Ron Paul may yet finish first in today’s Iowa caucuses. As Meghashyam Mali of the Hill notes, former Massachussets governor and national frontrunner Mitt Romney leads Paul only slightly in two of the last polls (23-22 and 24-22), while Paul led 20-19 in a third.

But in a story headlined “Ron Paul’s Iowa Victory,” James Hohmann of Politico argued that “even with a more professionalized and better-organized operation than in 2008, Paul’s bid remains at heart a movement, rather than a single-minded effort to capture the GOP nomination.” 

And it seems that Ron Paul, as much as anyone, agrees with that. Writes Terry Moran of ABC News:

An amazing admission tonight from Ron Paul.

In an exclusive interview, I asked him: “When you lay your head on your pillow at night, do you see yourself in the Oval Office?”

“Not really,” Paul replied. 

He went on to say that he’s not blind to the odds, but they are “not as slim as they were 25 years ago.”

Moran also asked the 76-year-old Lake Jackson Republican Congressman about his age. “Be careful,” Paul joked in response. “There are laws against that.”

Paul even acknowledged to Thomas Beaumont of the Associated Press that Iowa and New Hampshire may be as good as it gets for his campaign.

“It will be a real challenge. There’s no doubt,” he said. “We’ve invested a lot of time and money in doing well (in Iowa).”