Ron Paul Almost Out of the Race, Shift for NWA Voters

Ron Paul announced Monday that he is no longer actively campaigning for the presidential nomination. "This is an unusual way of really saying I'm pulling out of the race, but not really doing it, because he just can't afford to continue," said NWACC Political Science Professor Judy Tobler. Tobler also said the primary results speak for themselves. "Go far out of all the primaries we've had, he's only gotten 104 votes." Those votes are from the national delegates, and Mitt Romney has 966 votes. "It takes 1,144 to get the republican nomination." With Paul out of the running, voters in Northwest Arkansas might need to shift their thinking. "They have to come to terms with the fact that they're not going to have as conservative of a candidate as they would have had, or they would like to have...They're either going to not vote, or they'll go ahead and vote for Romney...There's a real gap between Ron Paul and Barack Obama, and I doubt that anybody will switch over," said Tobler. Many people are following Tobler's logic. "I've heard a lot of people talking about Romney, you know, there's been a lot of people that I've talked to that have said they weren't overly pleased about Obama," said Jerrie Hagar. But while many are sticking to their political party, some Ron Paul supporters are re-thinking their strategies. "Political party is a political party. You can be an independent and just look at their values...I don't like Romney, so I'll probably vote for Obama," said Skyler Robins. So now, many are contemplating which remaining candidate will win their vote. "People want to back a winner," said Tobler. When looking at voting trends in Arkansas, it has been a red state since President Clinton was elected. So if history repeats itself, Mitt Romney will win the Natural State's vote.