Hurricane Paul raining on Tampa convention?

So, what would happen if Republicans just allowed Texas Rep. Ron Paul to be nominated from the floor in Tampa?

With Mitt Romney having collected the 1,575 delegates – far more than necessary to secure his nomination – and Paul having collected just 177 delegates, what’s the worst that could possibly happen?

Could the 77-year-old doctor capture the crowd’s imagination with talk of getting rid of the Federal Reserve, eliminating whole Cabinet departments, bringing all the troops home and ending the war on drugs? Could he convince enough delegates – even those who are bound by rules to vote for Romney – to abandon their obligations and go with their hearts? Could Paul actually wrest the party’s presidential nomination from Romney?

Probably not – but the establishment wing of the Republican Party is not taking any chances. Anyone familiar with governments would recognize the tactic: Introduce a Draconian proposal that is sure to be hated by most, and then propose a less-severe compromise that nonetheless accomplishes the original goal.

The Draconian proposal: A proposed rule would have given the Republican presidential nominee much greater control over who may actually be seated in state delegations.

That drew strong objections, including from our own Clark County Republican Party, which denounced the idea in a resolution in colorful language: "This is a dreadful nationalization of the GOP that resembles the communist parties of days gone by more than it does the Republican Party of [Arizona U.S. Sen. Barry] Goldwater, Reagan and their fore bearers [sic]," the resolution reads.

"However, these new proposed rules hearken back more to the Marxism of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin than they do the conservative traditions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison."

Which brings us to the compromise, announced Tuesday: Delegates will still be chosen according to state rules, but if they vote for somebody other than the person to whom they are "bound," they forfeit their vote.

On Tuesday, Nevada’s Paul-backing delegates showed their loyalty, voting 17-5 for Paul over Romney, even though most of those delegates were bound by rules to support the nominee.

Romney won the nomination anyway.

For a guy who can’t win, Paul and his devotees sure seem to evoke fear amongst Republicans. The rules change was aimed directly at those willing to ignore a party rule binding them to a particular candidate in order to perform a service for the greater good, i.e. nominating Paul. Hurricane Isaac may be the official reason for kicking Romney’s nomination in early, but Hurricane Paul is a close second.

Other conservatives say it’s not so much Paul, but that the Republican Party’s establishment is trying to purge activists in general.

Said Rush Limbaugh: "The express purpose [of the rules change] is to eliminate any influence of Tea Party activists or grass-roots people or conservatives, essentially, from having any power at future conventions. … The establishment Republicans want to kick the conservatives out of the party. They don’t want the conservatives having any say-so in the party whatsoever."

The criticism presupposes, of course, Romney is not a conservative, not a tea partier and, obviously, not Ron Paul.

So in order to secure Romney’s nomination – which should be a settled matter by now, after he’s demonstrated his viability with votes, fundraising and delegates – new rules, new schedules and new tactics are necessary.

It’s not exactly a strong endorsement coming out of a convention where Romney’s supposed to see a bounce, but instead seems to be one haunted by the spirit of Paul, and of all the people who feel for him what far fewer seem to feel for Romney: love.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.