It looks as though it’ll be an eventful night

It’s been caucus day in Nevada in the latest stage of the Republican party process to find the nominee to take the battle to Obama in November. All the signs are that the from-runner, Mitt Romney is going to have a big victory.

Nevada borders on Utah and there’s a significant Mormon community. In 2008 it was estimated that a quarter of those taking party in the GOP’s caucuses were Mormons which helped Romney to acheive a big victory. The signs are that it will be even bigger tonight.

In 2008 Ron Paul finished in second place and he and his enthusiastic band of supporters would dearly like to repeat that. The polls have him behind Newt Gingrich.

The ex-house speaker, meanwhile, has announced that he’ll be holding a press conference after the result. This set off rumours that he was about to pull out – a move that would hardly have motivated his backers at the caucus meetings.

Other reports suggest that he’ll call on Rick Santorum to pull out to give him a clear run. We’ll see.

Mike Smithson @MikeSmithsonOGH