Thorn in Romney's side not dead yet. How Ron Paul still has a sneaky shot
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Couldn't find an on-line version. Here's the text of the article so you can spare your eyes.
New York
Paul Tooney
US Correspondent
Turns out reports of Ron Paul's political demise have been greatly exaggerated -- and his tactical genius is becoming apparent as he gives Mitt Romney a serious fright. Dr. Paul, the only remaining challenger to Mr. Romney - the Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate - has been widely written off as a nuisance candidate after failing to win a single state in the caucus and primary race. That has changed. The elderly Texas congressman has now won the majority of delegates in Mr. Romney's home state of Massachusetts, as well as Maine and Nevada, even though the frontrunner had supposedly "won" these states months earlier. Dr. Paul's furiously loyal supporters have been swamping state conventions, which are held months after the actual caucus or primary votes. Using their numbers, and sometimes acting in the guise of Romney supporters, they have been electing each other as delegates to the August national convention in Tampa, where the party's presidential nominee will be formally elected. Two weeks ago in Maine, Dr. Paul won the state's delegates in a landslide, even though in February Mr. Romney won a clear majority of the caucus vote. Dr. Paul, 76, may not win enough delegates to secure the nomination but his numbers will force the Republican establishment to negotiate with him and, at the very least, let him share a stage with Mr. Romney in Tampa. Dr. Paul this week said he would stop wasting money on the remaining primaries and urged his supporters to focus on winning delegates at state conventions. Most tallies have Mr. Romney leading Dr. Paul in the overall delegate count by 973 delegate votes to about 104. But such figures are only projections that do not account for the state conventions, which produce real delegate numbers. Most states have not held their state conventions and the real delegate numbers will not be known until late June. Austin Petersen, a Paul supporters from the national organization FreedomWorks, which fights for lower taxes and smaller government, agrees that Dr. Paul's strategy may not win him the nomination. "But Mitt Romney's people are freaking out, for good reason, because Ron Paul has been winning these caucuses and state conventions and coming out with the highest amount of delegates," he said. "It's enough to cause a stink in Tampa."
The smaller portion titled 'How Paul still has a sneaky shot'
It's enough to make your head hurt, but within the intricacies of the US election system lies Ron Paul's genius. Journalist Ben Swann is one of the few studying the Paul surge. "People think delegates are selected via popular vote in a state's primary or caucus," he said. "That's not how it works. There are multiple steps in a state process before delegates are selected to go to the national convention." Dr. Paul has been mainly exploiting the caucus system, which is different to the primaries where, in most states, delegates are allocated on a proportional basis and supposedly "bound" to vote for their candidate in Tampa. However, the Republican National Convention rules state delegates may vote according to conscience, so there is no legal requirement for Mr. Romney's bound delegates to vote for him.
New York
Paul Tooney
US Correspondent
Turns out reports of Ron Paul's political demise have been greatly exaggerated -- and his tactical genius is becoming apparent as he gives Mitt Romney a serious fright. Dr. Paul, the only remaining challenger to Mr. Romney - the Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate - has been widely written off as a nuisance candidate after failing to win a single state in the caucus and primary race. That has changed. The elderly Texas congressman has now won the majority of delegates in Mr. Romney's home state of Massachusetts, as well as Maine and Nevada, even though the frontrunner had supposedly "won" these states months earlier. Dr. Paul's furiously loyal supporters have been swamping state conventions, which are held months after the actual caucus or primary votes. Using their numbers, and sometimes acting in the guise of Romney supporters, they have been electing each other as delegates to the August national convention in Tampa, where the party's presidential nominee will be formally elected. Two weeks ago in Maine, Dr. Paul won the state's delegates in a landslide, even though in February Mr. Romney won a clear majority of the caucus vote. Dr. Paul, 76, may not win enough delegates to secure the nomination but his numbers will force the Republican establishment to negotiate with him and, at the very least, let him share a stage with Mr. Romney in Tampa. Dr. Paul this week said he would stop wasting money on the remaining primaries and urged his supporters to focus on winning delegates at state conventions. Most tallies have Mr. Romney leading Dr. Paul in the overall delegate count by 973 delegate votes to about 104. But such figures are only projections that do not account for the state conventions, which produce real delegate numbers. Most states have not held their state conventions and the real delegate numbers will not be known until late June. Austin Petersen, a Paul supporters from the national organization FreedomWorks, which fights for lower taxes and smaller government, agrees that Dr. Paul's strategy may not win him the nomination. "But Mitt Romney's people are freaking out, for good reason, because Ron Paul has been winning these caucuses and state conventions and coming out with the highest amount of delegates," he said. "It's enough to cause a stink in Tampa."
The smaller portion titled 'How Paul still has a sneaky shot'
It's enough to make your head hurt, but within the intricacies of the US election system lies Ron Paul's genius. Journalist Ben Swann is one of the few studying the Paul surge. "People think delegates are selected via popular vote in a state's primary or caucus," he said. "That's not how it works. There are multiple steps in a state process before delegates are selected to go to the national convention." Dr. Paul has been mainly exploiting the caucus system, which is different to the primaries where, in most states, delegates are allocated on a proportional basis and supposedly "bound" to vote for their candidate in Tampa. However, the Republican National Convention rules state delegates may vote according to conscience, so there is no legal requirement for Mr. Romney's bound delegates to vote for him.
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thank you!!
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