Paul has been notably disengaged in the Palmetto State. Paul yawns at S.C., looks beyond

ROCK HILL, S.C. – In the run-up to Saturday’s South Carolina primary, the remaining candidates are vigorously working the Upstate, the Lowcountry, the Midlands and the Pee Dee.

Rick Santorum started Tuesday in Charleston and ended in Anderson. Mitt Romney has three rallies scheduled for Wednesday in Spartanburg, Rock Hill and Irmo. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have also been busy with a series of town halls and meet-and-greets.


But amid the frenzied campaigning here, one candidate has been notably disengaged: Ron Paul.

While his rivals hit the hustings in South Carolina immediately following the New Hampshire primary — in Perry’s case, he was already here — Paul has taken a decidedly hands-off approach. After his second-place finish, he returned to his Lake Jackson, Texas, home, and didn’t show up in South Carolina until a Sunday evening appearance in Myrtle Beach.

Since then, he’s held just a handful of campaign events: a press conference to pick up the endorsements of three state legislators, and two town halls. He’s not exactly mailing it in, but he isn’t doing much to woo state voters either.

His listless approach to South Carolina isn’t going to change dramatically before Saturday’s primary: The Texas congressman is leaving the campaign trail Wednesday to return to Washington for a largely symbolic vote on the debt ceiling increase. Paul’s campaign says he’ll be back in the state Thursday morning, but that doesn’t leave much time for retail since there’s a debate scheduled that evening.

Paul’s campaign concedes that, up until this point, South Carolina hasn’t been a major focus.

“Prior to this past week, Dr. Paul had not campaigned in South Carolina. Or focus was Iowa and New Hampshire, and then further downstream in Nevada, Maine, Washington, Colorado and other caucus states,” Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton said.

A Monmouth University poll of South Carolina voters released Tuesday reported Paul in fourth place with 12 percent, well behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, and two points behind Rick Santorum.

At a Tuesday press conference in Columbia, Paul — flanked by state Sens. Danny Verdin, Lee Bright, Kevin Bryant and Tom Davis — promised he’s in for the long haul, regardless of whether Mitt Romney wins the Jan. 21 primary.

“Of course he’s not going to win the nomination Saturday. Why should everybody walk away if he wins this primary? You have to wait to see where the delegates are. An election is to get the magic number of delegates,” Paul said. “So yes, I will continue to do it.”

Later in the day, in Spartanburg, Paul said he “expects to do very well Saturday,” and reaffirmed that his focus was on winning the GOP primary, not launching an independent bid for president.

When a woman in the audience asked Paul if he’d consider a third-party run, Paul said “the question is premature,” and called it an unlikely path for him.

Benton said Paul remains in a position to capitalize on the momentum and energy around his campaign. He framed the Republican nominating contest as a two-man race between Paul and Romney.

“We have seen our numbers surge in South Carolina and we expect to do well on Saturday. Our hopes are to run with the pack of other candidates who have hung their entire campaigns on South Carolina and then, as the weaken and drop out, further prove that this is a two man race between Mitt Romney and Dr. Paul,” he said.