It's interesting that the Romney campaign wants to fight about this. I can understand the RNC getting involved, I can understand the local GOP insiders being pissed off; even Maine's Romney supporters I imagine have some reason to feel slighted. But Romney (or rather his campaign) can't really...
It's entirely possible that he realizes the game is up, and that acquiescing to a written vote would just waste everyone's time and piss everyone off without changing the outcome.
It's good that Paul himself will be there. It should make it a little harder (i.e. more embarrassing) for them to pull any shenanigans. And I suppose it may motivate a few additional supporters to show up, much as I'd like to believe that everyone who has gotten to this point will be going, come...
1) Default (for the sixth time in 200 years... one would think the lenders would learn)
2) Accept that no one is going to lend you money now, or at least not in the next twenty years
3) Balance the budget
Simple, if not easy. The problem is that this leaves no opportunity for banksters to get...
It's too soon (even for someone with complete information) to be sure of such a thing, at least for most of the states where we will probably achieve a plurality. But it's nice to know that we are doing well behind the scenes.
It's possible that they're counting bound delegates who are believed to be Paul supporters (or something). Remember, there is no way to actually have an accurate picture with just one total number per candidate, since first round ballot vote and actual loyalty can be two different candidates...
They can decline to air ads for all sorts of reasons. Greenpeace tried to air an anti-car ad quite some time back ("Carasaurus"). No majors would take it; too much ad revenue from car makers. On the other side of the political spectrum, the NRA has had ads they couldn't place on major networks...
It's too soon to declare victory. Ideally we'd like to have our opponents believe that we've sealed the deal while our supporters know that there is still work to be done :-). It does look *promising*, to be sure - but I'm sure the party establishment still has some cards to play.
What does 'have a voice' mean?
Anyway, so far as negotiating position: as others have already pointed out, it has more to do with Romney's delegate position than with our own absolute number. Romney has 1000 and we have 200, we have some leverage. Romney has 1150 and we have 300, we still need a...
Won't happen. Santorum doesn't have (or rather won't have) nearly the delegates imputed to him by media estimates. Remember, it's not just us trying to hose him in places like MN or Iowa - the Republican establishment (most of them anyway) doesn't want him either.
Sad that we didn't get anything here... but on the plus side, those are tiny numbers (of caucusgoers). A situation where a couple of determined people can make a difference.