Nevada's Ron Paul Kerfuffle on the Convention Floor
Tampa - After Robert Terhune stopped noting how awesome Nevada is during the Republican National Convention's roll call of the states and started talking about how Ron Paul is "the champion of the Constitution" it became clear very quickly that this was not part of the usual pre-packaged script. Terhune, the boss of the Nevada delegation at the RNC, was about to deliver a majority of his state's delegates for Paul; a major violation of the rules, since Romney secured 20 delegates and Paul just eight.
"We proudly cast 17 votes for Congressman Ron Paul, five abstentions, and five for Romney," he proclaimed.
On a day when the Paul faction of the party was left bruised and battered, Terhune and his rebel Nevada delegation provided a small silver lining by delivering a majority of their delegates to Ron Paul.
In pro wrestling they would call this a "shoot"; in the Paul world it was called courageous, and in the world of Nevada politics, at least for some, it was called the act of an "outlaw."
"Our chairman violated the rules by voting the way he did," said Wes Rice, the Nevada Rural County Caucus Chairman.
"I am very upset, they planned to be the people that followed the rules and then they violate them whenever they want to," he fumed.
Former Nevada Governor and pledged Romney delegate Bob List said Terhune was "an outlaw, he didn't follow the law."
"I'll find a way to correct this, Reince Prebius will make certain it's recorded properly," List said to reporters on the floor.
Some of the Paul delegates hinted they were so unhappy with the entire process that unfolded on the floor that they were considering voting for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.
When asked about this Rice expressed more frustration with the Nevada delegation.
"I hope they vote for Obama. If they don't vote for Mitt Romney that is exactly what they're going to get. And another four years of Obama, well, I hope they enjoy kissing our country goodbye," Rice said.
While Terhune was speaking Wisellet Wizzard stood behind him with a large Ron Paul sign. The delegation had two but one was confiscated by convention staffers during the roll call vote. After the vote was submitted Wizzard stormed off with some delegates complaining about the process and how they were cheated. "The people's voices aren't being heard, we are not being respected. This is a top down party," he said.
Terhune's supporters in the delegation said they were rebelling against a change to the convention rules that prevented the possibility of nominating Ron Paul from the floor.
"The RNC itself made a backroom decision several days before the convention that they can now change the rules of the convention on short notice, whenever they want, and they presented all these new rules prior to what was really happening to counter us and all the other delegations for Ron Paul," said 25-year-old Daniel Stakleff of Las Vegas. "They pulled a fast one, it's not fair."
Stakleff was unhappy, too, that Wizzard's sign was removed from the convention floor.
"Six states properly submitted the paperwork to nominate Ron Paul from the floor of the convention. According to the rules, five were required," said Blake Buffington, a Paul supporter from Las Vegas.
The petitions, according to Buffington, were ignored by RNC officials because they were told that officials just didn't have enough time to review all of the signatures before the roll call.
"Ron Paul was properly nominated and they refused to acknowledge that fact," he said.
The guy that put all of this in motion, Terhune, hung around the Nevada area of the convention floor long after the vote but declined to comment on the entire situation.
"No comment at this point. I am still a little hot," he said.
