With yet another straw poll victory at the weekend, Texas Rep. Ron Paul showed how his enthusiastic band of followers can out-organize rivals, but still leaves the question of whether he can translate that win into a victory in the primaries.
Paul took more than half the votes among 428 GOP activists who paid $25 to participate in the Ohio Swing State Straw Poll in Columbus. But because of the small turnout, that meant his victory came with just 229 votes.
Businessman Herman Cain came in second with 109 and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was a distant third with 38. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who started off the straw poll season by snatching Iowa, came bottom in Ohio with just two votes.
The Paul campaign did not immediately comment on the vote beyond placing it on his Facebook page. He has previously won straw polls organized by the Values Voters Summit, the California GOP and the Conservative Political Action Committee but trails front-runners Romney and Cain in opinion polls.
However Paul’s ability to raise funds was highlighted last week when he garnered $2.68 million in a three-day blitz.
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