Politics: Ron Paul or Bust

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics Ron Paul or Bust The libertarian candidates' fans spend a few final days trying to make him president. By David Weigel Posted Monday, Aug 27, 2012, at 11:00 AM ET TAMPA—The Ron Paul RepubliCAN "We Are the Future Rally" breaks the first rule of campaign events—pack the front rows. The University of South Florida Sun Dome, which seats 10,411, is full-up in the second and third decks. The bottom deck isn't full. Easily more than 100 seats, in clean view of TV cameras, are empty, even when the noon start time arrives. Those seats were supposed to be for Republican National Committee delegates. There were supposed to be more of them. "We welcome you, delegates!" says our MC, presidential family historian and Paul diehard Doug Wead. Alas, "some are so traumatized that they aren't even coming here." They'd been "locked out, lied to, told that the 'nays' have it when we can all see on YouTube that the 'ayes' have it." Everybody boos; everybody knows. The big boys down the road, at the convention center, need to be shamed and exposed and shamed some more. Ron Paul supporters are not immune to paranoia, and in rooms all over Tampa, they are trading rumors about the ways their movement is being screwed. Did you hear that they kicked out all our delegates? The RNC sent out a message that this rally was cancelled. And so on. They're right to be confused. This stuff is confusing. Paul's third, and probably final (he's 77), presidential bid ended with zero primary or preference poll wins. Thanks to proportional representation, he managed to grab a bunch ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Pin the Tale on the Honky Comic Artist Raises More Than $1 Million for Tesla Museum The Global Network	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036