Paul West reports on the county conventions in Wyoming, won by Mitt Romney – just as the 2008 vote was won by Mitt Romney – in a low-profile, fairly decisive manner. West also demonstrates why the delegate hunt is such a beast.
So: Romney won 39 percent of the vote, beating Rick Santorum by 7 points, beating Ron Paul by 18 points. What does it do to the convention math? “Romney will get 10 of the Wyoming delegates, followed by Santorum with 8, Paul 6, and Gingrich 1.” That’s pretty pathetic. In 2008, Romney took 54 percent of the county conventions and earned 8 of 13 delegates. John McCain didn’t get any. The net delegate advantage for Romney, over his closest competition, is one-quarter what it was in 2008.
Meanwhile, the Paul campaign crows about its haul. Campaign chairman Jesse Benton:
Ron Paul winning six delegates in Wyoming using few resources is an extraordinary outcome and it affirms that our delegate-attainment strategy can help Dr. Paul secure the Republican nomination.
That’s Romney’s advantage. Paul has no interest in attacking Romney, as has been incredibly well-documented by ThinkProgress.
