The sight of several dozen Ron Paul supporters marching up the Strip on Saturday may be about as exciting as it gets among the Republican presidential campaigns in advance of Saturday’s party caucuses in Nevada.

And Paul, a conservative Texas congressman, didn’t even show up for the march and a later rally at appropriately Texas Station that included a Texas hold ’em poker tournament in his honor.

With the party’s poll-leading presidential candidates focusing on Tuesday’s contest in Michigan and on Saturday’s more important Republican caucus in South Carolina, Nevada’s role in the Republican race for the White House has been marginalized.

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The Republicans’ general dismissal of Nevada contrasts strongly with the Democrats, who are pouring money and out-of-state campaign workers into Nevada to lend support in the pitched competition this week between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

The only apparent activity in Nevada among the Republicans has sprung from the campaigns of Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, each of whom have dispatched staff members here but aren’t planning any TV ads in Las Vegas or Reno.

With an expected Republican caucus turnout of just 30,000 to 40,000, “I can’t believe it’s a good investment,” said Ryan Erwin, a Nevada consultant to Romney.

Paul, who has a strong volunteer base here, appeared at a rally in Pahrump on Sunday night and is to appear in Reno today and in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Romney’s plans in Nevada hinge largely on how he fares in Tuesday’s critical primary in Michigan a state where his late father, George Romney, was governor.

And once the Michigan primary is over, the Republican attention will turn to South Carolina, whose primary on Saturday is more important to the party than the Nevada caucus that day.

“The fact that Nevada and South Carolina are on the same day, it’s tough to split time between the two states,” said Robert Uithoven, a Nevada adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary. “They’re 2,500 miles apart.”

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