LAS VEGAS — Conventional wisdom — and this website — have declared that Ron Paul will never be the Republican presidential nominee. According to this political truism, the Texas Congressman is merely a sideshow in the 2012 race, whose ideas are well-intentioned but so extreme they would cause the U.S. Economy/Empire/Life As We Know It to self-destruct.

Nevada apparently hasn't gotten the memo.

Support for Paul has ballooned here since his last presidential run, spurred in part by a reaction to the state's spectacular economic collapse in 2008.

Earlier this week Paul became the first candidate to lay out a set of proposals aimed specifically at solving Nevada's economic woes, including its worst-in-nation unemployment and foreclosure rates. Based largely on Paul's Plan To Restore America, the Plan To Restore Nevada echoes the candidate's national economic policy goals, but with a Silver State spin.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with Paul's plans, his pivot back to the economy was a welcome change after weeks of discussion over the relative merits of moon colonies and Donald Trump. So far, though, Paul's suggestions have gone virtually unnoticed by his rival campaigns.

The proposals help illustrate why the skinny septuagenarian has many Nevadans wrapped around his finger — and why he's probably not going to go away any time soon.