The campaign of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) thinks so, as detailed
in this
account from CNN of the fate of Louisiana’s contested
delegation to the Republican National Convention in Tampa in
August. It gets complicated, hold on tight:

The Ron Paul 2012 campaign is preparing to challenge the entire
slate of Louisiana’s 46 delegates selected to attend the Republican
National Convention next month in Tampa, Florida. 

Paul’s campaign asserts the final
list of delegates released Friday that were selected
during the state party’s convention last month were chosen against
the rules. At the time, Paul supporters held their own rump
convention, or protest vote, in the same room, which composed a
majority of those attending.

Paul’s political director Jesse Benton gets tough:

“We believe that they grossly and blatantly and repeatedly
violated their party rules and elected a delegation that was
improper,” said Paul’s campaign chairman Jesse Benton. “We believe
that our rump convention is the legitimate delegation and they have
a right to be seated at the Republican National Convention.”

The victory Paul’s campaign says it won in Louisiana was very
much a result of intelligently making use of the caucus’s very
republican process, not pure democracy:

During the March 24 primary, Paul received only 6% of the state
vote, while Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney received 49% and 27%,
respectively. While Paul didn’t receive a great turnout then, his
supporters organized to win delegates during selection votes in
each district and the state convention.

Out of the 30 delegate slots selected at the state convention
last month, about half were left open to be filled by the state
executive committee at a later date, leaving open the possibility
of more Paul delegates to be selected.

Under state party rules passed in May of last year, the
executive committee can provide supplemental rules to the original
ones adopted, as long as they aren’t inconsistent with the original
ones adopted. The rules leave the State Central Committee to elect
many of the delegates, who must also sign an affidavit prepared by
the state party. The affidavit essentially binds them to certain
candidates, minimizing the opportunity for the campaign to convince
other delegates to switch their vote.

The party was prepared to award Paul 17 of the delegates chosen
at the state convention, but his supporters refused to participate
in the selection process, instead holding their own separate vote.
Benton says some of the Texas congressman’s supporters were kept
from voting during the selection process.

“The Louisiana GOP insiders, realizing they were in the
minority, grossly and repeatedly violated their own party rules to
try to railroad through their preferred delegation,” he said.

Louisiana isn’t the only state where Paul’s people think they
are being screwed:

Paul’s campaign is also making challenges to delegates in
Massachusetts and Oregon, though not their entire slates.
Currently, he holds the majority of delegations in Iowa, Minnesota,
and Maine. Under RNC rules, a candidate needs the majority of
delegates in five states to enter their name into nomination.

Louisiana GOP director Jason Dore thinks the Paulites should
just shut up and take it, because, Obama!

“It seems they are all caught up in these personal motives, and
not focusing on the picture. And the big picture is electing Mitt
Romney in the fall and defeating President Obama,” Doré said.

Simultaneous with this Paul campaign efforts are a
non-campaign-approved lawsuit to get all RNC delegates unbound
where Paul partisans think they can be talked into actually voting
for Paul and not Romney. I
reported on that suit last month.

My blogging on the
Louisiana brouhaha as it occurred, and the complications of
Paul’s delegate strategy in general from
April and
May.

My book,
Ron Paul’s Revolution: The Man and the Movement He
Inspired.