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Ron Paul supporters took over the Nevada GOP earlier this month, so Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee have opened dialogue with the libertarian about his philosophy and policy priorities. No, just kidding, they're pouring money into a "shadow state party" and trying to make the official party irrelevant.

The Las Vegas Sun's Jon Ralston reports that national Republican party, which has already called Romney the "presumptive nominee," is transferring money to the joint effort called Team Nevada, and maybe the Washoe County party, which is still in good standing with DC headquarters the and Romney's campaign. Ralston writes that the issue is that the Paul supporters are too busy trying to push their guy's chances in the nomination process. "They are still bogged down in the minutiae of whether Romney will be the presumptive nominee,” a GOP strategist told Ralston. The new shadow party will do all the traditional party stuff: identifying voters, calling them, getting them to the polls. Basically, Ralston writes, "everything the party is supposed to do, except the GOP here can’t raise money and has the inmates running the asylum."