An informal survey of Bucks students finds that most aren’t terribly interested in the Republican primaries beinhg held across the country.
Given the choice between Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul, students were asked a series of questions in the style of “Jay-walking,” where they initially indicated their  preferred candidate and were then asked a series of questions about the candidate’s platform on three major issues to see if they were aware of them.
Initially, three preliminary questions were presented before getting into the candidates. First of all, of the seven interviews conducted, three people were not registered to vote. Additionally, of the seven, four claimed to have no party affiliation.
 Finally, four said they were not following the primaries at all, and another two said they would consider themselves to be “loosely” following the primaries. This suggests a general lack of interest in the Republican primaries as a whole.
 Doug Miller, biology major from Ottsville, was honest and indicated no interest in the primaries and was also not registered to vote. He said, “I do not plan to vote in the coming election.”
Brooke Garber, a communications and performance major, did not have a favorite candidate out of the three. “I wait until a candidate is selected before I follow them,” said Garber.
 Brian McCollum, a nursing major from Feasterville, selected Ron Paul as his favorite. He also answered two of the three issues correctly with ease and had the most interest in the primaries out of anyone interviewed. He said simply, “Ron Paul 2012.”
Dalia Amran, a biology major, claimed to be “uninterested” in the primaries at the current time. However, she was the only student interviewed who answered three out of three questions on her candidate correctly. She chose Mitt Romney as the one she was most familiar with.
Kelsey Strosser, a nursing from Richboro, indicated she was loosely following the primaries. She also loosely follows Ron Paul. She got about one and a half of her questions correct as she did indicate that she knew Paul was against same sex marriage nationally, but was unsure of his opinion on it as a state issue.
Although she indicated a preference toward being a Democrat, Strosser did have this to say about America’s current state of affairs: “I think the world is coming to an end with Obama as president.”
Finally, Desmond D’Adamo, a history and education major, had this to say: “These candidates can control their own destiny in these primaries.” Coming off a win in Florida, Romney has the wind in his sails for the nomination.
 However, Gingrich has said he would stick it out to the end, so Romney doesn’t have the  nomination nailed down just yet.
For most of the upcoming month, no primaries will take place. Instead, caucuses are held. The next primary will be on Feb. 28 in Arizona and Michigan. The process wraps at the Republican National Convention, held from Aug. 27 to Aug. 30.
 This indicates a potential long road ahead to the nomination, despite Romney being heavily favored. If Gingrich can hang on, momentum still has the potential to shift.  Paul and Rick Santorum, however, are becoming less and less likely to win the nomination.