Ron Paul beats Giuliani and Thompson

Ron Paul ended up in fourth place behind Romney, McCain, and Huckabee in the Michigan primaries. He finished with 30,000 more votes than Giuliani and 22,000 ahead of Thompson.

So far it looks like Paul gets around 6-10% each time there's a vote. Remember Paul beat Giuliani in Iowa, and got pretty close to him in New Hampshire, but he did beat Thompson there.

If Thompson loses in South Carolina he is probably out or soon will be. Same with Huckabee and Romney cannot afford many more loses or he is through. Right now it seems to be a race of staying power to see which one can afford to keep going. If the ones who are left make it to Florida and have little money for the blitz, Ron Paul just might sneak in and win.

The biggest obstacle facing Ron Paul in the remaining primaries may be the viability question. He has far more volunteers than any other Republican candidate but, many voters still consider him a long shot after months of media conditioning to that effect. In the exit polls, 12 percent of Republican voters named Ron Paul as the candidate most likely to bring needed change, but only 48 percent of those respondents actually voted for him.

Michigan Primary Results

39% Romney
30% McCain
16% Huckabee
6% Paul
4% Thompson
3% Giuliani
0% Hunter