Ron Paul is defying the notion that winning early GOP primaries is essential to continued fundraising success. The fiery Texas congressman who wants to abolish the US Federal Reserve and re-peg the dollar to the gold standard has yet to win a GOP primary or caucus - although votes are still outstanding in Maine - yet he continues to raise large amounts of cash and draw throngs of enthusiastic supporters.

Just how much dough is the Paul campaign pulling in?

Paul launched a money bomb - that term was popularized during Paul's last presidential run - on Valentine's Day, and has raised more than $1.2m since, according to the running count on his campaign site.

The Texas congressman is hoping for strong showings in Washington, where he has several stops planned, and the slew of states that vote on Super Tuesday. He also hopes for a turnaround in Maine. The Paul camp believes Romney's 194-vote edge in that state could vanish as caucus results are re-examined and outstanding communities vote this coming weekend.

Momentum in primaries is a funny animal, and with only three contests between now and the March 6 Super Tuesday contests, the game will largely be one of fundraising. Despite being a distant fourth in the delegate count, Paul's uncanny ability to raise money makes his campaign more viable than those of most other fourth-place candidates at this juncture would be.

And it makes the race to determine Obama's opponent all the more curious.

Although Paul's gold standard when it comes to fundraising - of late, anyways - has some befuddled as to how to characterize his standing, the waters could be more muddy. "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" does not appear to be witnessing a comeback in 2012.