At the time, Romney probably thought it was good news that only he and Paul qualified for Virginia: he was wrong. Because no write-ins are allowed and because only Romney and Paul are on the ballot in Virginia, and because Paul has no chance to win the nomination,– voters in Virginia’s GOP primary will face a clear choice: vote for Mitt Romney or vote against him. Simply put, the Virginia primary is a referendum on Mitt Romney, and a chance for all Virginia voters to make their voices heard.

Should Paul beat Romney in VA, it would be Paul’s only victory in any state. And, of all states, in one of the states with the largest number of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen in the country. The state with the Pentagon and with the home port for all east-coast based air-craft carriers. Virginia is not and never will be Paul country — except on Primary day this year.

The story of Paul’s win will play out as a major news story for the day and will send shock waves though the GOP and the country. When voters are faced with the choice of Romney — or anyone else — they choose someone else. The message will be clear: Romney is not acceptable.

I have heard some say that Florida is an important state. Clinton beat Obama in FL by a landslide…. how did that work for her? FL never won the nomination for McCain, SC did. Yes, every state is important and FL is no exception. It would be great for Gingrich to win, but even if he does, Romney will still be the in the race and just as formidable an opponent. If Romney wins, Gingrich will still lead national polls and still have support of conservatives. FL matters, but it not-as-much as Virginia.

On the other hand, if Romney manages to win Virginia — it will send a very unfortunate message that primary voters are willing to accept Romney. The message will be heard this year, 4 years from now, 8 years from now, and forever. In the future, candidates and the establishment will continue to stick it to conservatives on the belief that conservatives will support anyone with an “R” next to their name.

Every primary will matter, but Virginia will matter MORE, not less, because Gingrich and Santorum are not on the ballot and this makes is a simple choice between Romney and Not Romney.

I urge Virginia voters– and I never thought I would say this — to vote for Ron Paul and send a message to the GOP establishment that Romney does not have our blessing as the GOP nominee for President and we want a conservative now, 4 years from now, 8 years from now, and for every future election.