Ron Paul Very Likely to Win Washington State

We've written here at Gambling911.com regarding how Ron Paul was likely to have a very strong showing in the Democratic stronghold of Washington State.  Now the Seattle Post Intelligencer is predicting Paul could win the state.

The long time Texas Congressman had his biggest showing yet in the state of Maine with nearly 19 percent of the vote count despite coming in 3rd place just three points behind Republican front runner John McCain. 

Paul, a Texas congressman, is running fourth of the four remaining GOP candidates, but he's poised for a dramatic showing -- even a victory -- in Saturday's caucuses, according to a Seattle P-I analysis of campaign finance documents.

Furious state residents are voicing their anger over a law that makes online poker a felony in the state of Washington.  Ron Paul, in an interview with Gambling911.com, told of how he voted against a federal law that makes some forms of online gambling illegal.  However, that law does not make it a felony to place a bet, unlike in Washington State where actual gamblers could be facing several years in prison for playing poker over the Internet.

Paul reported more than 1,000 donors, giving him the edge over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 700 and Arizona Sen. John McCain with 500, filings show. All donors of $200 or more must be disclosed in the filings.

The edge in donors is important because those are the same dedicated partisans likely to spend their Saturday at Washington's precinct caucuses.

Far less is at stake in terms of delegates Saturday than will be decided in Tuesday's multistate electoral bonanza, and any of the candidates could concede defeat before Washingtonians have their say.

Still, every candidate who survives Super Tuesday will look to Washington as a major battleground, according to state GOP chairman Luke Esser.

"The one lesson of the campaign so far is how unpredictable it's been," he said.Paul faces the easier task in capitalizing on his advantage: he is in a four-person race and can win or place with less than a majority. Additionally, with 15 percent of those donors in Seattle, where Republican turnout is lighter than in GOP strongholds, strong turnout for Paul could roll up precinct-level wins in Seattle and similar, normally Democratic areas.

It is not known if Ron Paul will continue after Super Tuesday though he has suggested that will be up to his massive support base, which so far this quarter has raised more than $5 million for his campaign.  Paul has had strong showings in both Nevada and Louisiana to date, coming in second in both states among Republicans.  In Maine, he received the largest percentage of votes.

Paul also has the potential to perform very well in some key Super Tuesday states including Colorado. 

On the Democratic side, Barack Obama is leading in Washington.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published February 3, 2008 11:59 pm EST