary on Tuesday, Ron Paul will continue stumping for votes in the caucus states that dominate the political calendar over the next week.
Paul does well in caucus states, where superior organization and passionate supporters play to his strengths and could allow the Texas congressman to pick up more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined this week.
Even Republican strategist Karl Rove admitted that strategy provides Paul the biggest advantage over the next week while speaking on Fox News Monday night.
“I think it’s going to be a advantage of Ron Paul,” Rove said on “On The Record with Greta Van Susteren.” “He’s been spending a lot of time on caucus states. His campaign manager announced this is going to be a big focus.”
While Florida Republicans will hit the polls on Tuesday, Paul will be stumping in Colorado and then Nevada.
The Paul campaign said they are heavily focused on picking up Nevada’s 28 delegates by turning out Hispanic and Mormon voters.
...
Paul’s message of limited government and individual liberties plays well in Nevada, which is a conservative anti-tax state but also has liberal pro-choice laws and the lowest average attendance of church in the nation, Herzik said.
Paul’s campaign has been running television ads in Nevada since last summer, and senior aides add that they will continue to run them in the state through the Feb. 4 caucuses.
The Las Vegas Sun reports that Paul has spent $350,000 on air time in the state.
Flush with cash from a $13 million fundraising haul last quarter, Paul said he’s staying in the race through the convention.
Wes Messamore,
Editor in Chief, THL
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