Ron Paul's Plan to Crash Convention Officially Kaput

Right-wing gadfly Ron Paul's bid to buzz the GOP convention finally got swatted yesterday, as Paul failed to win last-chance state Nebraska, reports ABC News. Paul needed a fifth state win to be officially nominated at the Tampa convention, which would require giving him up to 15 minutes for a nominating speech. But the libertarian standard-bearer won just two of 35 delegates in yesterday's primary, leaving him with just four state victories. Now Paul says he expects to be shut out of the national convention, just as he was in 2008.

"I think the Romney campaign organization is very insecure," said Paul in a Fox News interview, according to The Hill, asking "why can't we have a little debate?" With Paul expecting up to 500 defiant supporters to join him in Tampa, it's looking increasingly likely he will have his own political convention once again, as he did in 2008. In fact, Paul's supporters have already organized a Ron Paul Festival during the Tampa convention, featuring three days of music and political activism. (More Ron Paul stories.)