Is Ron Paul Now The Front-Runner For The Republican Nomination?

Is Ron Paul now the front-runner for the Republican nomination?  Many in the mainstream media had written him off long ago, but at this point there are a whole lot of reasons to believe that he could actually win this thing.  Poll numbers for Ron Paul are surging in Iowa and New Hampshire, Ron Paul has raised a lot of cash, and Ron Paul has built a top notch organization in both Iowa and New Hampshire.  Mitt Romney has long been considered the front-runner for the Republican nomination, but most Republicans are not excited about him.  In fact, there is a significant percentage of Republicans that will not vote for Romney under any circumstances.  Conservatives have been trying to find a viable alternative to Romney, but so far no other candidate other than Ron Paul has generated much enthusiasm at all.  Donald Trump got people excited for about a month, but then he decided not to run.  Sarah Palin would have garnered a ton of support from conservatives but she also decided not to run.  Rick Perry soared to the top of the polls for a while, but his numbers dropped like a rock after a series of disastrous debates.  Herman Cain was flying high for a bit, but all of the allegations of sexual misconduct have seriously damaged his campaign.  For some reason, conservatives seem to have become convinced that Michele Bachmann can't win.  Some conservatives have become so desperate that they have even started supporting a "RINO" like Newt Gingrich.  The Republican field is very crowded and Republicans are not rallying around any one particular candidate.  This is the perfect environment for Ron Paul to make a run at the nomination.

Ron Paul is still lagging in the national polls, but in Iowa and New Hampshire he is in excellent position.

A new Bloomberg poll of Iowa voters had Herman Cain at 20 percent, Ron Paul at 19 percent, Mitt Romney at 18 percent and Newt Gingrich at 17 percent.

What makes these numbers even more encouraging is that the support for Ron Paul seems to be much more "solid" than the support for any other candidate.

Just check out the following numbers from a Bloomberg article about the Iowa poll....

Among likely caucus-goers who say their minds are made up, Paul leads with 32 percent, followed by Romney at 25 percent and Gingrich, a former House speaker, at 17 percent.

That is huge.  Among those that will not change their minds, Ron Paul has 32 percent of the vote.

Other polls out of Iowa show Ron Paul surging as well.

A new Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG poll had Herman Cain at 24 percent, Ron Paul at 20 percent and Mitt Romney at 16 percent.

Keep in mind that Herman Cain's numbers continue to fall in the wake of the recent sex scandal revelations.  Unless Herman Cain can turn things around, it does not look like he is going to be a serious contender.

In New Hampshire, a recent poll has Ron Paul in second place behind only Mitt Romney.  If Ron Paul can win Iowa and take second place in New Hampshire that would position him as the "anti-Romney candidate".  As other Republican candidates drop out, Ron Paul would pick up a lot of their support.

In the final analysis, there is a very real chance that the Republicans could decide to go with Ron Paul rather than Mitt Romney.

Plus, it finally looks like the mainstream media may be starting to take Ron Paul seriously.  As author Jack Hunter recently noted, Paul is doing all of the things that are usually associated with being a front-runner....

"How does the media decide who is a front-runner? By any conventional standards we judge it by fundraising, poll numbers, and organization. And in all three of those- yeah- Ron Paul is a frontrunner. His fundraising is obviously off the charts good, particularly the nature of it - and organization he's second only to Romney, and in Iowa it is the best. In all the conventional ways - he's performing very well"

Many in the mainstream media are beginning to notice that the poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire are changing.  Just check out this recent interview with Ron Paul on CNBC....



So what does Ron Paul have that the other candidates don't?

Well, for one thing, he generates a lot of passion.  That is just not the case with any of the other Republican candidates at this point.  Just check out the following video.  Who else out there has volunteers that are this passionate?....



This next video is a Star Wars parody that depicts Ron Paul as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

We don't see Romney supporters, Cain supporters, Gingrich supporters or Perry supporters making these kinds of videos....



Yes, Ron Paul has some significant challenges to overcome, but he is definitely in it to win it.

As this election season rolls on, we will continue to cover the key political issues of the day.  One thing is for sure - America cannot afford another four years of Barack Obama.  We need to send someone to the White House that will change the direction this country is heading in.  Hopefully America will vote wisely in 2012.