Media Admits Romney’s Greatest Fear Is Ron Paul Nomination

This was originally posted here:

 

http://ralphlopez.hubpages.com/hub/Media-Admits-Romneys-Greatest-Fear-is-Ron-Paul-Nomination-Paul-Campaign-Demures

But it was removed…imagine that!  Luckily, I had the page up, still, so I was able to copy and past it.  This is just a repress of  Ralph Lopez’s blog on hubpages.  All credit goes to him!

Media Admits “Romney’s Greatest Fear” is Ron Paul Nomination.

Weeks after it was widely reported in the media that Ron Paul had lost his “last chance” to be eligible for the Republican nomination at the Nebraska state convention, Tampa Bay Online, the online subsidiary of the Tampa Tribune, has reported that a movement to nominate Ron Paul at the upcoming Republican National Convention may be “Romney’s greatest fear.”

“Romney’s greatest fear could be a movement to nominate Paul from the floor of the convention, which could happen if five state delegations line up behind him.”

This follows up a report in The New American in May which said of Paul’s state-by-state delegate strategy:

“The Republican Establishment is afraid of Ron Paul and events that took place at party nominating conventions from Maine to Alaska proved that it’s for good reason.”

Although major media outlets reported last month that Paul’s prospects for eligibility for nomination “ended” in Nebraska, with Paul failing to secure pluralities in at least five states, a count of Paul’s victories show Nevada, Maine, Minnesota, Louisiana, Iowa, Washington, Colorado, and Missouri in Paul’s column. Louisiana is in a legal battle and the Maine delegation is in a fight with the state GOP chairman. Also possibly in Paul’s column, but locked in political combat, are Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Although, as a result of shallow and selective media coverage, many are under the impression that Paul placed poorly in nearly every state primary, the truth is that the process is more complicated. Despite Paul’s losses in early “beauty contest” primaries (in which significant “vote-flipping” in key states is now alleged,) in the later caucuses in which delegates to the national convention are actually apportioned, Paul swept many states and fought pitched battles in many others.

Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton told the Tampa Tribune reporter that Dr. Paul will not seek to be nominated from the floor,” language which is often intended to deflect speculation as to a candidate’s intentions, without committing to a course. Moreover, a recent email to Paul supporters from the campaign indicates that Dr. Paul is still very much in the race, saying: “Ron Paul’s number-one goal for the RNC is making sure his delegates and alternates who deserve to be seated in Tampa are credentialed.”

This does not sound like the urging of someone who does not seek the nomination.

The Tribune’s coverage is a startling departure from the practice throughout the campaign season of ignoring or misrepresenting Paul’s victories, and the status of his campaign. Even the usually well-regarded Christian Science Monitor reported in May that Ron Paul had “effectively” ended his presidential campaign. Paul had in fact merely suspended active campaigning in the remaining primary states due to lack of funds. Voters in these states were still able to vote for Paul, who was on all state primary ballots.

Soon after this Katy Steinmetz of Time Magazine declared that “Ron Paul’s Role at the Republican Convention [was] Now in Romney’s Hands.”

From “ending” his campaign, to then losing his “last chance” in Nebraska, Paul has now emerged as the Romney campaign’s greatest fear. Ironically, as far back as May, Fox News reported that Paul had already qualified to be nominated by gaining five states (video below.)

The reversal in media coverage comes after a long and brutal series of hard-won Paul victories, which often included last minute rules changes, arrests, and even broken bones for Ron Paul supporters. In Louisiana, off-duty police officers were hired by state GOP officials to eject new-elected officers from the Ron Paul camp. The New American reported:

“A Ron Paul supporter was arrested and emerged with broken fingers and another was reportedly given a dislocated hip after a June 2 Louisiana Republican convention split into two groups. According to Hamdan Azhar at PolicyMic.com, the majority convention backed Paul, and the Texas Congressman will send 27 of 46 Louisiana delegates to the Republican national convention this summer in Tampa.”

In Missouri, SWAT teams were called to arrest the leader of the Ron Paul faction, who was later elected as the new chairman of the local committee (video below.) The Ron Paul season has seen a flowering of democracy and involvement in local democratic processes in all its rough-and-tumble glory.

Paul has attracted the largest audiences of all the Republican candidates, and he polls well against Obama, whereas Romney has suffered a deficit. In addition, allegations and statistical arguments for vote-flipping which harmed Paul have been made.

Paul and his supporters go to the convention as he pushes Congress for legislation which would allow more complete audits of the Federal Reserve than have previously been possible. Paul criticizes the $16 trillion in bank bail-outs made recently by the Fed, including to foreign banks. Paul is alone among the candidates in attempting to introduce transparency to the Fed, with the exception of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who calls Paul’s HR 459 Audit the Fed a “no-brainer” (video of Paul on Audit the Fed below.)

The Paul campaign has now lived more lives than a cat. The Republican nomination for the presidency is subject to elaborate rules in which delegates may be “bound” or “unbound” to vote for whom they really want, according to how the rules are interpreted. The battle over whether delegates originally selected to vote for Romney must actually vote for Romney is far from settled. A ruling from RNC legal counsel John R. Phillipe, Jr. in 2008 states:

“The RNC does not recognize a state’s binding of national delegates, but considers each delegate a free agent who can vote for whoever they choose. The national convention allows delegates to vote for the individual of their choice, regardless of whether the person’s name is officially placed into nomination or not.”

And whether Dr. Paul “seeks” the nomination or not, it is not clear is whether anyone can stop the nomination of Dr. Paul.

RELATED:

“Media Says Ron Paul Wins Six States, Qualifying for Nomination. Romney Breaks Rules to Deny Speaking Slot,” Hubpages.com

This Hub was last updated on August 14, 2012

One thought on “Media Admits Romney’s Greatest Fear Is Ron Paul Nomination

  1. Hey, we’re mutual followers on twitter. @KeimgMeg

    I always like to connect with other freedom lovers on wordpress. Looking forward to your future posts.

Leave a comment