Romney seeks convincing win to get back on track for GOP nomination but the vote could be tight
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is desperately seeking a convincing win against Ron Paul in the conclusion of the Maine caucuses on Saturday night.
Romney is hoping to regain momentum in his bid to win the party nomination after his surprise midweek defeats while Paul is hoping for his first victory in the 2012 White House race.
Paul has invested lots of time in Maine, a state which Romney won easily in the 2008 race, and, defying the political tradition of not tempting fate, has hinted he may win it. He has a large and enthusiastic army of volunteers from Maine and surrounding states working to get supporters to the caucuses.
The Texas congressman is an outsider in the race, his views libertarian rather than mainstream Republican, and a win in Maine would prove to be an upset. Although he has no realistic chance of winning the Republican nomination, a Paul victory in Maine would deal a further blow to Romney's credibility.
Both Paul and Romney were out visiting the caucus sites on Saturday. Paul said: "I think we have a very good chance."
A win would give him momentum, he said, adding: "It's a pretty important state as far as I'm concerned."
Romney initially had no visits planned in Maine on Saturday but added two at the last minute, an indication that his team may consider the result tight.
The Maine Republican party chairman, Charlie Webster, predicted, in an interview with the Portland Press Herald, that the result will be close.
"What will happen is that either Paul or Romney will win by 200 votes, in my opinion, one way or the other," Webster said.
Romney won Maine by a large margin in 2008, with 52% of the vote, with Paul coming third on 18% behind the eventual Republican nominee John McCain on 21%. There are 24 delegates at stake in Maine.
Romney lost two major states, Colorado and Minnesota, to rival Rick Santorum on Tuesday and also Missouri, although it is largely meaningless in terms of delegates to the party convention in August where the Republican nominee to fight Barack Obama in November will be chosen.
If Romney wins Maine, which began caucusing last Saturday and finishes this evening, it would help steady his campaign. If he loses, he will have to wait almost three weeks before he has another chance, with the Michigan and Arizona primaries on 28 February.
Romney, though still considered the frontrunner, has only managed to win three of the opening contests – New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada – while Santorum has taken Iowa as well as Minnesota and Colorado, and, Missouri. The former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has taken one, South Carolina.
If Maine is added to the tally of states lost, questions about Romney's viability as the Republican candidate will be renewed.
Santorum and Gingrich have written off Maine and not bothered to visit the state.
There has been no serious polling in the state, making the election result unpredictable.
At a rally in Portland on Friday night, Romney faced hostile questions about his taxes and his stray comment about not being concerned about "the very poor".
The state has a strong Tea Party presence which helped Paul LePage, the Republican governor and a Tea Party favourite, get elected. Tea Party members are more likely to lean towards Paul than Romney.