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Ron Paul's loyal supporters helped him set campaign fundraising records and capture more delegates during his presidential run than some of his high-profile Republican rivals. They even managed to briefly shut down Nevada's GOP convention earlier this month over a rules change controversy.
Now Ron Paul who does not support McCain's war strategy refuses to endorse McCain and says on foreign policy he's prefers Obama.
Will Paul and his supporters be heard at the Republican Convention?
Paul: Not ready to endorse McCain, likes Obama's foreign policy
As far as Sen. John McCain is concerned, the Republican presidential nomination is a done deal and he's working on uniting the party behind him. But thousands of Republicans -- particularly supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul -- aren't buying that.
Even though Rep. Ron Paul has never officially ended his long shot presidential bid, he’s ready to weigh in on the three remaining major candidates for the White House.
In an interview on The Situation Room, Paul told Wolf Blitzer that endorsing Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, “would really confuse” his supporters “because they know we have a precise program and we have to defend that program.”
Having a Republican win the upcoming presidential election is “secondary” for Paul who is more interested in defending the Constitution, having the country go in what he considers the right direction, having a sound currency, and achieving balanced budgets. Paul parts ways with McCain over McCain’s support for the Iraq war, his approach to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and his willingness to spend federal dollars to support military operations in Iraq.
Instead, Paul favors Sen. Barack Obama because of positions on foreign policy. “But that’s doesn’t mean that’s an endorsement,” Paul quickly added.
The rebel forces of Paul -- Ron Paul -- organize to resist John McCain
In the Pennsylvania primary, more than 215,000 Republicans cast ballots for Paul or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who quit campaigning weeks ago. Together, they captured 27% of the Republican vote.
That was tame compared with the uproar last weekend at Nevada's Republican Party Convention. Or before that in Missouri.
About 600 well-organized Paul supporters overwhelmed McCain's forces, as The Ticket reported earlier this week, and engineered a rule change that permitted national convention delegates to be nominated from the floor, wresting the task from party establishment leaders.
