The Maine and Nevada convention victories for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul mean at least six states will send Paul majorities to the national convention. This gives the Texas congressman a strong possibility of a prime-time appearance at the podium.
Mitt Romney has 856 delegates, 288 shy of the number he needs to clinch the nomination. Paul has 94, according to an Associated Press count. But Paul and his active crew may get quite a few more delegates. Minnesota and Missouri are on the horizon as likely possibilities.
There are 107 delegates at stake in primaries Tuesday in North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia. An ABC News analysis says Paul has a “mathematical shot” at winning delegations from Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont.
Short of winning the nomination, Paul and his supporters may be able to upset a hoped-for Romney coronation in Tampa the way they influenced the state Republican conventions in Maine and Nevada. They may be able to suspend the rules, make all sorts of motions from the floor, deliver speeches from the podium and possibly get some of their ideas into the party platform.
Romney is in a ticklish spot. If he should succeed in quieting the Paul forces, he might alienate them so badly that they wouldn’t eventually join forces with him to try to beat Barack Obama. So the Tampa convention may be excruciating for the Romney team but great theater for the Democrats and independents.
The GOP, perhaps mainly those engaging in the primary process, are extremists in various different ways. I believe Jon Huntsman represents what the average conservative minded thinker is, fair and reasonable, yet principled in his beliefs. He got essentially zero support though.
Splintered groups pushed candidates that would represent them only and there was no thought given to what the general election would be like. So while guys like Paul, Perry, Bachmann, Santorum, etc. are appealing to a segment of the Republican party, some of them are down right repulsive to other segments. But honestly, what do you expect of the party with politicians who view compromise as the dirtiest word around? Neither Paul nor Romney have what it takes to appeal to the general electorate.
Compromise used to mean that you sit down and talk about your differences, identify any problems, and then fix the situation. We don’t do that any more. We just yell, scream, bite and scratch until we get our way. Problem is, both sides are doing it, and “We the people,” suffer.
Compromise today means that we sit down and talk about who gets what, and passing laws so no one can say anything about it. I see Ron Paul as someone who isn’t just going to sit down and conspire against us, just to get/stay elected. Romney has clearly already done this very thing, by getting the GOP to essentially shut down the Paul campaign.
Anyone who has been paying attention to what’s been happening here in Maine with regards to the recent “voting irregularities” and outright dirty tricks, can see that Romney doesn’t care about the process at all… He just cares about getting elected.
I care about our electoral process and the rule of law. Romney doesn’t care about those things. Romney isn’t good for the USA, and is not a person I support.
At least Paul is firm in his convictions, and does what he says he’ll do, even if that means stepping on a few toes. He has a solid voting record, as far as anyone can tell. All the dirt the media can dig up on him is a weak charge of racism based on a fan-based newsletter article which he himself didn’t even write!
Romney is a groomed candidate. We’re supposed to vote for Romney, like good little Americans, waving our flag and all that jazz.
I agree with you. I think candidates like Romney (by his record) and Hunstman are right for the GOP, as Obama and Clinton are right for the Democratic Party. I see nothing wrong with differences, but as a party, you have to be able to coalesce around something. Republicans currently can’t do that because each fraction is so extreme that they can’t each agree on something as a whole. Of course you need to be strong in your convictions, but you must realize you can’t get everything you want — that has been the problem with this primary process, they haven’t realized that.
Yes, but we must admit, that sometimes saying “No” is a good thing.
what is more coalescent for true republicans then reducing the size of government?
Does that number you quoted for Romney include or exclude the Maine delegates the media had prematurely awarded him? Because last weekend his numbers went backwards…. and none of the delegates yet to be awarded at state conventions should be counted a sure thing…
I have no idea as to the percentages, but there are a lot of Paul supporters who will not support Romney.
I think Ron Paul should call out Romney to a debate.
A winner take all, sudden death debate, right before the nomination and
select Paul Ryan as his VP when he gets the cameras rolling. The press
would be forced, absolutely forced to cover it, and If Ron can get a
fair shake, he’ll prove why he’s the man for the job.
Yahoo, stop connecting these comments to other social media..
if only. Romney would never accept under the guise of “well he is too small time for me” which translates too; I know I don’t have a leg to stand on next to this guy.