Current Republican Presidential Candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) is well behind the GOP’s presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, in terms of total delegates for the RNC convention.
But even though Rep. Paul has admitted it will be tough for him to secure the GOP Presidential nomination, a loophole in the nomination process could potentially open the door for his loyal supporters to nominate him as vice-president.
Before 2008, the guidelines for selecting the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominee required that a single candidate gain a majority of delegates from five states.
In January of 2008, however, this rule was changed so that a candidate only needed to obtain a plurality of delegates from five states, and not necessarily the majority.
While state party rules generally require a delegate to vote for the presidential candidate whom they are sent to represent, there is no such rule when it comes to vice-presidential selection.
A big focus recently of Rep Paul’s campaign has been recruiting the support of delegates who are bound to Mitt Romney.
Rep. Paul’s campaign has said that while they will only have about 200 bound delegates at the convention, they expect to have the verbal support of nearly 500 delegates in candidates.
When all is said and done, the Paul campaign expects to have the support of 20 percent of the delegates at the convention, which could have a major impact on influencing the GOP vice presidential nominee.
Even if Paul’s supporters do not decide to push him as Mitt Romney’s running-mate, they still have a large influence in the selection process.
