Votes for Ron Paul could send GOP nomination to convention

SALT LAKE CITY — A small band of Ron Paul supporters gathered outside the Capitol on a cold Thursday to draw attention to his new front runner status in the presidential race.

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," told KSL-TV that Paul won't stay in that spot long but could drag out the Republican nomination process until the party's convention next August.

The Texas congressman is attracting new attention nationally because he's leading in the polls for the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus, the nation's first vote in the 2012 presidential race.

Daniel Hermansen, a 19-year-old student who serves as Paul's state coordinator in Utah, said he's headed to Iowa next week to help spread Paul's libertarian, anti-big-government message to voters there.

"We are putting in so much time and effort. We're willing to pay, you know, for a plane ticket to go out there and help him out, " Hermansen said. "Because we truly believe he will win Iowa."

Matthews agreed that Paul will attract plenty of voters in Iowa. But the political veteran also said any momentum Paul has gained up to now, will fade quickly.

"Look, I think a lot of people may vote for Ron Paul on Jan. 3 out in Iowa, simply to slow this train down a bit. Because he probably won't win the nomination, he's a good, safe bet now to support," Matthews said.

Especially, he said, for those voters who can't decide between the other leaders in the race, former Utah Olympic leader Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Matthews said Paul could also do well in the next state to vote, New Hampshire, which holds its presidential primary Jan. 10, but predicted a win for Romney. The other presidential candidate with ties to Utah, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., is counting on a New Hampshire victory to jump-start his campaign.

Those two states are likely where Paul will make his best showings in his latest White House bid, Matthews said, because his stands won't play well in the south and other GOP strongholds.

"He's a dove. He's very much against all the wars we've been fighting the last 10 years under Republican leadership," the cable TV pundit said. "He's very much almost an isolationist, but also a libertarian."

Still, the other candidates in the race face a long slog. Matthews said there's a possibility the GOP nomination won't be decided until the party's national convention in Tampa, Fla., in August.