Is There A Rift Between Ron Paul & His Supporters?

With the GOP convention in Tampa, Florida coming up soon, there has been a lot of discussion about what Ron Paul supporters will do at the convention. Its very possible that things will go off without a hitch or we could see some political skirmishes take place at the convention. 

As a result, I am worried about the convention and I do not trust the Ron Paul supporters who say that there will be no disruption at the GOP convention. I don't trust Ron Paul when he has told CNN’s Newsroom that he doesn't support or like the idea of disrupting the GOP convention. 

However, what does want is to have the ability to he  insert his political agenda and beliefs into the GOP platform. Ron Paul was never in the 2012 Presidential race to win. He has admitted on Fox News that he doesn't want the power of being the President but simply wants to influence the Republican Party's platform. He was only in it for the sole purpose of amassing enough delegates so that he can use his delegates as a way of getting the Republican party to adopt his libertarian views on foreign policy, economics and other issues.

That is why people like Rick Santorum sent a loud and clear message to Ron Paul and his supporters that they should not mess with the GOP platform. There are rumors that Mitt Romney might add Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" campaign to the GOP platform. I'm open to adding that to the GOP platform but any other request from Ron Paul supporters to add more items on the platform is asking too much. 

There's also speculation that Paul's supporters might try to nominate him to be the Mitt Romney's Vice President and override whoever Romney picks to be his VP. While it is a possibility, it would do major damage to the GOP party as well as Mitt Romney and would hinder their efforts to make Obama a one term president. On the flip side of the coin, pulling a stunt like this would result in a major backlash against Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul and make a major dent in their political future. So as much as Ron Paul people may dream about this possibility, it is not a realistic given the consequences of what would happen if the Ron Paul supporters were successful in nominating Dr. Paul to be the V.P.

Ron Paul knows this. While Ron Paul supporters are itching for a fight at the convention and are making things difficult for the GOP party as evidenced by the lawsuit against the Republican Party by some supporters, he's being more cooperative with the GOP party than his supporters are: 

While the congressman from Texas didn't win any nominating contests this year, he amassed some 200 delegates to send to the convention, his campaign says. His backers have done that by winning extra delegates at state conventions that occur after primary voting, an often-overlooked process.

That strategy caused some in the GOP establishment to fear that Mr. Paul would try to hijack the convention through parliamentary stalling tactics and anti-Romney protests. Yet when his supporters announced a three-day Paul festival, including a 77th-birthday party for the candidate, at the state fairgrounds in Tampa the weekend before the convention, his campaign announced that he wouldn't attend. His focus instead is on the nascent official event organized with the GOP convention—which, meanwhile, hasn't decided yet whether to approve the festival that Paul backers are organizing on their own.

Mr. Paul's decision to play nice with Mr. Romney has already gotten him at least a few kind words. "Gov. Romney has a lot of respect for Dr. Paul and the energy his supporters bring to the process," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said. That's a notable contrast from 2008, when Mr. Paul opted to hold his own convention in Minneapolis as counterprogramming to the official convention in neighboring St. Paul. This year, both the GOP establishment and Mr.Mr. Paul seem to have found a way to satisfy their interests and present a more united front.

Given that I am not a fan of Ron Paul, I can't help but be skeptical about the different path Ron Paul is taking with his supporters. I honestly don't know what to make of it. Part of me hopes that this is a real and genuine split and tension between Ron Paul and his supporters about what to do and how to behave at the convention. The skeptic in me thinks otherwise. 

The only thing to do is wait and see how the convention unfolds.