It’s Prime Time for Paul in New Hampshire

January 10, 2012 10:42 am by: KUT Staff

U.S. Congressman Ron Paul headlines a town hall in Meredith, NH. About 500 supporters and undecided voters showed up to hear him speak ahead of Tuesday's primary. Photo by Thanh Tan/Texas Tribune

By Thanh Tan, Texas Tribune

If the polls are any indication, it’s unlikely that U.S. Rep. Ron Paul will emerge as the victor in today’s primary in New Hampshire. But he’s strongly positioned to take second.

Finishing anywhere in the top tier would help to propel his campaign forward, said the University of New Hampshire‘s Dante Scala, an expert on the first-in-the nation primary.

Paul’s following in the Granite State has been well documented in recent days. His fiscally conservative and anti-federal government stances, plus his non-interventionist foreign policies, attract a motley crew of supporters, from the young to the elderly, the most liberal to the ultra conservative.

Fans of the libertarian iconoclast tell The Texas Tribune they are devoted to the man, not to the party. In that sense, the candidate who threatens his runner-up status — former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman — will have to rest his hopes on the undecided voters. According to the UNH Survey Center, about 29 percent of New Hampshire voters polled in its latest survey have not settled on a candidate.

“There’s still some volatility out there, which could produce a surprise,” Scala said. “I don’t know that [Paul has] got a second burst of energy that would drive him forward in the polls. One thing he does have to his advantage is he’s one of only three candidates on the air consistently right now.”