Who needs to win primaries? Not Ron Paul, whose campaign still thinks the persistent politician could wrangle enough delegates at state conventions to be a competative force at the national GOP convention in Tampa.
Paul campaigners think a strong presence at state-level contests could help them influence and win enough remaining delegates to help their candidate perhaps win a brokered nomination at the national convention, should Romney not get enough votes in the first round. It at least could get Paul more attention for his tiny-government platform.
“Our campaign strategy has always been to amass the maximum amount of delegates possible, and continuing work in state caucus-conventions is part of that,” Paul spokesman Gary Howard said Thursday.
Specifically, the Paul campaign is thinking of targeting 25 unbound delegates from Nevada, although the GOP's top lawyer has sent the Nevada Republican Party chair a letter warning them against delegate tampering. Paul has also performed well in various state caucuses and conventions around the country, thereby winning him a few more delegates for Tampa despite his primary losses. In the end, they're hoping he can pick up enough delegates to force a brokered convention -- remember that pipedream from a few months back? -- so their state-level, grassroots campaign efforts will continue through to Tampa.
Of course, both parties have already accepted that Mitt Romney will be the nominee; Ron Paul's followers seem to be the only people in America who are still hoping their guy can pull off an upset. By now, however, the right has begun to coalesce around Romney, and Ron Paul's moment in the sun is over. Like Hillary said, thanks for the "LOLz," but your time has come.