Brokered Convention, the Long Shot

Put your shoelaces back on your shoes, drain the warm bath and pull your wallets out Donate to Ron Paul's crucial Money Bomb (the over the top suicide analogy may be a bit much, but we are passionate bunch), even some CBS news contributors felt the need to mention that in the increasingly likely event of a brokered convention this August, Ron Paul stands his best, albeit still long, shot at the Presidential nomination in his lifelong struggle to wrestle the position from the statist establishment. (CBS News Brokered Convention)As you know from the 24 hours news cycle, Paul and his shockingly fringe common sense approach to government has scared people into calling a tyrant like Rick Santorum a more agreeable nomination choice in the many highly publicized primaries and caucuses this season. But there are a lot of us out here that don’t fall into this CNN version of the story, and once the beauty contests are over, we’ll still be engaged. We aren’t casual voting Rush Limbaugh listeners or Rachel Maddow followers. We have a deep rooted, firm foundation in our convictions through a truth seeking and historical perspective unmatched by detractors. We take the conversation one step further than the party line buzzwords that most parrot. We understand and actually kind of enjoy monetary policy. We are such nerds, that we spend even the 5 minutes of our seriously strapped free time going to meetings where we learn about becoming state delegates and county committee members.That absurd dedication may yet pay off. A brokered convention could unleash the beast of pent up Paul support throughout the nation. We are out there, in numbers greater than the 6 or 7% GOP primary totals and while that may not translate to as sexy of a news story as winning a straw poll; it could translate to something much sexier at the convention in August. The Santorum campaign spoke of the growing chance of a brokered convention last week and has hired resources to study the “arcane rules” of such an event. While the Santo people start reading the rules, they may find themselves wasting their time as the Ron Paul faithful have already begun their journey through the procedural labyrinth to the GOP convention in Tampa (some of them as early as last year).Nonsense you say? Maybe, but down here in real life as opposed to the media’s interpretation of it, I am seeing a real disconnect. I cannot tell you how many times I have met someone that loves talking about Ron Paul and his revolutionary, yet totally sensible approach to issues. I can tell you how many times I have met someone psyched about the Santorum campaign. It was once. It was my Democrat grandmother who at 88 was happy he was doing well. When I asked her why, she said because, “I hate that other guy (Mitt) and that pig (does it even warrant a parenthesis?).” Well stated Mom-mom, so do I. I asked her why she didn’t mention the guy I spend too much of my life defending, Ron Paul. Her response, “Oh, he is not serious.” As much as it pains me, I understand what she means. This is exactly how the casual observer perceives this situation. I even now know this from personal experience.For the past few weeks, work and other life surprises have kept me pretty busy actually living life instead of researching and blogging about it. This hiatus from “the shit” proved a very therapeutic exercise. While enjoying my holiday from the madness, I experienced similar world updates like most of the populace. Local and some nightly news, maybe some CNN, you know the healthy amount for a real person. From my delightfully civilian life, Ron Paul seemed, at worst, an afterthought or, at best, a caricature. I, like my grandmom, was wearing the shoes of a casual observer and started to understand why many think “he is not serious.” These democratic elections that Americans so proudly tout are generally won by the will of such casual observers. This is so for one very obvious reason-we are mostly casual observers! Life is hectic we don’t have the time or patience to put up with soap opera. Most voters don’t find the incredibly disgusting irony in Slick Rick speaking his words of tyranny in front of a large poster spelling “Freedom.”A brokered convention could change this, however. To be a delegate or one of the other less publicized pieces of the electing machinery casual doesn’t cut it. Becoming part of the nomination rigmarole takes some dedication and I just don’t see the average Santorum, Romney, or Gingrich faithful having quite the level that we do. These arcane rules include further nooks and crannies at the state level too. Even in binding, winner takes all states, like my own, delegates can vote their own way under certain circumstances. This means that even the winners of these state’s primaries may not get their final delegate votes at a contested convention. In NJ, bound delegates only have to vote according to the popular winner in the first vote. This has huge implications for a campaign like Ron Paul’s. Even without the "plurality of delegates in 5 states" rule, which Paul still has a decent chance of achieving, candidates can re-appear after the second round of voting.To back a candidate and an idea like Paul’s requires a step beyond the casual motivation or participation. We aren't Republicans and we don’t give a damn about your party line. We are free Americans, who understand that our liberty obliges us to learn a little bit more about life than is described by passionate bullet points. We are the nerds that spend our time blogging and going to state conventions. We are the losers that will spend our paychecks and vacation time in Tampa, FL this August. And mom-mom, forget what you heard, we are very, very serious.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!