GOP Convention Organizers snub Ron Paul
While Romney’s well-oiled campaign accumulated delegates, endorsements, pledges and donor commitments throughout the GOP 2012 primaries, Congressman Ron Paul’s liberty movement generated widespread grassroots support from across the breadth of the nation. The party establishment, which had hastily rallied around Romney as its most promising option to confront Obama, had little choice but to take seriously the implications of a Ron Paul revolution within its own ranks.
Having won many converts, and having marshalled the resources of a highly dedicated and outspoken legion of political activists, this revolution harnessed the energies of a cross-section of enthusiastic followers. A tapestry of thousands of civil libertarians, anti-war activists, limited-government advocates, blue-collar workers, military veterans and college students invested time and money to sustain Paul’s message and promote his vision.
Surely, accommodations on the part of the establishment would have to be made, no? Realizing the necessity to avoid alienating this libertarian wing of the party, observers assumed that Romney would seek to maintain at least a cordial, if not comfortable, relationship with Paul (as during the primaries). One would think that Romney strategists and RNC directors would intend on summoning the resources and energy of libertarian volunteers and activists during the fall campaign.
But the announcement that Paul has not even been included on the speaker’s docket at the GOP convention has struck libertarian activists and conservative strategists alike as a puzzling and ill-advised gesture. This is especially true in light of the need to conduct overtures toward a movement still skeptical of Romney. Alienating Paul means alienating these voters, crippling an already tenuous alliance.
More pressing is the concern that the deliberate “snubbing” of Paul risks not merely bad blood but a real backlash on the part of his followers. Paul supporters are very well known for their sensitivity to perceived slights toward their leader. Libertarians have been persistent and vocal in calling attention to what they feel are attempts to exclude Paul’s message from the political discourse. They are exceedingly suspicious of not only the media, but of the GOP establishment itself. One might speculate that the snubbing might prompt zealous Paul supporters to create a scene on the convention floor itself. Anticipating this, Paul representatives have urged libertarian attendees to exercise decorum during the convention proceedings, reports Politico. To make matters worse, the political struggle may now descended into the slimy realm of legal quarrelling. The Paul campaign’s formal appeals to the RNC to include a group of Louisiana delegates, Paul supporters, were flat-out rejected in June as reported by CNN.
“Jesse Benton, Paul’s national campaign chairman, said by email that Paul would be pressing challenges about his delegates from Oregon and Massachusetts, as well as from Louisiana and Maine,” reports the St. Louis Dispatch.
This ongoing battle, and the fact that Paul has yet to endorse Romney, have overshadowed the fact that about 200 delegates, seeking a higher profile for their message, will represent Paul at the GOP convention in Tampa Bay, and that Ron Paul’s son and apparent heir to the liberty movement, Rand, is on the speaking roster.
Nevertheless, both Politico and the St. Louis Dispatch attest to the deepening of resentments: Tim Blessing, a Ron Paul alternate delegate from St. Louis, said: “You can’t be the party that says we have room for everyone in our tent, and as soon as we get active in the party, say ‘you’re not one of us; you’re not a real Republican.’” “I don’t feel that he [Ron Paul] has gotten his justice,” said Heather Coil, one of eight Ron Paul delegates and alternates from Missouri. Some Maine Republicans seek to disqualify their state’s Paul delegates from the convention.
True to form, Paul and his supporters will assemble at a Ron Paul “Save America” event on the eve of the Tampa Bay convention in what is being described as a rally to urge that Paul be selected as the GOP’s nominee.
Yet despite the bewildering decision to exclude Paul and the ensuing factionalism which it might spawn, a few facts make fratricidal warfare in the GOP unlikely.
For starters, Obama unifies the GOP far more effectively than Romney could ever hope to. The importance of replacing President Obama, for both Libertarians and Conservatives alike, is so exceedingly pronounced, intense and potent that it will make intra-party jabbing seem hilariously irrelevant. This will prove especially true in the wake of a highly animated and laser focused convention.
Secondly, too much is at stake for convention antics and posturing, and Libertarians know it. The spirited nature of the convention will be too powerful for delegate games to be warranted. The critical importance of selecting an electable nominee will seem too obvious for even Ron Paul revolutionaries to question.
And lastly, not wanting to embarrass Paul and his successor, Rand, with misbehavior, Libertarian delegates will think twice, and consider their movement’s reputation very carefully, before sabotaging the GOP’s efforts to win one of the most critical elections of their lifetimes.
Roberto Matos is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at rlm387@ cornell.edu