Ron Paul gets Stuffed
He was the last wild card left in the Republican deck. But now Ron Paul too has been deftly played, ensuring Mitt Romney holds the only hand going in to this week’s Republican National Convention.
Up until Friday, Paul’s young and wildly committed supporters held out hope of mounting a coup on the convention floor in Tampa, or at least raising the flag noisily for their 77-year-old candidate.
But last-minute manoeuvring by Mitt Romney’s legal team stripped Paul of a trove of delegates, leaving many of Paul’s libertarian-leaning supporters all dressed up with nowhere to go.
Instead Paul will end his third and likely final run for the presidency with what amounts to a political whimper: a “video tribute” to the former obstetrician and longtime Texas congressman will play on the convention floor.
However, Paul himself will not be trusted to speak. Though an invitation was proffered, it came with rigid conditions — Paul’s words would be vetted by Team Romney and include a full-throated endorsement. Ron Paul said no.
“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Paul told the New York Times. “That would undo everything I’ve done for the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”
It’s all adds up to a bitter pill for his true believers, several thousand of whom gathered Saturday at the Florida State Fairgrounds for an event billed as the Paul Festival.
Festive, it was not. As Tampa began to swell with the Republican faithful readying for Monday’s convention launch, the Paulistas vented freely.
U.S. election: Ron Paul stripped of delegates on eve of Republican convention - thestar.com
He was the last wild card left in the Republican deck. But now Ron Paul too has been deftly played, ensuring Mitt Romney holds the only hand going in to this week’s Republican National Convention.
Up until Friday, Paul’s young and wildly committed supporters held out hope of mounting a coup on the convention floor in Tampa, or at least raising the flag noisily for their 77-year-old candidate.
But last-minute manoeuvring by Mitt Romney’s legal team stripped Paul of a trove of delegates, leaving many of Paul’s libertarian-leaning supporters all dressed up with nowhere to go.
Instead Paul will end his third and likely final run for the presidency with what amounts to a political whimper: a “video tribute” to the former obstetrician and longtime Texas congressman will play on the convention floor.
However, Paul himself will not be trusted to speak. Though an invitation was proffered, it came with rigid conditions — Paul’s words would be vetted by Team Romney and include a full-throated endorsement. Ron Paul said no.
“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Paul told the New York Times. “That would undo everything I’ve done for the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”
It’s all adds up to a bitter pill for his true believers, several thousand of whom gathered Saturday at the Florida State Fairgrounds for an event billed as the Paul Festival.
Festive, it was not. As Tampa began to swell with the Republican faithful readying for Monday’s convention launch, the Paulistas vented freely.
U.S. election: Ron Paul stripped of delegates on eve of Republican convention - thestar.com
