Well, Republicans can kiss any hope of support from Ron Paul supporters goodbye [View all]

[MadHound]

Modern day conventions are supposed to be venues for bringing all the different party constituents together behind supporting one candidate. Primary losers are given coveted speaking positions, rival delegates are treated with respect, and generally some serious efforts are made to smooth the waters and soothe egos so that the party can go forward together and support the nominee.

Not so at this year's Republican convention. After a set of last minute rule changes designed to concentrate power into even fewer hands, the Romney folks added more insult, and injury.
"A minor revolt broke out on the floor of the Republican Party's presidential convention Tuesday afternoon and evening. Ron Paul delegates from several states erupted into protest over a controversial change to the party's rules to block future insurgencies mounted by outside candidates like their hero. Paul supporters also freaked out over the convention's refusal to recognize about two dozen Paul delegates and for refusing to treat Paul like a serious candidate for the nomination.

During the roll call of the states, the Paulites were irate, screaming at the podium, as convention secretary Kim Reynolds declined to read out the delegate votes for any candidate other than Romney. "The Republican Party is so afraid of Ron Paul that they won't repeat his name," shouted Jim Ayala, a Nevada delegate and Paul supporter wearing an Oath Keepers t-shirt.

Minutes earlier, the Paulites were enraged when the convention adopted the new set of rules on a voice vote during which the Paul backers out-shouted the other delegates. One Nevada delegate and Paul supporter, Mark Carducci, thrust two middle fingers into the air toward RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), screaming "Fuck you, tyrants!"
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/ron-paul-supporters-rebel-convention-floor-fuck-you-tyrants

Never the most comfortable members of the Republican party, Paulites have now suffered their final insult at the hands of the party. The Paul delegates who marched out of the convention were also taking their fellow supporters along with them, and marching right on out of the party. Doing a quick run through the internet this morning, blog after Paulite blog, website after Paulite website is urging fellow Paulites to either stay home or vote Libertarian, and they probably will, in droves.

The Paulites were always like old, sweaty dynamite, if not handled gently, they would blow up in your faces, and that is exactly what happened. The funny thing is, the Republicans really needed these people on board, really needed their organization. The Paulites were important not just for their numbers(roughly about ten percent of the party), but for their expertise in grassroots politics. Nobody, absolutely nobody in the Republican party knew how to work the grassworks circuit better than the Ron Paul machine.

Now, that expertise is gone, along with all those votes. This means that Romney's chances for winning the election have just decreased, badly. After all, who would have more chance of winning over a backwoods uber conservative voter in Arkansas, a Paulite campaigner who speaks his language, or some pasty white boy in a shirt and tie who's just been bussed in from St. Louis? Yeah, they're going to need that Paulite ground game.

But that's all gone now, and for our sake, that is a good thing. This is just another in a long line of instances where Romney and the Republicans have handled things badly, and the mistakes are starting to pile up. Ineptness and insensitivity doesn't win campaigns, yet that seems all that the Romney and Republicans can muster. It's going to be a long campaign season for them.