Look around and you’ll see homemade Ron Paul for President signs around Erie on utility poles, on railroad overpasses and just about anywhere else they’ll get noticed.

Just this week, I’ve seen the signs at 38th and Peach Streets, at 12th Street and Greengarden Road, on 12th Street just east of Liberty Street, and on the State Street railroad overpass, facing both the north and south lanes.

Somebody’s busy.

Paul, a Pittsburgh native, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and represents the 14th District of Texas, a pretty fair stretch of land along the southern Gulf Coast.

Paul voted against the Iraq War and the Patriot Act. To learn more about Paul’s record, visit www.ronpaul2008.com.

Paul has virtually no chance of winning the Republican nomination for president, but don’t dismiss him out of hand. He’s drawing crowds during the campaign, and raising enough money to get some attention. He’s raised $3 million nationwide, including $39,516 in Pennsylvania — $3,100 of which comes from Erie.

Of course, Paul’s national fundraising total pales in comparison to the $62.5 million that Democrat Hillary Clinton and the $43.5 million that Republican Mitt Romney have raised nationally so far. They are the top fundraisers for their respective parties.

But say this much for Paul’s supporters: Unless my eyesight’s failing, I haven’t seen any professional or homemade signs yet in the Erie region for any of the other major candidates. Of course, our primary date is among the last in the nation — April 22.

So maybe there’s no rush.

— John Guerriero

Another poll in Pennsylvania shows Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Clinton leading by impressive margins over their rivals.

The poll by Strategic Vision LLC asked questions of 1,200 likely voters, including 576 Democrats and 504 Republicans.

Here are the poll results when Republicans were asked their choice for president in 2008: Giuliani, 45 percent; Fred Thompson, 15 percent; John McCain, 8 percent; Mitt Romney, 7 percent; Ron Paul, 3 percent; Tom Tancredo, 2 percent; Mike Huckabee, 2 percent; Sam Brownback, 1 percent; Duncan Hunter, 1 percent. Another 16 percent were undecided.

Here are the results when Democrats were asked their choice for president: Clinton, 42 percent; Barack Obama, 24 percent; John Edwards, 9 percent; Bill Richardson, 6 percent; Joe Biden, 5 percent; Christopher Dodd, 1 percent; Dennis Kucinich, 1 percent. Another 12 percent were undecided.

Of course, with many states moving up their primaries and caucuses in 2008, most of these candidates will have abandoned their White House dreams by the time Pennsylvania’s late primary arrives April 22. For Pennsylvanians, the real buzz in the presidential race won’t come until after the primary season.

— John Guerriero

A reader response on this blog took me to task (see the comment under Ron Paul: Sign of the times) for incorrect information about how much Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has raised thus far.

The information, on the Federal Election Commission’s Web site, www.fec.gov, was correct at the time of the post. Since then, the Texas congressman has raised more money.

Paul, a Pittsburgh native, has now raised a total of $8.2 million nationwide, including $130,787 in Pennsylvania and $7,900 from the Erie region. His goal is to raise $12 million by Dec. 31.

The reader also criticized my comments that Paul has virtually no chance of winning the GOP nomination, and that his fundraising pales in comparison to the amounts raised by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney — the top fundraisers from their parties. I’ll stand by those opinions, which are hardly outrageous.

The post was actually a compliment that Paul’s local supporters are getting his name out by putting up homemade Ron Paul signs all over town. If Paul comes to our region, I’d look forward to getting a one-on-one take on his campaign and the presidency.

In the meantime, you might want to visit www.ronpaul2008.com.

— John Guerriero