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This week, Ron Paul is likely to win more delegates to the 2012 GOP convention than either Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. In fact, he鈥檚 likely to win more delegates than Gingrich and Santorum combined.

鈥淗old it鈥�, you鈥檙e saying, 鈥淗ow can that be? Rep. Paul鈥檚 polling in single digits in Florida. He鈥檚 going to finish behind Gingrich and Santorum, as well as Mitt Romney, in Tuesday鈥檚 Florida primary. How can that translate into beating any of his rivals at all?鈥�

We鈥檒l tell you how 鈥� because he鈥檚 not winning those delegates in Florida. He鈥檚 winning, or will probably win, at least a few delegates in Maine.

Paul took a quick , in case you didn鈥檛 notice. He met with GOP Gov. Paul LePage. He spoke to big crowds throughout the state 鈥� in Lewiston, apparently, event organizers had to expand his conference room to handle the people who showed up.

He even landed the coveted L.L. Bean endorsement 鈥� that's Linda Lorraine聽Bean, heiress of the L.L. Bean empire and a lobster roll entrepreneur in her own right. She endorsed Paul on Saturday from her restaurant in the retail outlet mecca of Freeport.

Asked why she wasn鈥檛 supporting fellow New Englander Mitt Romney, Ms. Bean said 鈥淚鈥檝e always been for Ron Paul鈥�, posted on Paul鈥檚 campaign web site.

As we鈥檝e previously reported, unnoticed by most of the DC-based political establishment, the Maine caucuses actually began this weekend. So Paul wasn鈥檛 in Maine just because he likes riding around in salt-crusted Subarus.

Most Maine towns will hold their caucuses during the state GOP鈥檚 preferred window of February 4-11. But 鈥渕ost鈥� doesn鈥檛 mean 鈥渁ll鈥�. Lincoln, Lowell, Burlington, Chester, Enfield, Winn, and Howland held their joint caucus on Saturday. Millinocket鈥檚 was on Sunday. And so forth.

Each Maine caucus is holding a , the state-wide results of which will be announced February 11. This poll is non-binding. But each caucus is also starting the process of selecting delegates to the state and national GOP conventions. The Paul campaign is making a big push to get its people involved in politics at this level. It is highly likely that some Paul supporters won delegate slots over the weekend 鈥� news reports indicated that the Paul crowd was making a big pitch at some caucus sites.

鈥淎fter spending two days plus up in Maine, I was very encouraged,鈥� Paul himself said Sunday during an appearance on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union with Candy Crowley鈥�.

Asked whether he was going to win Maine鈥檚 caucuses, Paul told Crowley, 鈥淲e did pretty well three years ago [in Maine] and we weren鈥檛 nearly as well organized. And Romney鈥檚 been popular up there, but less so right now. So I would say that we have a very good chance.鈥�

Now Maine has only 24 delegates total, so it鈥檚 not like the Pine Tree State strategy is a springboard that will somersault Paul into the White House. Florida has 50 delegates, almost twice as many, despite the fact that it鈥檚 been penalized by the national GOP for advancing its primary.

But Florida is winner-take-all. That means, if Gingrich and Santorum finish behind Romney, as polls currently indicate they will, neither of them will win any delegates. Nada. Zip.

So Paul only had to score one more delegate in Maine this weekend to outperform them, convention-wise.Given that Maine Republicans tend to be more libertarian than socially conservative, and given that Paul actually campaigned there, we think that's a likely occurrence.

Of course, the comparison is not entirely fair. At this stage in the race, the higher priority for both Gingrich and Santorum is maintaining a sense of momentum and a flow of donation dollars. Both could accomplish that by performing well in Florida, whether they win any delegates or not.

Paul, in contrast, already has a core of committed supporters and enough money to keep going to the convention in Tampa. He鈥檚 not trying to win the presidency as much as he is trying to maximize his ability to spread his libertarian message.