Kevin Derby

On Thursday, the team behind U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, making his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination, trumpeted polls of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that, they insist, show their candidate is building momentum.

But while Paul is doing much better in South Carolina, his poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire are barely above what he pulled in the 2008 contest -- and he continues to struggle in Florida.

“The steady, growing support Ron Paul earns in the key early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina is a direct result of his winning message of constitutionally limited government, sound money, and a strong national defense,” said Jesse Benton, Paul’s national chairman, in a statement released on Thursday.

Paul, who finished in a strong second in the Iowa Republican straw poll in August, takes 12 percent in the Hawkeye State, behind former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who leads with 24 percent, and businessman Herman Cain, who stands in second with 21 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas are right behind Paul with 10 percent apiece. The poll of 405 Republican voters in Iowa was taken Oct. 20-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent. While he is doing better in Iowa, Paul’s numbers in the CNN/Time poll are not that far ahead of what he pulled in the 2008 caucus -- when he finished in fifth place with 10 percent.

With 12 percent in New Hampshire, Paul is right on Cain’s heels for second in the Granite State. Cain takes 13 percent in the CNN/Time poll -- far behind Romney who leads in the first primary state with 40 percent. The poll of 211 Republican voters in New Hampshire and 189 independents who voted in the 2008 Republican primary was taken from Oct. 20-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent. In the 2008 New Hampshire primary, Paul took 8 percent of the vote and, once again, came in fifth place -- again within the margin of error of the poll.

While Benton’s claim that Paul has “growing support” in Iowa and New Hampshire seems a bit of a stretch, the Texas congressman is doing much better in South Carolina, the first state in the South to hold a primary. Paul flopped in the Palmetto State in 2008. He took 4 percent and, once again, came in fifth place back in 2008.

The CNN/Time poll shows Paul doing much better this time around in third place with 12 percent. Romney leads in South Carolina with 25 percent with Cain right behind at 23 percent. Perry takes fourth with 11 percent. The poll of 400 Republican voters in South Carolina was taken from Oct. 20-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.

Benton ignored one of the four CNN/Time polls of early states released on Wednesday. Paul floundered in Florida back in 2008, taking fifth place with less than 3.25 percent of the vote. According to the CNN/Time poll, Paul remains out of the picture in the Sunshine State, taking fifth place for 6 percent. Romney leads with 30 percent in Florida, while Cain, who won the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando last month, stands in second place with 18 percent. Gingrich and Perry are locked in a tie for third with 9 percent each. The poll of 401 Republican voters in Florida was taken from Oct. 20-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.

Paul has done considerably better with fundraising than he did in 2008 and that could help his campaign as the weeks go by. But, with a little more than two months until Iowa Republicans vote in the caucus, the Paul campaign is showing little signs of serious progress outside of South Carolina.

As the Paul team notes, their supporters are very committed to their candidate. The problem is the Paul campaign is struggling in attracting enough Republican voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida who are not behind the Texas congressman already.