(Newser)
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For his efforts on the campaign trail this year, Ron Paul will get ... a video tribute at the Republican convention on Tuesday night. He'll also get to listen to son Rand speak on Monday night, but Ron himself has been shut out of any speech-making. Paul's followers aren't thrilled that he's being largely deprived of a national platform, and this won't make things any better: Republicans are changing their primary rules to make it harder for any Ron Pauls of the future to succeed, reports the Washington Post.
States will no longer be allowed to hold nonbinding contests, often referred to as "beauty contests," and then pick delegates at a subsequent convention. Paul's followers put that to great use: "After losing a primary or caucus, supporters of Mr. Paul frequently swarmed later state conventions, turning what had been a victory for Mr. Romney into a delegation bound to vote for Mr. Paul at the national convention," explains the New York Times. From now on, states have to make sure that candidates who win a primary get their due delegates.
