It appears that Ron Paul is as popular as fresh lobster in Maine. The Republican presidential candidate said Monday he is hoping for “a grand showing” in Maine’s Republican caucuses Friday through Sunday. He visited the State House in Augusta and made remarks to a crowd of nearly 200.
Paul is the invisible candidate nationally despite his success in campaign fundraising and general popularity. However, state Republican Party Executive Director Julie O’Brien says his supporters may have been the most active in Maine.
According to Natalie Schultz of the Nolan Chart said Paul has a good chance of taking 21 delegates during the state competition because his campaign fits right into the politics of the area:
“Because outside of the political elite urbanites who control the state, the majority of real Mainers are very anti-government gun-lovers. Huckabee is gaining a Christian following, but truthfully, most Mainers are old-school Christians, not Evangelicals.”
Paul winning Maine has the potential to throw the Republican presidential bid race into complete chaos. If John McCain loses to Mitt Romney in Florida on Jan. 29 there will still be no clear front-runner. With 9/11 poster boy and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the verge of bowing out if he does not grab Florida, which he probably won’t, there will be no one left in the Republican race whom the media can use to hide Paul behind.
Like it or not, Paul is getting harder to ignore. Time for mainstream media and the Republican Party to put their heads together and figure out another way to hide Paul in plain sight.
Paul’s luck from Nevada must have followed him into this week. The underdog GOP candidate collected $1.85 million on Monday. Most of the money came in the form of small donations (anything under $50) which means his popularity may be on the rise. This brings Paul’s 2008 fund-raising total to more than $2.6 million, most of it from the Internet, heading into the Florida primary and Super Tuesday. He and I need to take a trip to Vegas and hit the craps tables.
It should be noted that Paul beat the top two Republican contenders. A Tuesday NYC fundraiser by Sen. John McCain, gathered about $1 million, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Sunday trip to Chuck Norris’s ranch, which Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman says brought in about $330,000.
And while the money keeps pouring in people are stepping up to endorse Paul. Monday the former Republican governor of New Mexico said,“I am endorsing Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for president because of his commitment to less government, greater liberty, and lasting prosperity for America….Ron Paul has my support, respect, and vote.”
And Tuesday, on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, Norma McCorvey–a.k.a. “Jane Roe”–gave Paul her official endorsement: “I support Ron Paul for president because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe v. Wade. He has never wavered on the issue of being pro-life and has a voting record to prove it.”
But, like the late Notorious B.I.G said, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” At the same time Paul is celebrating his boost in contributions and endorsements, he is being criticized for disparaging comments made in a newsletter bearing his name, about slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and the national holiday that honors him.
A New Republic article earlier this month outed a 1990 newsletter called the Ron Paul Political Report in which either Paul or ghost writers called King an adulterer and seducer of young children. The article also questioned honoring him with a national holiday.
“We are supposed to honor this ‘Christian minister’ and lying socialist satyr with a holiday that puts him on a par with George Washington?”
Paul refuted allegations that he wrote or believes the messages in the article. He said in a statement issued by his campaign that “several writers contributed to the project” and he has taken “moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”
Ron Paul placed second after former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the Nevada caucuses Saturday. Paul, the U.S. House member from Texas won 14 percent of the vote from his Republican adversaries.
“He finished ahead of John McCain, Fred Thompson and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by gathering 6,084 votes or roughly 14% of the turnout for the Republican Primary.”
In reality the ”win” is hardly a victory. Paul is currently in fifth place with a total of six delegate pledges from the Republican party after six state caucuses. That number is laughable compared to the 72 delegates Romney leads the GOP candidates with. Yet Paul’s six delegates still puts him in a better position than former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. As of Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Giuliani is claiming two delegate pledges. For now.
Curiously enough, certain media outlets overlooked Paul’s success. A writer for the Political Machine blog on AOL news found this video. Pay attention to the bottom right-hand corner that shows the votes and percentages as they are counted.
