MrCobaltBlue
01-31-2008, 04:50 PM
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/021560.html
AUGUSTA - With a band of highly motivated supporters and a natural appeal to a mass of like-minded independents, Ron Paul's prospects at this weekend's Maine Republican caucuses are rated very high by party officials and other political observers.
Maine's GOP polling Friday, Saturday and Sunday may be the Texas congressman's best shot at winning a state, and the win would be big coming just says ahead of the Super Tuesday presidential preference contests in more than 20 states.
It doesn't hurt that Paul's visit earlier this week made him the only presidential aspirant from either party to visit the state in the run-up to the caucuses.
"I think that (because) he's paid attention to Maine, he'll be rewarded," R. Kenneth Lindell, Paul's campaign coordinator in Maine, said Thursday.
Lindell wouldn't give specifics on the number of Paul volunteers, but allowed that the number is in the hundreds, not a small figure considering Maine's relatively small population and meager share of the national delegate pool.
Paul's campaign has drawn a mix of young voters who are getting involved in politics for the first time, longtime Republicans with libertarian leanings or who are unhappy with the direction the party's been going, and independents who've left the party, said Lindell.
Maine has center stage as the nation's only presidential preference event this weekend, giving the winner a chance of carrying momentum into Super Tuesday's voting. Democrats gather on the following weekend in Maine.
The non-binding Republican caucuses are the first step toward electing Maine's 18 delegates to the party's national convention. Three ranking party leaders also go.
AUGUSTA - With a band of highly motivated supporters and a natural appeal to a mass of like-minded independents, Ron Paul's prospects at this weekend's Maine Republican caucuses are rated very high by party officials and other political observers.
Maine's GOP polling Friday, Saturday and Sunday may be the Texas congressman's best shot at winning a state, and the win would be big coming just says ahead of the Super Tuesday presidential preference contests in more than 20 states.
It doesn't hurt that Paul's visit earlier this week made him the only presidential aspirant from either party to visit the state in the run-up to the caucuses.
"I think that (because) he's paid attention to Maine, he'll be rewarded," R. Kenneth Lindell, Paul's campaign coordinator in Maine, said Thursday.
Lindell wouldn't give specifics on the number of Paul volunteers, but allowed that the number is in the hundreds, not a small figure considering Maine's relatively small population and meager share of the national delegate pool.
Paul's campaign has drawn a mix of young voters who are getting involved in politics for the first time, longtime Republicans with libertarian leanings or who are unhappy with the direction the party's been going, and independents who've left the party, said Lindell.
Maine has center stage as the nation's only presidential preference event this weekend, giving the winner a chance of carrying momentum into Super Tuesday's voting. Democrats gather on the following weekend in Maine.
The non-binding Republican caucuses are the first step toward electing Maine's 18 delegates to the party's national convention. Three ranking party leaders also go.