Convention revolt

Nevada is a swing state in the upcoming presidential election, a state that very well could decide the dead-heat race. The state's delegation to last week's Republican National Convention should have had a starring role.

Nevada got headlines last week, but for all the wrong reasons. The delegation, stacked with ardent supporters of Texas Rep. Ron Paul as a result of their years-long takeover of the state and Clark County party organizations, revolted on the convention floor Tuesday and refused provide 20 votes to Mitt Romney, as required under the binding rules of the state's February presidential caucuses.

Mr. Romney won Nevada's caucus going away, while Rep. Paul finished third behind Newt Gingrich. Yet Rep. Paul got 17 votes, Mr. Romney received five votes, and five delegates abstained. The stunt invalidated the caucuses and the hours of time thousands of Nevadans put into them.

Wayne Terhune and the other Paul loyalists rebelled because Republican leaders changed the convention rules to deny Rep. Paul's supporters the ability to nominate the 77-year-old libertarian from the floor. The party is a private organization, free to operate its convention as it sees fit. The rules were changed because the convention was supposed to be coronation for Mr. Romney and his springboard into the final weeks of the campaign. The convention was not supposed to highlight divisions within the party and distract from Mr. Romney by indulging the futile efforts of Paul followers.

Would Democrats tolerate a similar convention distraction from, say, followers of Rep. Dennis Kucinich? Of course not.

What did Rep. Paul's followers from Nevada and a handful of other states hope to accomplish? Rep. Paul is a fine man who happens to be quite right about a number of issues, from runaway federal borrowing and spending to the complete failure of the war on drugs. But he had no chance to capture the nomination last week. He didn't carry a single state in his presidential campaign - not even his own.

So Nevada's Paul delegates were little more than streakers at a championship football game: Folks who embarrassed themselves to get a few cheers but annoyed everyone else by interrupting something far more important than them. In the end, most streakers get clotheslined by a policeman or security guard, and that's essentially what happened in Tampa. As a result, Nevada's GOP is a national laughingstock at a time when the hard-hit state would greatly benefit from Republican tax and economic policies. Great damage has been done.

The Republican Party should never shun debate within its ranks. Political parties must never stop developing and refining ideas. But there is a time and place for everything. Ron Paul's Nevada supporters must learn that - very soon.