Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul ran into some serious trouble over the weekend as the Nebraska GOP convention gave him only two delegates to the Republican National Convention next month.
This left Paul one state short of the five required to have his name formally placed in nomination. He needs at least a plurality in five states to be nominated and has only four.
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Paul, a GOP congressman from Texas, had done extremely well in collecting delegates at state conventions, where grassroots organizing and dedicated cadres of supporters can make all the difference. But his success ended in Nebraska when the campaign of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney soundly defeated Paul's forces and won a big majority of the state's delegation.
Now it is unclear whether Paul will address the convention, because he has yet to endorse Romney.
Romney and his advisers face a difficult decision in this regard. They don't want to totally alienate Paul supporters by refusing let their hero speak, but at the same time, they don't want to give national attention to someone who has refused to endorse Romney.
Ken Walsh covers the White House and politics for U.S. News. He writes the daily blog, "Ken Walsh's Washington," and is the author of "The Presidency" column for the U.S. News Weekly. He can be reached at kwalsh@usnews.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
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