Many of you may be watching the three states who had their primaries today (Tuesday, February 8, 2012) and wondering what the candidates themselves feel about the number of votes they have gathered. Others out there may know that while the votes are important, it's really the number of delegates one receives that makes the difference.
While you look at the results in Minnesota you may see that Santorum has an overwhelming percentage of votes (currently with 74% reporting he has 45% of the vote) yet with Ron Paul close on his tail they will both receive a large number of delegates. Newt Gingrich, not so much.
Yet last week Newt Gingrich was the flavor at the primaries. It seems that while Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum circle each other Ron Paul stays secure in his position. (And we cannot forget that both Gingrich and Santorum were unable to get on the ballot in numerous states and don't have access to 567 delegates at all - or that Missouri's event today is simply a staw poll as "the Missouri primary is non-binding and has no impact on delegate allocation.")
What do you think will happen to those delegates who are there for Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich once they drop out of the race?
According to the Wall Street Journal:
“We did very well tonight and have a very, very strong second place and it’s going to continue,” Mr. Paul said. He added,”The straw vote is one thing, but then there’s one other thing called delegates … and that is where we excel, we know what to do about getting delegates.”
Again, remember that a number of the caucuses and primaries we have had so far have been non-binding. I like the Green Papers, they do an excellent job keeping track of the delegates.
With most of the votes counted in Minnesota, Rick Santorum won the caucuses with 45% of the vote followed by Mr. Paul with 27%, Mitt Romney, 17% and Newt Gingrich, 11%.
The last week has been a major test for Mr. Paul’s campaign, as he chose to focus on caucus states such as Nevada and Minnesota over winner-take-all stats such as Florida. A small but energized group of supporters can typically hold more sway in caucus states, where lower turnout is the norm.
Mr. Paul said Tuesday evening that he expects to get a good number of delegates from Nevada, and that “when the dust settles, I think there’s a very good chance that we’re going to have the maximum number of delegates coming out of Minnesota.”
So - remember this fun tidbit:
The 40th REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION will have a total of 2,286 delegates, with 1,144 (a majority) necessary in order for a Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate to be nominated.
I wonder if those 567 delegates that Gingrich and Santorum will not have access to will make a difference when trying to reach 1,144 delegates...
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