Will upcoming caucus states make the difference for Paul, Santorum?

With the more prominent Florida and South Carolina primaries now in the record books, the campaigns head into smaller caucus contests with a much different dynamic. Congressman Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum are banking on these states to make a difference in their delegate count since they rely on a different cross-section of the electorate.

Report from Newsday:

Ron Paul is rolling the dice on Nevada and other caucus states like Minnesota, Kansas and Washington, hoping to keep his nontraditional presidential campaign alive by amassing Republican delegates rather than notching outright wins.

The presidential hopeful came in dead last in Florida’s primary, fourth in South Carolina’s primary and third in Iowa’s caucuses. His strongest showing so far was in New Hampshire, where he placed a distant second behind Mitt Romney in the opening primary of the 2012 campaign.

Undeterred with just four delegates so far, Paul and his advisers say they are sticking to a strategy that avoids major commitments in expensive winner-take-all primaries, like Florida’s and Arizona’s, in favor of lower-cost states that proportionally allocate their delegates.

“Our goal is to win. And you win by getting the maximum number of delegates,” Paul said at a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas, where he is campaigning ahead of the Saturday’s Nevada caucuses. “I’m delighted Nevada makes it fair, where we can compete for the votes. When we get the delegates and build up momentum, we can win.”

It’s a tall order for Paul by any measure, even though 46 states have yet to vote and just 6 percent of the delegates have been won so far.

A candidate must win 1,144 delegates to secure the GOP nomination. Romney’s victory in Florida has already helped him jump out to a substantial delegate lead — he now has 87 delegates compared with 26 for Newt Gingrich and 14 for Rick Santorum. Those numbers include endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the party convention.

Ron Paul probably has a better chance at picking more up in these states than Santorum does. For one, Paul has the cash, and a lot of it. Santorum has seen some increase in donations but his finishes in Florida and South Carolina haven’t helped. Paul’s cash keeps rolling in despite finishing at the bottom in both states.