On the national stage, deals are being struck between Republican presidential
nominee-to-be Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul to ensure a harmonious national
convention next week in Tampa, Fla.
But the Nevada delegation dominated by a contingent of Paul supporters
fully intends to carry out its strategy to place Paul's name up for nomination
from the convention floor, delegation chairman Wayne Terhune said Wednesday.
"In our case, you need a majority of the delegation to nominate a
candidate," Terhune said. "We have already done that for Ron Paul from the
Nevada delegation. We have signatures from over half of the delegation, and we
will be nominating Ron Paul."
Even Paul's most ardent supporters, who have proven adept at using the
Republican Party's own rules to keep his candidacy alive, admit the chance is
beyond slim that they would succeed in ousting Romney as the party's ultimate
presidential nominee. Romney has won 1,575 delegates in primaries, according
to The New York Times' delegate count, more than enough to secure the
nomination.
But that doesn't mean they won't try until their very last option is
exhausted. And that's at least a small headache for the Romney campaign.
"It's a really, really small window," Terhune said. "A little teeny dot
of light at the horizon."
Under existing party rules, it takes a plurality of delegates from five
states to place another candidate's name up for nomination. That candidate
would then be given the chance to address the convention.
In Terhune's "teeny dot of light" scenario, that's when Paul would be
able to persuade, through the force of rhetoric, enough delegates to broker
the convention.
Even if that were a possibility, party officials have been negotiating
with Paul campaign officials in the other states that potentially would have
joined Nevada in a five-state strategy to put Paul's name into nomination.
Deals have been struck in Louisiana and Massachusetts, and negotiations
are under way in Maine that would limit the number of Paul supporters seated
as delegates, according to national news accounts. Other Paul strongholds
include Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Colorado.
To appease Paul supporters, the party has made concessions on some of the
party platform language, and Paul's son, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, has been given a
prime-time speaking slot.
Although it's working to avoid any embarrassing scenario during the
national convention, the Romney campaign isn't overly concerned, according to
a campaign source.
"Republicans love their parliamentary procedure, and people love to talk
about this kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, this convention is going
to go exactly as it's supposed to go," the source said.
A Republican Party official declined to comment.
Putting a candidate's name up for nomination is not the same as voting
for the ultimate nominee. Paul's supporters would have to persuade 1,144
delegates to switch their vote to take the nomination away from Romney.
Given the fact that Romney has won an overwhelming majority of the
delegates, and given the party's requirement that results in early states are
binding, that's unlikely.
In Nevada, for example, 20 of the 28 delegates are required to vote for
Romney as the ultimate nominee, even if the individual delegate personally
supports Paul.
Still, Paul supporters will not acknowledge defeat.
"We've been communicating with some other Ron Paul delegates. ...
Anything's possible," said Carl Bunce, Paul's former Nevada campaign chairman.
"That's the way conventions work. Right now, the Romney campaign is making
sure his (Paul's) name doesn't get on the ballot. But if his name gets on
there and Rand speaks, and Ron speaks, people wake up. I've seen it happen."
Karoun Demirjian contributed to this story.
