Romney and Paul to go head to head [POLITICO]

[realtonygoodwin]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/05/when-romney-and-ron-paul-go-head-to-head-122617.html

Sorry if this has been posted already, I didn't see it...

Also, the link is blocked at my work, so if someone would be so kind as to summarize the contents, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Jeremy]

The article is actually wrong because it happened in Virginia.

[Massachusetts]

Now that Newt Gingrich has dropped out, Tuesday’s presidential primaries will be the first in which Mitt Romney faces only one opponent on the ballot who has not yet suspended his campaign -- Ron Paul.

It’s not exactly the first time the two have gone head-to-head: That happened in the March 6 Virginia primary, when Romney and Paul were the only two to make the ballot. In that instance, Romney won by a big margin, 59.5 percent to Paul’s 40.5 percent.

This time, Rick Santorum and Gingrich will remain on the ballot in Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia.

Even so, the Smart Politics blog asks, “So how much of a boost can Paul expect to receive in his one-on-one challenge against the former Massachusetts governor?”

From the Smart Politics report:

In 2008, Congressman Paul averaged 7.4 percent in the 41 state primaries and caucuses held before Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race on March 4th - leaving the field open to just McCain and Paul.

That left just two active candidates in the race (with the occasional ex-candidate still lingering on the ballot) for the remaining 12 contests.

Paul averaged 12.4 percent of the vote in those dozen primaries, or an increase of only 5.0 points when he had a one-on-one matchup against John McCain.

In 2012, Paul has averaged 15.7 percent of the primary and caucus vote through the first 37 contests excluding U.S. territories).

[realtonygoodwin]

Ahhh, thanks. The accompanying picture on the front page implied a debate... :/