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A focus on small
less congested
markets could prove
fruitful for long
time Congressman and
Presidential
candidate Ron Paul Southwest Airlines, Jet Blue, Allegiant Air: These are just some of the success stories that have come out of a US airline industry once dominated by big names American, Delta and United. The later would often vie for coveted gate slots at major hubs like Chicago's O'Hare and one of the three major New York City airports. The thought process here was that nobody in their right mind - especially business travelers - would venture to some "out of the way" airport when they could deal with long security lines, parking hassles and delays offered up by the more centrally located international gateways. Long established Southwest Airlines and a whole host of startups labeled as "low fare" carriers soon changed that mindset. And in the whole political scheme of things, Republican US Presidential candidate and long time Congressman, Ron Paul, appears to be employing a similar strategy. Bypass the big congested states such as Florida for the smaller - delegate rich and sometimes competitor-free - markets that can easily be had on Super Tuesday, with 21 states holding Republican caucuses or primaries. Like the "low cost" carriers, Paul's campaign is also spending its money wisely. Just as Delta and - to a lesser extent - Airtran dominate the massively congested Atlanta market, so to did John McCain and Mitt Romney dominate in Tuesday's Florida Primary. To be perfectly blunt, Ron Paul did not even stand a chance. Neither did JetBlue when they initially entered Atlanta's Hartsfield International. This was the popular airline's first failure whereas they have enjoyed success just about everywhere else. JetBlue, like Southwest, tends to fly in and out of so-called "alternative market" airports like Oakland, Burbank and Fort Lauderdale. Allegiant Air takes this one step further by flying in and out of air fields that for the most part have been devoid of commercial air traffic over the years. Each have been successful in their strategies. Ron Paul's approach may be similar to that of Allegiant's. His campaign has focused on states such as Maine (which holds its three day caucus Super Bowl weekend), North Dakota, Washington State (where no other Republican has dared to tread, we are told) and Arkansas. Paul has raised nearly $4 million to start the new year and his supporters plan on adding at least another $1 million to that before the week is over (the number could be higher following a February 1 24 hour fundraiser). The campaign has initiated a major ad blitz in several of the Super Tuesday states that is starting to get plenty of exposure whereas he received virtually zero in Florida (we are in Miami and did not see one single advertisement for Ron Paul).
Station managers at
several Arkansas
stations contacted
Tuesday by the
Arkansas News Bureau
said Paul is the
only candidate to
have bought airtime
so far. In Maine, momentum is running high among Ron Paul supporters. There is a very real chance he can win that state. "Maine has 21 delegates that Paul has a serious potential of winning," points out Natalie Schultz of the Nolan Chart. Libertarian-minded Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will visit Seattle on Thursday, packing in three quick events on turf where GOP hopefuls rarely tread these days, the Seattle Post Intelligencer announced this week. His campaign will be welcome in a state that over a year ago imposed a law that makes online poker players criminals (the only state to do so) while hosting a number of land-based casino ventures. This has infuriated residents of that state who were also prohibited from betting on their Playoffs bound Seattle Seahawks while Governor Christine Gregoire wagered on the game with the Governor of Wisconsin. Ron Paul is against any form of online gambling prohibition and voted against it in Congress. The environment in that state is so tumultuous that a professional poker player has decided to run against Gregoire in next year's Gubernatorial election. Paul's stance on Internet gambling legality won him a big support base in Nevada where he finished second. That state is considered a "small market", or at least was treated like one by the mainstream press following Paul's big finish. Likewise, he finished either first or second in Louisiana, depending on who you ask. It was a solid finish nonetheless. Because the Republican party is so fractured, Ron Paul could prove a key player as "the most conservative of the remaining candidates", Mitt Romney and John McCain. Press accounts have conservatives hating McCain (even though he fared well in heavily concentrated conservative regions of Florida yesterday) while the party fears that Romney would not stand a chance against the Democratic nominee, whether that is Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. McCain has been winning some independent votes in the Republican Primaries and Caucuses, but Ron Paul has been winning Democratic votes. Whether Ron Paul's "small market" focus proves a success heading into Super Tuesday remains to be seen. It's proven successful for the airline industry and Ron Paul has done well with this approach (a la Nevada and Louisiana) as well leading up to this point. Get all the Latest Political Betting News from Gambling911.com Here ---- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com Originally published January 30, 2008 11:15 am EST
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Ron
Paul "Small Market"
Approach Has Proven
a Success in Airline
Industry....Why Not
Politics?