Romney on target to win big in Nevada

Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney was romping to victory in the Nevada caucuses, aiming to cement his position as frontrunner to take on President Barack Obama in November. But a fierce fight was in play on Saturday between former House speaker Newt Gingrich and libertarian congressman Ron Paul for second place, according to early official results, with all eyes already moving onto the next contests. With six percent of votes counted, Romney was on 40.4 percent compared to 26.3 percent for libertarian congressman Paul, 20.8 percent for Gingrich and 12.3 for former senator Rick Santorum, the Nevada Republican Party said. Gingrich, who scored an upset win by taking South Carolina last month, is struggling to stay in the race in face of Romney's superior funds and well-oiled campaign machine. The Silver State was voting four days after Romney's crushing win over the former House speaker in Florida as they battle to be crowned the party's nominee to challenge Democrat Obama. If Paul holds second place in Nevada it will be the best showing yet for the politician who has long set his sights on the White House, but has found it hard to sell his unconventional message and radical economic views, including his opposition to the Federal Reserve. But his populist message plays well in caucuses, and Paul vowed he was not planning to drop out before Super Tuesday on March 6 when at least 10 states will pick their candidate for the Republican Party nomination. "We are doing so well there is no reason to think about that. We are starting to see the accumulation of delegates," Paul told CNN. "After tonight we'll have more. And next Tuesday we'll have more. And I think other people will be starting to think about our position and we may well by that time be in second place." Three states will vote on Tuesday -- Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri -- and Romney is hoping a Nevada win will help him sweep into the heartland states where unemployment and the struggling economy are top issues. "I was always leaning towards Newt Gingrich, but I think I'll vote for Romney today," said retiree Catherine Scherer as she arrived at a caucus in suburban Las Vegas. "I think he would make a good man in there... He's more stable, he had some very good answers last night on the television," the 78-year-old told AFP. Romney had been expected to repeat his triumph here of the 2008 White House race when he won the state over John McCain -- helped by strong backing from fellow Mormons. "Everybody knows he's going to win, it's about how big he wins, and how much of the vote he gets," said David Damore, associate professor of politics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "They're basically competing against expectations now: can he do better than 50 percent, which is about what he got four years ago?" Romney is aiming for a third victory over Gingrich, after scoring wins in New Hampshire and Florida, and he seems to have tamped down a row that broke out after he said he was "not concerned" about "very poor" Americans. He insisted the context of his comments showed he was concerned about all Americans, but his focus is on middle class voters who have been worst hit by a recession and sluggish US recovery after the 2008 global downturn. The remarks about the poor sparked new accusations that the wealthy former venture capitalist, who lives off his investments, is out of touch with ordinary voters. Gingrich in an eve-of-caucus rally in Las Vegas renewed his attacks on the frontrunner for the slip. "Governor Romney is trying to recover from his boo boo," he said to laughter and whoops from supporters at a music bar in the desert gambling city. Romney also raised eyebrows after he released tax filings showing he earned $20 million from his investments in 2010 and paid just 13.9 percent in taxes -- a lower rate than many struggling Americans. But voting in Las Vegas Saturday, 73-year-old Carl Lindstrom said the former Massachusetts governor would also get his vote. "I think he has the presence, the prestige, the knowledge," he said.