Ron Paul isn’t sure that he’ll get a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention this coming August, nor has he asked for one, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to fade away quietly.
Appearing on Morning Joe Wednesday, Paul said what he wants is for the Republican Party to recognize the legitimacy of his supporters and their ideas.
“Our goal, if I’m not going to be the nominee, the goal is to show there’s a political benefit to accepting some of the views we have or all the views that we have. If [the Republican Party] would look to us for guidance and to accept some of these things, they might have an easier time winning.”
Paul has steadily been gaining additional delegates in states such as Maine and Nevada and making noise at the state and local levels of government. While not nearly enough to be the nominee, it is possible that his supporters will be able influence the Republican Party platform on some of their core issues, such as government spending.
“I’m not sure I will have a public presence [at the convention], but we will have a presence as an organization,” Paul said.
He added that he has “not asked specifically” for a speaking slot, nor has the assumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney “asked me” to speak.
The Paul campaign and supporters have scheduled several rallies to take place just prior to the Republican convention.
Paul, as he did throughout the Republican presidential primary, complained about what he sees as hypocrisies in the current GOP.
“Do the Republicans really stop welfare expansion? No. Do they really cut back and balance the budget? No. They usually introduce bigger budgets generally over the years whether it was Reagan or Bush—they spent a lot of money,” he said.
More than just changing the party platform, Paul said in his characteristic enthusiasm, that he’s more interested in a hearts and minds campaign.
“I want to work on the platform, but we know platforms don’t change people’s attitudes and that’s what we want to do,” he said. “We want to get attention to change the attitude so that we who are perceived as outliers become the insiders. That’s what’s happening. We’re winning state delegations, state chairmen and small offices from city councils to county commissioners…There’s so much excitement out there.”