Paul supporters booted in Massachusetts

Back in April, activists aligned with Ron Paul seized control of Massachusetts's 2012 caucuses and elected many of their own to serve as delegates to the Tampa convention this summer. In the process, they defeated a number of prominent Massachusetts Republicans, including former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and 2010 gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker.

Well, now The Boston Globe reports the revolution is over:

[Evan] Kenney was one of 17 delegates and alternates disqualified by a Republican committee deciding who gets to represent Massachusetts Republicans at the national convention in Tampa. Kenney and others had failed to deliver in time an affidavit swearing, under the penalty of perjury, that they would support Mitt Romney’s nomination for president. An affidavit is never mentioned in the Republican Party’s rules for selecting delegates and has never been required of delegates in the past, GOP critics say. Suspicions are steep this year because Kenney and the others are supporters of Ron Paul, the libertarian candidate whose quixotic campaign for president culminated in an effort to take over state caucuses nationwide. The delegates must vote for Romney, based on his strong primary win in Massachusetts, but Paul’s supporters hope to use the convention to draw attention to his agenda, including auditing the Federal Reserve and requiring wars to be declared by Congress. … A spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party would not say why the affidavits were required of delegates this year, and the chairman of the Allocations Committee would not agree to an interview. Instead, the chairman offered an e-mailed statement saying that the Romney campaign, through its representative on his committee, had the right to reject delegates for “just cause.”

It remains to be seen just how much of a disturbance Paul supporters may become at the GOP convention, and it's no mystery why Team Romney wants to make sure Republican delegates agree to play by the rules.