Ron Paul Sweeps Minn. RNC Delegates in Surprise

Ron Paul’s forces pulled off “a bloodless coup” in Minnesota, as one observer put it, winning 12 of 13 Republican National Convention delegate slots in St. Cloud Saturday.

Paul told supporters this past week that the victory was about more than simply winning the GOP nomination, which is now a virtual certainly for Mitt Romney.

“It is about the campaign for Liberty, which has taken a tremendous leap forward in this election and will continue to grow stronger in the future until we finally win,” he said in a website posting, first reported by the Christian Science Monitor.

“Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process,” Paul said. “We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates, and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that Liberty is the way of the future.”

“The Paul crowd pulled off a bloodless coup,” the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. “Unlike other states where brawls broke out between Paul fans and Romney supporters, the Minnesota convention was a relatively civil affair. There were no fistfights or shouting matches on the convention floor.”

Paul's aim is to keep supporters of his “revolution” revved up, laying the groundwork for what he hopes will be a prominent role in Tampa, Fla., while not coming across as a political curmudgeon trying to undermine the candidacy of Romney, the Monitor wrote.

A week ago, Paul supporters booed Josh Romney off the stage at the Arizona Republican Party convention. At the recent Oklahoma GOP convention, Paul enthusiasts booed Gov. Mary Fallin and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as they spoke on behalf of Romney.

Paul wants several things to be included in the GOP platform at Tampa: A proposal for stricter oversight of the Federal Reserve, a ban on indefinite detention of American citizens, and a provision advocating greater freedom on the Internet.

"The ball is in the court of the Republican Party and the court of Mitt Romney," Jesse Benton, national chairman of Paul's campaign, told reporters this past week. "We're bringing forward an attitude of respect, and we're also bringing forward some very specific things that we believe in. If our people are treated with respect, if our ideas, their ideas are embraced and treated seriously and treated with respect, I think the Republican Party will have a very good chance to pick up a substantial number of our votes."

"On the flip side," Benton warned, "if they're treated like they were in 2008, a lot of people are going to stay home and a lot of people are going to sit on their hands."