Ron Paul spoke to his supporters last week and urged them not to give up demanding that the ideals of the Revolution he has helped to spark become main staples of the Republican platform when the party meets in Tampa, Fla., in August. But for many of Paul’s supporters, giving up has never been an option anyway.
In a video address last Friday, Paul sought to get his delegates ready for what will be the climax of his entire campaign when the Republican National Convention begins on Aug. 27. In the days following the convention’s kickoff, Paul’s delegates will have the chance to change the GOP in ways that suit their mission regardless of the Party’s pick.
Paul is urging delegates and supporters who will be in Tampa to gather on Aug. 26, the day before the convention starts, for a rally to organize in anticipation of the events taking place the following week.
“[The rally] will celebrate what we have done and to urge on and encourage all the delegates who will do their job at the convention, fight for our values, influence the platform and do whatever we can to promote the cause of liberty,” Paul said.
The candidate also expressed the importance of his supporters showing up in large numbers for this event to let the Republican establishment know that his contingent refuses to be ignored.
Paul’s supporters, who have seen several ups and downs during the campaign season, continue to work feverishly throughout the Nation to further their cause. Often, their enthusiasm in getting involved in GOP politics gives the impression that the establishment is getting annoyed.
Though the national media spent little time covering the events that unfolded at the GOP state convention in Louisiana, Paul supporters who attended the event say old guard Republicans in that State blatantly tried to silence them. According to a report from The Times-Picayune, GOP officials, worried that Paul’s supporters would hijack the event, changed party rules in the days preceding the convention and arranged for nine off-duty police officers and several plainclothes state troopers to attend the event for security.
According to the news report, the additional security was provided because the State’s GOP had received a tip that Paul’s supporters had “retained a militia.” But Paul supporter Nick Soniat tells the story a little differently.
“What they called a militia was actually two guys that we asked to attend to stand around our chairperson, because we knew that they [the GOP] were arranging private security, and we feared that they would simply remove our people,” Soniat told Personal Liberty. “But they were asked not to enter the room. So we spoke to the state troopers to ensure that no one would attempt to remove speakers as long as they acted within the rules. We were assured that they would not.”
The convention reportedly then denigrated into chaos. The result and the cause are explained in two different ways: one from the perspective of Paul supporters and one from GOP loyalists.
Ellen Davis, a Paul delegate, writes in a letter to the Louisiana GOP:
“You claim that the violence committed against representatives of the majority of convention delegates was justified because you were simply enforcing the convention rules. Those supplemental convention rules were adopted in a PRIVATE meeting held two days before the state convention in Shreveport. They entirely changed the scope of the agreed upon rules submitted to the Republican National Committee in October of last year.”
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http://personalliberty.com/2012/06/19/ron-paul-supporters-will-fight-forever/
