Paul supporters plan presence at GOP state convention

The "delegate wars" being waged by supporters of presidential candidate and U.S. Rep Ron Paul (R-Texas) may find a new battlefield in Kentucky this weekend, as the Paul campaign expects to be visible at this Saturday's state Republican convention in Bowling Green.

Ron Paul (R-Texas)"We are indeed planning to have a respectable presence at the Kentucky Republican state convention and of course will be attempting to secure some national delegate positions," Paul campaign organizer John Riley told PolitickerKY.com.

Efforts to elect Paul supporters as delegates to September's Republican National Convention are a principal focus for the Texas Congressman's lingering presidential bid. The Paul campaign has been running an under-the-radar effort to circumvent the traditional method of delegate selections by making several high-visibility efforts to push supporters into national delegations via election processes at state Republican party conventions.

These delegate struggles gained their highest degree of notoriety in late April, when the Nevada state Republican Party was recessed amid an influx of Paul supporters, pushing to elect their own to the state's RNC delegation.

Currently, no Nevada delegation to the RNC has been seated.

At this Saturday's Kentucky Republican convention, 24 at-large delegates and alternates will be elected to attend the national convention. It is on these positions that Paul supporters will likely focus their efforts in the "delegate wars," although the potential for success is in question.

Paul supporters thus far have harvested no national delegates throughout the arduous and multi-tiered delegate selection process in Kentucky.

In the May 20 Republican presidential primary here, Paul accumulated just 6.8 percent of the vote in the Commonwealth. A 15 percent threshold must be met before a candidate is automatically allocated a delegate based on vote total.

To circumvent this provision and elect delegates, Paul supporters have to work within a delegate selection process that started in mid-March and incorporates three different convention scenarios.

First, supporters had to win votes at the March 15 county-level Republican conventions, where delegate positions to both state and Congressional District-level conventions were awarded.

At these district-level conventions, three delegates from each of the state's six districts were selected, yet none went for Paul.

Those elected as delegates at the county-level conventions - who awarded Paul no delegates at district conventions - will be the ones permitted to vote on the at-large national delegate slates at Saturday's convention.

Thus, the road to delegate attainment in Kentucky is an uphill one for the Paul campaign.

Furthermore, signs of convention mobilization among Paul supporters are not exactly prevalent on some of the more well-visited internet forums - favored venues of discussion for net-saavy Paul supporters, who earlier campaigned with signs encouraging passers-by to "Google Ron Paul."

"The Great Commonwealth of Kentucky" forum on meetup.com features scant discussion of Saturday's event. Meanwhile, a Kentucky-centric forum on RonPaulForums.com has remained dormant since shortly after the May 20 election.

Nonetheless, supporters like John Riley remain positive.

"We are not sure what degree of success we will have, but our time will not be wasted," said Riley.

For many Paul supporters, visibility is just as important as success for a political campaign they seek to transition into a legitimate and continued movement.

During a May appearance in Louisville, Paul and his son, Rand, elevated this goal of a strong presence over even the delegate fight while encouraging supporters to rally at the RNC convention in Minnesota.

"We are going to St. Paul-Minneapolis whether they invite us or not," said Rand Paul. "Prime time will come and cover us, if we have 10,000 people in St. Paul."

"Regardless of the numbers of the delegates and how they treat us at the convention, that rally we are going to have up there will not go unnoticed," said Paul.

Integration into local party infrastructure is another goal for the Paul campaign, throughout the country. Locally, Paul supporters attempted to elect like-minded activists into official positions within the Jefferson County Republican Party, but were thwarted in their effort.

Still, it was in this venue that Riley said Paul supporters were making effective moves in Kentucky.

"Although we have not had any success so far in securing national delegate positions at the district conventions, we are becoming fully involved in the local county organizations," he added.

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