Ron Paul Takes 2nd in Nevada, Beats McCain

Ron Paul posted his best finish of the primary season so far, taking second place in the Nevada caucuses this morning, topping national front-runner John McCain by over 400 votes. Ron Paul earned 14% of the vote, but anecdotal reports from precinct leaders there indicated that his share of the precinct-level delegates could be higher, which will eventually determine how many of the state’s 34 national convention delegates he earns.

The strong finish in Nevada should help boost the total donations during the Free at Last money bomb on January 21st, and give renewed inspiration to Ron Paul volunteers in the February 5th Super Tuesday states. Mitt Romney’s first place finish in Nevada should help to keep the Republican race deadlocked for that much longer. Mike Huckabee was a distant fourth with 8% of the vote, just ahead of Fred Thompson, also at 8%.

Long-shot candidate Rudy Giuliani placed sixth with just 4% of the vote, and has yet to reach double digits in any primary so far. Giuliani won’t win the nomination, but his continued presence in the primaries could affect the outcome, particularly in the less socially conservative Super Tuesday states.

The South Carolina primary results weren’t quite as promising for Ron Paul, who like Romney came in considerably lower than in Nevada. John McCain stopped Romney’s momentum from wins in Michigan and Nevada, edging out Mike Huckabee for the win. Fred Thompson appears to be holding on for a third place finish over Romney, which should keep him in the race for a while longer. Ron Paul placed fifth with 4% of the vote, finishing well ahead of Rudy Giuliani and Duncan Hunter. South Carolina has only 24 delegates to the national convention, so the results there won’t have much of an impact on the nomination.

The jumbled race continues to leave an opening for Ron Paul, whose campaign remains in stronger shape financially than most of the Republican field, and with a much stronger grassroots network nationwide, now numbering nearly 100,000 volunteers. Duncan Hunter announced that he has dropped out of the race, which should help Ron Paul in California on February 5th, one of the Western states where Hunter has appreciable support.