Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul was disappointed about his narrow loss in Maine to rival Mitt Romney, however he believes his campaign will “keep going up” as the candidates prepare for some time off before the next state primary election.
Mr. Paul was a favorite to win the Maine caucuses, after spending more time courting voters there than any of his rivals.
However, as he stated Sunday in an appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” there were some key factors that lead to his loss there.
“We were disappointed that the one county where we have done the best in the past, and we have been expected to do the best in the past, they canceled their caucus,” said Mr. Paul.
The Texas congressman is referring to Washington County, Maine. Washington County postponed voting in its caucuses due to the severe weather that occurred there on Saturday.
The Maine Republican party still declared Mr. Romney the winner and Mr. Paul’s campaign has come out and stated that they believe the missing votes from Washington County would give them the victory.
However, that would be difficult based on the results of the 2008 caucuses in Washington County. In 2008 there were only 113 votes cast, 8 of which were for Mr. Paul, The New York Times reports. He would need more than 194 votes in order to win the election.
Ron Paul beyond Maine
CBS anchor Bob Scheiffer asked Mr. Paul what he sees as his path going forward in the race Sunday, which is a good question considering his position in the race as far as delegate votes combined with the fact that he has yet to win a caucus or primary election in the race thus far.
“We’re there to win and do our best,” said Mr. Paul. “Romney’s been up and down, the other’s have been up and down, I haven’t been down, I keep going up. I don’t really go up and down and our numbers grow and once they join our campaign, anybody joins our campaign becomes solid supporters and who knows what’s going to happen. We live in an age where things change rather rapidly, whether politically or economically and certainly in foreign policy things change, so this whole ball game can change rather rapidly.”
Mr. Paul’s claim that he does not go “up and down” is questionable, considering how he has finished in polls throughout the primary race. He is correct though regarding all of his rivals.
When voter interest in the primary race really began ticking up last August, the race truly did seem to be wide open. Texas Governor Rick Perry enjoyed a surge in popularity upon first entering the race, but declined dramatically after a number of speech gaffes in debates and at appearances along the campaign trail.
Pizza magnate Herman Cain surged in late October, but plummeted and dropped out in early December after a number of allegations of sexual impunity began to cloud his campaign.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich surged when Mr. Cain began to decline in late November, but his campaign took a nose dive in late December as the Iowa caucuses drew nearer and voters were inundated with negative ads about his past consulting relationship with failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac. That was around the same time that Mr. Santorum began to surge and eventually went on to win the Iowa caucuses.
During all of that surging and declining by his rivals, Mr. Paul has consistently maintained his middle of the pack position in the race, finishing third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, fourth in South Carolina and Florida and then third in Nevada. Now, after finishing a close second place in Maine he still has a chance to win the nomination mathematically in terms of delegate votes, but he still faces an uphill battle going forward.
Mr. Paul enjoys a loyal following of voters that seem attracted to his unique domestic and foreign policy views too.
Ron Paul supporters who actually go out and vote in state primary elections seem to be not as influenced by previous state results, polls, or whichever candidate happens to be the front-runner at the time of their state election. Although that does seem to be the case with Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum, evidenced by Mr. Santorum’s three victories last week.
Although the Texas congressman was not happy with his second place finish in Maine, the top tier finish there still gives him an edge as the candidates head into 15 day period prior to the elections in Michigan and Arizona. That will be the last primary result on the minds of Paul supporters and undecided voters in the upcoming state elections, with Super Tuesday looming.
As he stated Sunday, Mr. Paul is hoping that voters will continue to be attracted to his message that seems to buck the “status quo” evoked by his rivals.
“All three of them have represented the same system, the same status quo, not wanting changes in the foreign policy. None of them talk about spending cuts, none of them talk about real changes in monetary policy, so their not a whole lot different,” said Mr. Paul. “When it comes down to those three I think its going to be management style more than anything else.”
