Nevada Leans Romney
After winning with over 50% of the vote in 2008, Mitt Romney right now looks to be on the way towards another easy win in Nevada this Saturday, as new polling gives the GOP frontrunner a strong lead.
The first poll from the Silver State came out this morning from the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper, which had Romney leading Newt Gingrich by 20 points.
As in Florida and South Carolina, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul trailed far behind in third and fourth place.
Another polling organization, Public Policy Polling, also found a twenty point spread in its first night of polling in the Silver State; we'll get final results on that poll later today.
The Review-Journal poll had Romney at 45%, Gingrich 25%, Santorum 11% and Paul at 9%.
One thing to remember though is how difficult it can be to poll a caucus, because it is so different than polling for a primary.
Caucus attendees tend to be much more motivated than primary voters, and that's one reason why some wonder if Ron Paul will do much better than his current fourth place finish in this poll.
Paul has put together a decent organization in Nevada, so we'll see whether that pays off at the caucuses on Saturday.
While Romney, Gingrich and Paul will all be in Nevada on Thursday and Friday, Rick Santorum will be leaving the Silver State tonight, shifting his focus to Missouri, which holds a non-binding beauty contest primary on Tuesday February 7.
That same day there are also non-binding caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota.
