Ron Paul Supporters Disappointed at Nebraska GOP Convention

By: Morgan Demmel Email

Updated: Sat 9:37 PM, Jul 14, 2012

Ron Paul has not actively campaigned for the presidency since May, but his supporters had one final chance to help him secure a nomination in Grand Island Saturday at the Nebraska GOP Convention.

"It's not often that a Nebraska state convention has this level of attention," Nebraska Republican Party Executive Director Jordan McGrain says.

Nebraska's GOP convention is the final state convention, and the last chance Ron Paul supporters had to secure an official presence for him at the national convention in August.

"In order to have his name put into the nomination, he needed five states," Nebraska Republican Liberty Caucus Chairwoman Laura Ebke says.

She says there were four states already, leaving Nebraska as the fifth and last chance.

But Ebke and other Paul supporters weren't able to gather the votes he needed.

"The delegation is overwhelmingly supportive of Mitt Romney, so this will not be the state that delivers Ron Paul the fifth vote," Republican Party Chair Mark Fahleson says.

Which Ebke says was a disappointment for her and other Nebraska Paul supporters.

But despite disagreements, McGrain says tempers remained in check.

"It's been a pretty orderly convention," McGrain says.

"We had a little bit of a disagreement, mildly at first, with some of the credentials and rules reports, but we settled that all quite amicably," Ebke says.

Fahleson says it was a scene much different than at other state conventions.

"There were some issues of violence, some issues of disputes regarding parliamentary issues, parliamentary maneuvers," Fahleson says.

Party leaders say they refused to let the convention turn into chaos. Fahleson and Ebke met prior to the convention to share their concerns.

"We wanted to make sure that there wasn't going to be any big disruption," Ebke says.

Fahleson says they just wanted to follow the "Nebraska Way."

"We disagree, we debate, but we shake hands and we go to work together," Fahleson says.

Though they had previously discussed hiring security in case of violence at the convention, party leaders decided not to.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who many consider a likely running mate for Mitt Romney in the fall, and US Senate candidate Deb Fischer both spoke at the convention, but Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman did not attend because of the National Governor's Association Annual Meeting.

York Police Search for Driver in Wal-Mart Parking Lot Hit and Run