The Hill's Justin Sink reports.
A top official for Ron Paul's presidential campaign said that he does “not believe that that is likely” the Texas congressman will back Mitt Romney, and said discussion of a potential endorsement was "premature."
Campaign chairman Jesse Benton said that while he was "sure [it] would help Mitt Romney to earn Dr. Paul's endorsement," the presumptive Republican nominee would have to work to win the support of Paul's fervent supporters.
“In a lot of ways, the ball is in the court of the Republican Party and in the court of Mitt Romney. If our people are treated with respect, if our ideas, their ideas, are embraced and treated seriously and treated with respect, I think the Republican Party has a very good chance of picking up a substantial number of their votes,” Benton said. “On the flip side, if they’re treated I guess largely like they were in 2008, I think a lot of people are going to stay home, a lot of people are going to sit on their hands.”
One of the more interesting storylines of this race will be whether Paul fans' distaste for Obama is enough to compel them to vote for another guy they don't like much, Mitt Romney.
And it'd be interesting to see how Paul supporters are answering when they're polled in the head-to-head matchups between Romney and Obama we're seeing.
