By NBC’s Anthony Terrell
Ron Paul’s third campaign for president may not lead to the Texas Congressman being nominated at the Republican Convention in Tampa this August — notwithstanding a lawsuit filed by supporters in attempt to make that happen — but, from Maine to Alaska, the “Paul Revolution” has swept state Republican parties.
Out of the national spotlight, Paul activists have mastered obscure local party rules to win key positions of power at state conventions, infiltrating the Republican establishment across the country, including in the key swing states of Iowa and Nevada.
In Massachusetts, they even beat out many prominent pro-Mitt Romney supporters to win spots as Romney delegates. They are informally bound by party rules to vote for Romney still, but the open secret in both parties, is no one is really bound – one of the issues at the heart of the Paul supporters’ lawsuit against the national party.
Paul’s strategy has always been to motivate “the remnant” to gain influence by getting involved in party politics, and described how that would happen to a small group of reporters in Columbia, S.C., in mid-January.
“We don’t win over the insiders by becoming like an insider,” Paul said. “We win the inside over by making the outsiders become more appropriate.”
But what Paul activists have done in many places is learn the rules of the insiders and use them against them.
After being described as “an outlier for the Republican Party,” Paul Wednesday morning on MSNBC, explained how supporters will achieve his long
Ron Paul ‘Revolution’ strikes at GOP state parties [continued]
 |
 |
