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politics and politicians Title: Will Ron Paul win more delegates this week than Gingrich, Santorum? This week, Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. In fact, hes likely to win more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined. Hold it, youre saying, How can that be? Rep. Pauls polling in single digits in Florida. Hes going to finish behind Gingrich and Santorum, as well as Mitt Romney, in Tuesdays Florida primary. How can that translate into beating any of his rivals at all? Well tell you how because hes not winning those delegates in Florida. Hes 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 didnt 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. Asked why she wasnt supporting fellow New Englander Mitt Romney, Ms. Bean said Ive always been for Ron Paul, according to a statement posted on Pauls campaign web site. As weve previously reported, unnoticed by most of the DC-based political establishment, the Maine caucuses actually began this weekend. So Paul wasnt in Maine just because he likes riding around in salt-crusted Suburus. Most Maine towns will hold their caucuses during the state GOPs preferred window of February 4-11. But most doesnt mean all. Lincoln, Lowell, Burlington, Chester, Enfield, Winn, and Howland held their joint caucus on Saturday. Millinockets was on Sunday. And so forth. Each Maine caucus is holding a presidential preference straw poll, the state- wide results of which will be announced February 11. This poll is non-binding. But each caucus is also starting the process of selecting delegates to the state and national GOP conventions. The Paul campaign is making a big push to get its people involved in politics at this level. It is highly likely that some Paul supporters won delegate slots over the weekend news reports indicated that the Paul crowd was making a big pitch at some caucus sites. After spending two days plus up in Maine, I was very encouraged, Paul himself said Sunday during an appearance on CNNs State of the Union with Candy Crowley. Asked whether he was going to win Maines caucuses, Paul told Crowley, We did pretty well three years ago [in Maine] and we werent nearly as well organized. And Romneys been popular up there, but less so right now. So I would say that we have a very good chance. Now Maine has only 24 delegates total, so its not like the Pine Tree State strategy is a springboard that will somersault Paul into the White House. Florida has 50 delegates, almost twice as many, despite the fact that its been penalized by the national GOP for advancing its primary. But Florida is winner-take-all. That means, if Gingrich and Santorum finish behind Romney, as polls currently indicate they will, neither of them will win any delegates. Nada. Zip. So Paul only had to score one more delegate in Maine this weekend to outperform them, convention-wise. Given that Maine Republicans tend to be more libertarian than socially conservative, and given that Paul actually campaigned there, we think that's a likely occurrence. Of course, the comparison is not entirely fair. At this stage in the race, the higher priority for both Gingrich and Santorum is maintaining a sense of momentum and a flow of donation dollars. Both could accomplish that by performing well in Florida, whether they win any delegates or not. Paul, in contrast, already has a core of committed supporters and enough money to keep going to the convention in Tampa. Hes not trying to win the presidency as much as he is trying to maximize his ability to spread his libertarian message.
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#1. To: jwpegler (#0)
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Without going into details, I want to point out that Ron Paul is not going after just more GOP delegates. He is winning the hearts and minds of American patriots from sea to shining sea with his message. That is all that matters. America no longer has to vote for the "lesser of two evils." He delivers a message of hope in leadership for America unlike the hot-aire and smokey-room, closed door charlatans that have prefabricated scripts from their NWO overlords.
Indeed. I think America is finally getting the true picture of how corrupt they really are in DC. Thank God for that...
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! -- Samuel Adams --
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