Ron Paul Roundup: Texas Primary and a Continued Thorn in Romney's Side (While Rand Meets Mitt)

It's the Texas GOP primary today, with just two candidates, Mitt Romney (who, as NPR explains, will not be cinching his delegate majority today) and native son Ron Paul, still running. Paul, who ceased actively campaigning in primary states like this a while back, not expected to set the world on fire here, but as Politico says in its "6 Things to Watch in Texas" piece:  

The Texas congressman isn't exactly running for the GOP nomination anymore, but at the same time his supporters have been extremely active across the state. He's almost certain to improve on his performance in 2008 -- when he won just five percent of the vote -- but by how much is impossible to predict.

Recent public polls show Romney, the presumptive nominee, with a big lead and Paul poised to triple his 2008 score. 

Also today in that Texas primary, Ron Paul-endorsed GOP Senate candidate Ted Cruz also fighting for his party's nomination today and is likely to end up pushing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst into a runoff. Paul fans wonder if Cruz (who did not return the endorsement to Paul) deserves Paulite bonafides. 

W. James Antle on Paul and Cruz at American Spectator.

*Paul fans gather to try to poll watch to prevent what they fear might be election fraud in Texas and California.

In an unrelated story, a Texas poll worker shot today.

*Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard very much wants 10-15 percent of the GOP's voters, and their $36 million plus in giving this election season (almost more than Gingrich and Santorum combined) to leave his party posthaste.

*UPI reports on Paul activists who still believe anything could happen in Tampa.

*Eli Lehrer of the Heartland Institute with those words than which nothing enrages a Paul partisan more: Paul should drop out right now and join hands explicitly with Mitt Romney in order to….what? Make sure Romney beats Obama, of course! Which should be a concern of the powerfully antiwar, anti government growth, anti-government control of medical care, anti-spending, anti-drug war, pro-civil liberties Paul fan, why?

*In suspicions of some deal between Romney and Paul camp news, Sen. Rand Paul and Mitt Romney had a non-public half hour meeting last week. Could there be a Romney-Rand Paul ticket? (I doubt it very much, myself.)

My new book, Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired.

Cross posted at dedicated blog/site for Ron Paul's Revolution.

Comments

[Apatheist ?_??]

Well I gave in an voted for Cruz and may do so again in the runoff. Dewhurst really is a fuckstick. If he pulls it out I'll have to decide whether to vote for an R in a general election for the first time since 2004, 2 weeks after turning 18.

[T]

I voted for Not David Dewhurst in the primary. If there's a runoff, I'll be voting for Not David Dewhurst again.

Seriously, fuck David Dewhurst. Also, fuck a lot of the other R candidates. I vote the hell out efenant primaries, because that's how you influence candidates in this state. I'll be voting LP come the fall, but in the meantime, I'll monkey wrench the R primaries as much as I can.

[Auric Demonocles]

Doherty missed on the alt text again, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. lol

[SIV]

You must include the Google AJAX Feed API script.

[SIV]

I get that message on The American Conservative site linked above.

[Xenocles]

Could there be a Romney-Rand Paul ticket? (I doubt it very much, myself.)

Smart money right here. Count on Romney to do the most white-bread, conventional thing possible WRT his VP choice. The only question is whether that choice will bring in more "other" voters than a Paul would have brought in Paul supporters.

[Brandon]

The question is "Whose turn is it?"

[Old Mexican]

Romney's and Paul's actual delegate count

Romney does NOT have close to enough delegates to secure the nomination.

[pmains]

This states that Romney has 29 delegates while Paul has 3. Paul probably had more on the first count (I have heard as many as 11). Romney loyalists conducted a fraudulent "recount" several days after the convention, in which they determined that, my oh my, it turns out that Romney has 28 delegates and Paul only 1. This turned out to be exactly the same number they offered as a "deal" to Shawn Dow of the Ron Paul campaign before the convention started.

Add to the the confusion that AZ has 29 'A' delegates who will vote at the convention and 29 'B' votes which, under GOP rules, will not be seated. Nevertheless, the GOP is expected to buckle eventually.

[CE]

Wanna bet? Romney has it in the bag. At best, Paul can get his name put into nomination from the floor, and win a hundred or two votes before Romney is crowned. Or use that threat to secure a speaking spot on a Wednesday afternoon at the convention, televised live on C-SPAN, with no one watching.

[CE]

If Ron Paul had caught on with the general public, as he might have, and enough of them had registered Republican and decided to vote in the primaries, Texas and California would have been his best states for hauling in delegates.

Unfortunately, actual and potential Paul supporters let the opportunity slip away by allowing the few consistent primary voters to vote for the candidates they were instructed to, as usual.

[sweeterjan]

Recent public polls show Romney, the http://www.vendreshox.com/nike-shox-r3-c-8.html presumptive nominee, with a big lead and Paul poised to triple his 2008 score.

[James Anderson Merritt]

So I am reading that Paul only mustered the usual 10% or so of primary voters in his home state. So are the only RP supporters there the many thousands who attended his rallies? It seemed to me as if Texas should have gone maybe 20% for Paul, so I am deeply suspicious that his voter support there appears so low, creepily consistent with most other primary states where Paul has appeared on the ballot. Hmmmm....

[buntpunt]

Those guys seem to know what the deal is. Wow.

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