SOUTHERN ARIZONA (SGT NEWS) - The Michigan primaries Tuesday evening continued to demonstrate a fairly predictable phenomenon that has become evident throughout the campaign season thus far: Ron Paul has trouble winning, but he consistently defeats GOP front runners.

Paul defeated Rudy Giuliani in Iowa, Fred Thompson in New Hampshire, and is currently soundly defeating both Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson in the state of Michigan. Thompson is almost 20,000 votes behind Paul, and Giuliani nearly 25,000 behind the Texas representative.

While Paul's delegate count wanes in comparison to the current GOP leaders, Paul supporters cite the ability to defeat mainstream candidates like Giuliani and Thompson as a sign that Paul's message is, at least to some degree, resonating with the American people.

South Carolina is the next big battleground for the GOP and will hold their primaries on Saturday. The state is expected to make or break Thompson's future in the race and should hold significant implications on if the former Tennessee senator continues to pursue the presidency.