Ron Paul Delegates Refuse to be Ignored at RNC

BRADENTON – The mainstream media has often accused Congressman Ron Paul's support of being somewhat mythical, or at least overblown, owed in part to savvy young supporters who "stuff the ballot box" in straw polls and online responses. However, the Republican National Convention has offered a key look at which candidates have the most boots on the ground when it comes to support, and there has been no denying that Paul is the party's rock star.

This weekend, former Republican presidential primary candidates Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain shared billing at a church in Tampa. Though both were considered viable candidates in the mainstream press, neither were invited to speak at the convention. Meanwhile, Ron Paul fans descended on Tampa by the thousands, gathering first at the outdoor P.A.U.L. Fest on Saturday, then at the Sundome in Tampa, Sunday afternoon.

Ron Paul addresses supporters at the Sundome Sunday

Things were quiet on the floor in the hour preceding the start of Tuesday's events until an uproar signaled the libertarian icon's arrival. "Ron Paul, Ron Paul" chants erupted, followed by "Vote for Mitt" in a response that was quickly overwhelmed by Paul's fans. For a moment, the scene conjured up shades of conventions past, when nominations were sometimes decided on the floor among fierce debates and multiple roll call votes.

The first major uproar occurred when the Maine delegation lost its fight to seat its disputed delegates when a voice vote accepted the Report of the Committee on Credentials, stripping half of Paul's delegates and sparking an angry walk-off by several members of the delegation – which was never explained by C-SPAN, who was covering the afternoon events.

Then, during a floor vote on RNC rules, which also passed without debate, chants of protest again broke out. Paul's supporters were angry over Rule 12, which allows the party to change delegate rules after the rules pass at the convention; and Rule 16, which changes the way delegates are distributed at caucuses and primaries, assigning them to primary winners.

Because RNC Chair Reince Preibus refused to acknowledge what seemed to be procedurally correct objections by Paul's delegates and allow for debate, the whole scene was muddled and confusing. Again, TV coverage declined to explain what was occurring, leading to an awkward moment following the vote when the next speaker, Puerto Rico's Zori Fonalledas, was quickly announced in the hope of muting protest chants during the dead air. Romney supporters again began to chant over Paul's delegates – this time "USA, USA, USA" – drowning out Fonalledas and giving the impression that floor delegates might be protesting the island nation's involvement in the convention.

When the roll call vote was finally called about an hour later, Paul delegates again vocalized their support each time a state awarded their candidate delegates – 190 in all, despite many being stripped. Other candidates –  Rick Santorum, Buddy Roemer, John Huntsman and Michelle Bachmann – picked up a dozen delegates between them. Paul's name was never mentioned during the tallying, and even C-SPAN's graphics combined the 202 non-Romney votes in an “Other” column.

Delegates from Nevada attempted to nominate Mr. Paul from the floor. They submitted petitions from their state, along with Minnesota, Maine, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska and the Virgin Islands. Rules required signatures from just five delegations, but the rules were simply changed to eight. Ron Paul was not going to get the floor. Romney was being nominated and America was going to see that happen without dissent. 

Paul told the New York Times before the convention that he would not be speaking, because he refused to “fully endorse” Mitt Romney or allow his speech to be vetted. Dissent was very clearly not on the RNC docket, and the new rules it has adopted will make it more unlikely that another non-establishment candidate ever gets even as far as Paul did. One gets the impression that primaries are beginning to become little more than annoyances to national parties, and there is an effort to move more of it under party control.

Ironically, that was the case several decades ago when local and state party bosses and their convention delegates played a big part in awarding the nomination at the convention. Today, when a hundred million dollars has been spent on the party's presumed candidate before the convention even occurs, they're clearly in no mood to do anything more than a coronation, which is increasingly what this week's events are beginning to look like.

Police in military garb and riot gear man the streets, which are closed with chain link fences and concrete barriers, while permitted protesters are corralled in a field or limited to out of sight communities. Inside the big, shiny building, the cameras roll and the microphones only pick up the voices of the shiny, happy people spouting the party line – none of which smells like democracy.