Paul is not going to be the Republican nominee for president, and he knows it. By August, Mitt Romney will have long ago accumulated the 1,144 delegates needed to win. But Paul鈥檚 forces won鈥檛 be inconsiderable. Campaign strategist Jesse Benton estimates that the Texas libertarian will end up with 鈥渟everal hundred鈥� delegates pledged to him, and several hundred more stealth supporters who are bound to vote for Mr. Romney or a withdrawn candidate on the first ballot.
Some of these supporters haven鈥檛 given up hope of a Paul victory. In Nevada, for instance, Paul supporters who control the Clark County GOP structure voted to rebuke Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus for his efforts to start merging the Romney and RNC campaign machines.
But Paul campaign officials insist they do not want to cause any kind of disturbance in Tampa. There鈥檚 no discussion of getting Paul supporters who are bound to vote for Romney to abstain from casting ballots in the first round, for instance.
鈥淒ecorum鈥� will be the name of the game, Mr. Benton said in a recent conference call with supporters. That makes sense when considered in the context of the campaign鈥檚 long-term, makeover-of-the-party goal.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to respectfully show that our supporters are here, and we鈥檙e the wave of the future,鈥� said Benton.
