Despite the delegates he won during the Republican presidential primary season, Ron Paul won't be speaking at next week's Republican convention in Tampa, Fla.

But his presence will be felt there -- whether it's his supporters who will be flocking to the city or his son Rand, who will be speaking at the convention.

And there's also the possibility of a video tribute to the Texas congressman.

"We're told there's something special in the works on Tuesday paying tribute to Ron Paul," said Jesse Benton, Paul's national campaign manager.

Richard Clement / Reuters

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, questions Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke (not pictured) during his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this July 21, 2009 file photo.

Rand's big speech
Perhaps the most high-profile Paul-related event at the convention will be Monday's primetime speech by Rand Paul, the freshman U.S. senator from Kentucky.

The last time Ron Paul actually attended a Republican National Convention was in 1976, when he led the Texas delegation as one of only four congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan over Gerald Ford. And joining him on the convention floor was his son, Rand, who then was 13 years old.

Now the roles are sort of reversed.

“Rand will be speaking on Monday,” Benton said. “And Ron will be watching his son’s speech from someplace inside the venue.”

The speech the RNC "doesn't want the rest of America to hear"
Ron Paul will be speaking in Tampa, too -- just not at the convention.

On Sunday, he will deliver a keynote address to supporters at the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome at the campaign’s “We are the Future Rally,” which runs from noon to 6:00 pm ET. The sold-out venue seats 11,000, and Paul will deliver a speech he says “the Republican National Convention doesn’t want the rest of America to hear.” 

“The rally on Sunday is a celebration of our delegates and how far we’ve come,” Benton added. “So much of our message is being embraced by the Republican Party.”

In what was supposed to be a show of strength, the campaign originally planned to load its delegates on buses after the rally and take them to the RNC Welcome Reception at Tropicana Field so the group can “make a grand entrance.”

“This is our opportunity to show that we are the future of the Republican Party,” Paul wrote in an email to supporters earlier this month.

But that plan had to be changed this week due to logistics surrounding the high security at the venue. Paul-supporting delegates can acquire their own transportation to attend the official GOP welcome party or postpone mingling with rank and file Republicans to attend a “Liberty Rocks” after party being thrown by the campaign at Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill in Tampa. 

The after-party is open to everyone, and the more than 1,500 supporters expected to show up will be entertained by blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and John Popper from the Blues Traveler. In addition, delegates and alternates who are Paul supporters have been invited to a private reception with the Texas congressman before that party begins.

“For many, it’s not a choice,” one Paul staffer organizing the event said. “Delegates have a rare opportunity for a private reception with Dr. Paul and have their photo taken with him.”

The next morning, Paul will attend a fundraising breakfast sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa.  The state’s GOP Chairman, A.J. Spiker, was a co-chair of Paul’s Iowa campaign and the unbound delegation from the Hawkeye state includes a majority of Paul supporters. 

Later on Monday, Paul will greet his supporters at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 

A video tribute?
According to the campaign, the RNC is planning a special tribute to the 77-year-old Paul on the second night of the convention, which would mark a change in the party’s attitude towards the Texas congressman who has run for president three times and has started a small revolution inside the Grand Old Party. 

Convention organizers have not responded to repeated requests for confirmation, and the official schedule released for Tuesday makes no mention of a tribute to Paul. However, there are spots on the schedule labeled “Segment to be announced,” as well as “videos” during the evening –- which supporters believe will be where the party will place the tribute.

Asked if Paul will stick around to watch Romney’s acceptance speech on Thursday, Benton says that’s “still up in the air.”

Paul-supporting delegates attending the convention have been advised to be respectful, defend their positions, and don't be “pushed around.” Many are excited to see other Paul supporters from across the country and will attempt to introduce themselves to other Republicans. 

“There’s been a lot of confusion on what we represent,” said Carl Bunce, Paul’s Nevada state chair and delegate to the convention. “We’ll be going to some of the cocktail parties and getting our message out there. We have to let people know what type of people we are versus the stereotype.”

Crafting the RNC's platform
Another delegate attending the convention, Chris Stearns, was Paul’s Virginia State director and has been tasked by the campaign to lead efforts on the RNC platform committee.

“This is going to be a very significant business trip for me,” Stearns said. “I’m looking forward to helping craft the platform with Dr. Paul’s message of constitutional government, making sure it’s well represented in the party platform.”

As to whether a majority of the party has accepted some of those views, including auditing the Federal Reserve and requiring a formal declaration of war before committing military forces overseas, Stearns seems confident that message has become mainstream.

“Everybody that I’ve dealt with has been very approachable, very friendly and it’s amazing. The Republicans in this country have really shifted from the Bush era … and are taking constitutional- and liberty-minded principles very seriously.”

This week, delegates included planks to the Republican Party’s 2012 platform draft that embrace some longtime goals of Dr. Paul’s -- an annual audit of the Federal Reserve and the creation of a commission to consider returning the U.S. dollar to the gold standard -- which will be voted on by the full convention next week. 

Reacting to the inclusion of his dad’s policy goals into the Republican document, Sen. Rand Paul wrote, “This is great news and is long overdue.”

Citing a quote from playwright Victor Hugo that his dad frequently used on the campaign trail, Sen. Paul added: "'You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.’ The time for Fed transparency has come.”

Ron Paul’s third campaign for president may not lead to the Texas Congressman being nominated at the Republican Convention in Tampa this August -- notwithstanding a lawsuit filed by supporters in attempt to make that happen -- but, from Maine to Alaska, the “Paul Revolution” has swept state Republican parties.

Out of the national spotlight, Paul activists have mastered obscure local party rules to win key positions of power at state conventions, infiltrating the Republican establishment across the country, including in the key swing states of Iowa and Nevada.

In Massachusetts, they even beat out many prominent pro-Mitt Romney supporters to win spots as Romney delegates. They are informally bound by party rules to vote for Romney still, but the open secret in both parties, is no one is really bound – one of the issues at the heart of the Paul supporters’ lawsuit against the national party.

Ben Margot / AP

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, cheer as Paul speaks at the University of California at Berkeley, Calif.

Paul’s strategy has always been to motivate “the remnant” to gain influence by getting involved in party politics, and described how that would happen to a small group of reporters in Columbia, S.C., in mid-January.

“We don't win over the insiders by becoming like an insider,” Paul said. “We win the inside over by making the outsiders become more appropriate.”

But what Paul activists have done in many places is learn the rules of the insiders and use them against them.

After being described as “an outlier for the Republican Party,” Paul Wednesday morning on MSNBC, explained how supporters will achieve his long-term goal of bringing the GOP around to accepting his political philosophy.

“I want to work on the platform,” Paul said, “but we know platforms don't change people's attitudes. That's what we want to do -- get attention to changing the attitude, so that we, who are perceived as outliers, become the insiders. And that's what's happening. … We're winning state delegations, state chairmen and small offices, anywhere from city councils to county commissioners.”

Paul supporters are winning elections and becoming party insiders: chairmen, national committeemen, executive board members, elected officials, candidates and delegates.

- In Iowa, four of Paul’s former aides hold leadership positions at the state party, including chairman A.J. Spiker – who was Paul’s state co-chair. At least six members of the Iowa State Central Committee are Paul supporters.

- In Alaska, Republicans voted Russ Millette as the party’s new chairman and Debra Holle Brown as co-chair, both Paul supporters. Local reports call this a sea change in state politics, after “at least 12 years of the Alaska GOP being run by what those party newcomers call ‘establishment Republicans.’”

- In Nevada, Paul supporters won 13 of 14 new elected executive board spots at the Clark County GOP. Four years after having the lights turned out on them at the state convention in 2008, Paul supporters now hold positions at local and county GOP offices across the Silver State.

- In Minnesota, the state Republican Party endorsed Paul supporter and economics teacher Kurt Bills for the GOP Senate nomination. He will face incumbent Democrat Amy Klobuchar in November.

- And in Maine, 21-year-old Paul supporter Ashley Ryan was elected as the state’s new Republican national committeewoman. The Paul campaign claims she is likely the youngest national committeewoman.

“Look at the next generation,” Paul said on MSNBC. “I mean, there is so much excitement out there. The big deal is that the next generation are sick and tired of what they're getting and they're looking for something.  And what we're offering seems to appeal to the young people.”

Paul also explained that the goal of his movement “is to show that there's a political benefit toward accepting some of the views that we have.”

“I believe we're actually doing a favor for the Republican Party. If they would look to us for guidance and to realize that if they would accept some of these things, they might have an easier time winning.”

That said, not everyone's sold on just how lasting the impact of the "revolution" will be, considering Paul wasn't able to win a state in the GOP primary and didn't stop Romney, the most establishment of all the candidates, from becoming the nominee.

Asked which mattered more -- influence over party platform or being a state party chairman, Steve Schmidt, John McCain's 2008 campaign manager, dismissed either and said Paul supporters would be little more than a "hassle we'll have to deal with."

"I'm not sure that either have a particularly big influence on the direction of the party," Schmidt said on MSNBC. "When you have a state chairman who takes over a state party and the state party's dysfunctional, it's no longer relevant to the political goals of electing a majority, whether that's on the Democratic side or Republican side. Typically you see something that is taking place in California, for example, where you know the Republican parties become a small ideological clubhouse, totally faded to irrelevance where they-- factions gather twice every year to pass resolutions, denouncing the other faction, and it's a small clubhouse where people are relevant in the sphere of that small clubhouse, but no longer relevant in terms of being able to shape the outcome of an election -- to recruit candidates, to raise money, to register voters. And that's the direction these dysfunctional parties will go."

Jeff Johnson, a Republican National Committeeman from Minnesota, though, addressed the anxiety some in the establishment have over this increased participation by Paul’s followers.

“Ron Paul haters, get over it,” Johnson said. “If we don’t grow, we die as a party.”

Nearing the end of his career, Paul, 76, calls his movement an “ideological revolution,” one he says is “alive and well.”  

And this year, as Paul disciples become more involved and win elections, it’s a movement the Republican Party is being forced to deal with. 

Whatever happened to Ron Paul? Remember him?

Beginning tonight at California State University, Chico, Paul will accelerate the pace of his campaign and attempt to become part of the national conversation once again. Over the next 40 days Paul will hold rallies at 16 college campuses across the country -- a majority of them in California and Texas -- with plans of adding several more stops before schools adjourn for the summer. 

Universities have been a friendly atmosphere for the 76-year-old presidential hopeful who attracts thousands of people to his rallies but who has yet to win a single statewide GOP contest.

“You have to reach out to more people than the Republican base,” Paul told WMAL Radio on Monday. “We’re going to have big turnouts in places where no other Republican can go. I’m going to go to Berkeley.”

Paul will hold a campaign rally on that campus Thursday -- not a typical stop for Republican presidential candidates.

According to Paul’s campaign chairman Jesse Benton, that’s the point. “Part of the reason we are going to college campuses is to register people. There are congressional districts we can win and we hope to register thousands of young people for the California primary.”

The deadline to register to vote for California’s June 5 presidential primary is May 21, and the campaign hopes the passionate young supporters they register will help Paul win a portion of the state’s 159 delegates –- which will be allocated based on the primary results in each of the 53 congressional districts.

The campaign is also focusing its efforts in Paul’s home state of Texas, which holds the second-largest number of delegates, scheduling six rallies at state universities. 

Paul is also planning a statewide TV ad buy next week, six weeks ahead of the open primary on May 29. 

Benton, who also resides in the Lone Star state, said Texans are “slow to embrace a moderate from Massachusetts and they want to vote for a Texan.”

“We are going to push real hard to let them know they have a strong, fiscal conservative Texan in the race.”

Benton said the campaign is adding staff in Texas and he will be heading up the state’s operation. 

Looking even further down the calendar, Paul plans to speak at five state conventions in an effort to win over delegates to secure the minimum threshold needed to be nominated at the Republican National Convention in August. 

“We don’t plan to get out of race until Dr. Paul is the nominee or someone else is the nominee,” Benton said. “The scores of people across the country want to vote for a constitutionalist, a real conservative, who can bring real change to the White House and they deserve to be heard.”

That said, Paul has won just 34 delegates so far, according to NBC's count. Mitt Romney has 490, Rick Santorum 203, and Newt Gingrich 137.

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Ron Paul visited a caucus site about 45 minutes south of Seattle that had lines wrapped outside and across the parking lot here on the day of Washington state's caucus. Organizers said this year there were four times as many people attending the caucus.

When Paul arrived he was asked by a local reporter what he would tell the people who came out to caucus, Paul wryly responded, “Vote for Ron Paul.”

Paul went inside and greeted caucus goers who were waiting in line and walked into the caucus room where Republicans were seated by precinct. The Texas congressman posed for pictures, shook hands and discussed his foreign policy with two different men in the audience, one of them a veteran, who seemed receptive to his ideas. Some caucusgoers could be heard saying, even though they weren’t voting for Paul, it was nice that he visited their community.

When he asked an event organizer how long he had to speak, the man replied, typically it’s 3 minutes for surrogates, but they would give him 5 minutes, since he was a presidential candidate. Paul responded that his staff would let him know when to wrap up and that his speech was, “more or less to say hello.”

“I understand the crowd is very large today compared to before,” Paul opened his speech by saying. “I hope that is good news for our campaign!”

He emphasized the importance of the caucuses and what he believed the ultimate results should be.

“This is an important day," Paul said. "It’s an important day for our country; it’s an important day for your community; it’s an important day for next year’s election; it’s an important day to start the process to make sure that we no longer have Obama [as] president next year.”

Paul went on to say Republican candidates have some disagreements, but could all agree that “it’s a good idea to get rid of our current president and put in a Republican.”

Describing how the Republican Party strayed from its stated goals of limited government and deficit reduction, Paul told the crowd that has caused voters to be “frustrated.”

The Air Force veteran said the country is failing in it’s responsibility of national defense and of taking care of veterans. He also detailed his support from active duty military personnel and stated the reasons he believes they support his candidacy.

“The military knows exactly the fruitlessness of some of these wars that are going on," he said.

Paul closed his speech by acknowledging how the Republican Party is looking for a candidate that can beat President Obama and told them about a recent poll showing him beating Obama in a hypothetical race (though he didn't specify which that is. Most polling has him losing to President Obama and handily).

“I hope you remember that and I’d like to have your support. Thank you very much.”

As he walked to his vehicle in the parking lot, Paul responded to a question by NBC News on how he felt about the reception he received.

“I felt very good about it," he said. "A lot of enthusiasm there, delighted to have a large crowd, delighted they had a lot of Ron Paul stickers, too.”

Paul will hold a caucus results party at 7:00 pm ET at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center at Pier 66 in downtown Seattle, where he hopes to celebrate his first victory of the GOP nominating process.

In addition to the Paul campaign's latest TV ad, here's more evidence in the emerging Mitt Romney/Ron Paul bro-mance: The Paul camp is now passing around oppo on Rick Santorum.

With Santorum potentially on the brink of upsetting Romney in Michigan next week, the Paul campaign is targeting the former Pennsylvania senator for what it says is hypocrisy -- after Santorum criticized Romney on the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“He heroically bailed out the Salt Lake City Olympic Games by heroically going to Congress and asking them for tens of millions of dollars to bail out the Salt Lake games,” Santorum told a crowd in Ohio on Saturday. “In an earmark for the Salt Lake Olympic games."

The Romney campaign claims the money was for post-9/11 security at the Olympics.

And in an email to NBC News, a senior Ron Paul campaign source points out that in 2001 Santorum voted for legislation that -- you guessed it -- provided millions for security at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Here's a link to the vote, as well as the summary of the legislation.

MANCHESTER, NH -- For the second time since Saturday, Ron Paul this morning planned to have breakfast at a local restaurant -- but the establishment was packed with camera crews, photogs and reporters.

Paul made his way around the Moe Joe's restaurant, where they had a table reserved, but his campaign decided to leave.

"I'm overwhelmed," Paul said outside his vehicle. It's "a little but chaotic" he continued.

"I'm a little more calm."

Asked about the possibility of skipping the Florida primary, Paul explained: If "this keeps up I may need to reconsider."

On influencing the Republican Party, Paul said the "best way to influence is win... The young people are looking for something" different.

Paul called front-runner Mitt Romney "part if the status quo" and said Romney's "been all all over the place politically."

Some patrons were disappointed Paul had to leave. One woman even squeezed her way through the media to ask his security detail if Paul would come back in to meet her elderly mother. Paul's campaign manager, Jesse Benton, explained to her that because of the media presence, that couldn't happen.

She later told the media, "they all blame the press. But that's part if it. Make your way through it ... All the other candidates do."

Later in the day, Benton issued this statement: “Dr. Paul has been committed to meeting one on one with New Hampshire voters, and has aggressively campaigned at town halls, house parties, and meet and greets since early last spring. This morning, he attempted to hold an event at Moe Joe’s Diner in Manchester, to speak with patrons and supporters in the last push before the New Hampshire primary. Unfortunately, Dr. Paul and his family were forced to leave early after over 120 members of the press created a mob-like atmosphere that was deemed to be unsafe for the candidate, Moe Joe’s customers, and reporters themselves."
 
More Benton: “While we are very welcoming of media coverage and grateful for the interest in Dr. Paul and his campaign, basic safety simply must come first. On behalf of Dr. Paul and his campaign team, I would like to apologize to customers at Moe Joe’s who may have been distressed by this incident, and extend our gratitude and apologies to the owners, who were kind enough to have us."

A Super PAC supporting Ron Paul -- Revolution PAC -- has produced an online web ad in an effort to push back on racism charges stemming from newsletters published under Paul's name.

In the ad, an African-American man describes in his own words how, in 1972, his white wife had complications with her pregnancy. And in Texas, he says, no doctor would care for her or deliver their bi-racial child.

The man, James Williams, claims one hospital nurse even called the police on them after his continued inquiry. Williams then says Dr. Paul took care of his wife and delivered their baby, which was a stillborn. He says Paul didn't charge them for the service, saying he would take care of everything, and they never received a bill from the hospital.

Yesterday on WHO Radio, Jan Mickelson played a portion of the ad for Paul and C-Span cameras were in the studio. The Texas congressman appeared very touched by this man's words, afterwards saying he didn't remember that specific situation. Paul said it was just the way he practiced medicine.

"That is what I thought my responsibility were, but I never had the knowledge how grateful he was and to me that is magnificent."

NEWTON, Iowa -- Ron Paul's appearance at the Iowa Speedway here drew the most media attention of the campaign season -- television and print journalists, as well as photographers, made the room tough to navigate.

Paul told the audience he wants to be the first president in history where the federal government shrunk -- instead of expanded -- "by thousands of pages and regulations."

On foreign policy, Paul asked, "How long do we have to stay in Korea?" He went on to explain how the U.S. military has had a presence in that country "since I was in high school." He also said Americans have been subsidizing Japan since World War II.

On Iraq, Paul said it is "so sad what's happening," telling the audience that before the war there, Iraqis were "arch enemies" of Iran; now they are "buddying up."

He said that in order to solve the nation's financial problems, Americans need to ask, "What should the role of government be?"

"Police the world, run your personal lives, and run economy? If that's what you want, this can't work."

The Texas congressman reminded the audience about the upcoming caucuses and said a message will be sent, telling voters that it's a choice between him or the status quo.

One audience member said he was a veteran and wanted Paul as the commander-in-chief. Paul responded by telling the man he served five years in the military, voted against the wars, and receives more donations from members of the military than all other candidates combined.

Asked about going back to the gold standard, Paul said he'd "like to go forward with a gold standard" and let the markets help decide.

Asked about federal funding of the Peace Corps, Paul said the organization is "not authorized under the constitution," and those responsibilities "should be done through voluntary groups."

And on eliminating the Energy Department, Paul was asked who would control nuclear waste. He said the Defense Department would take care of those responsibilities.

The Ron Paul campaign says a new TV ad -- featuring the candidate's son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) -- will air in Iowa and New Hampshire Dec. 24-25 (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

Wearing a coat and tie, Sen. Paul suggests that his father helped drive the Tea Party movement.
 
“The Tea Party began as a protest against politicians who supported more debt and bigger government. My father, Ron Paul, stood against the establishment and against government bailouts.”

Keeping in the spirit of the season, Sen. Paul is in front of a Christmas tree and wishes viewers a “Merry Christmas." Then he says, "God bless America."

DES MOINES, Iowa – With only 20 days until the Iowa caucuses, four GOP candidates made their pitch to social conservatives tonight at the premiere of an anti-abortion documentary narrated by the former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum addressed the 1200 person crowd before the house lights dimmed for the “The Gift of Life” premiere.

“I do want you to take note,” Huckabee told the crowd. “There were four candidates who cleared their schedules, and made this a priority event.”

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, trailing in Iowa polls, won the biggest applause from the crowd tonight – and aimed his remarks at his competitors.

“I have some problems with some of the folks who running for office these days when they say, ‘I believe life begins at conception.’  That’s like, I say, ‘I believe the sun rises.’” Santorum said, to laughs.

“Why would you say you believe something that’s a fact?” Santorum added. It seemed to be a reference, at least in part, to Gingrich, who spoke minutes earlier in favor of a congressional bill that would define personhood as beginning at conception – though Santorum said later tonight he was talking about a number of his opponents. "I know that there have been several candidates for president who have stated they believe life begins at conception – and as I said, it’s not a belief, its a fact," Santorum told NBC News.

During her remarks, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann attacked the Obama administration for considering – before reversing course – making the “Plan B” morning-after pill available on pharmacy shelves, “where little girls could find it next to bubble gum and next to M&M’s."

"President Obama is so tied up in his reelection that even he knew that was one step too far,” Bachmann said. Governor Rick Perry touted his record defunding Planned Parenthood in Texas, where he said 12 clinics have closed as a result. He called the new film a tactic in the fight against abortion, saying, “imagine the difference you can make not in just one life, but in two.”

Attacks on Gingrich awaited people after the movie premiere.  A group billed as "Iowans for Life" paid for fliers on cars that read, "The bottom line: Newt Gingrich is a pro-life fraud."

But as Huckabee pointed out during his short remarks inside the theater: “I think it is significant that all four of the candidates who are present tonight have endorsed life. And that ought to be very important.”

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s campaign is increasing its efforts in early voting states by recruiting college-aged supporters to spend their "Christmas Vacation with Ron Paul" as part of a get-out-the-vote program. The campaign is asking students to devote their holiday break working for the campaign in Iowa (Dec. 27 - Jan. 4, 2012) and New Hampshire (Jan. 2-11) while providing meals, lodging and transportation.

A fundraising email sent to supporters after Thanksgiving calls the campaign's official youth effort "Youth for Ron Paul" its "Secret Weapon" -- one they say, "no other campaign will be able to duplicate. That's because no other campaign has the level of support and enthusiasm among young people that [their] campaign has."

The initiative hopes to organize “500 young activists knocking on doors and making phone calls ... to work all day and night to help" Paul succeed. The campaign claims it will cost "over $20,000 per day to put 500 young people on the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire," which means "a new expense of $600,000."

And the plea for donations includes a message meant to appeal to fiscal conservatives.

"I know that sounds like a lot, but actually, that is only $45.00 per person! I think you will admit that is a bargain!"

As part of the selection process, an online questionnaire asks applicants their views on public policy positions using a rating scale of 1 - 5 (from strongly agree to strongly disagree) answering statements like: The 9/11 attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists connected to Al Qaeda who were the sole perpetrators of the damage that day; after a complete audit of the Federal Reserve, the Fed should be abolished; cannabis should be legalized for recreational use; and preemptive, unilateral military action is never an appropriate policy for the U.S.