Twenty Maine delegates to the GOP National Convention are preparing to leave the state tomorrow knowing they may not all be seated once they arrive in Florida. That's because they are all supporting Texas Congressman Ron Paul, and Republican establishment leaders in Maine have been trying to block their admission to the convention, claiming they were all illegally elected as delegates. As A.J. Higgins reports, a decision this afternoon by convention leaders threatens to divide Republicans even more.

Rumors about a possible deal to resolve the impasse between Maine delegates to the Republican National Convention had been flying around since Tuesday. Late this afternoon, Republican leaders made it official: They would seat only half of the 20 delegates supporting Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The other 10, they said, will be decided by state Republican leaders who, by and large, favor Mitt Romney as the party's presidential choice.

Mark Willis, a Maine delegate supporting Paul, and Maine's elected GOP national committeeman, is disappointed by the news. And even though the Republican National Committee says it will make the choices for them if the Paul supporters cannot agree, Willis says the fight is far from over.

"This isn't the end of it because what's going to happen is the Ron Paul campaign is going to appeal this to the Credentials Committee, and they're going to take this all the way to the Credentials Committee, which goes into the weekend, perhaps even until Monday," Willis says.

Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster told the Assoicated Press that the national party's Committee on Contests determined that party rules were broken when a slate of 20 Ron Paul delegates was elected at the state convention in May.
That's when the wave of change washed over the Republican State Convention in Augusta. Paul supporters had been sparring with so-called mainstream Republican leaders backing Mitt Romney since March. Romney was declared the winner of the state's non-binding caucus, even though Paul lagged behind by less than 2 percent of the vote.

During the state convention, Paul supporters arrived early, and in large and highly-organized numbers. They seized control of the nominating process, and as a result, 20 of Maine's 24 delegates are Paul supporters. Mainstream GOP leaders filed a complaint with the Republican National Convention committee claiming the Paul delegates had been elected illegally. They then asked that the delegates not be allowed to be seated at the convention.

Willis says Paul supporters are united in their insistence that all 20 delegates be seated at the convention in Tampa. "It doesn't change our position," he says. "And our position has always been, 'Not interested, no deal.' And we expect to have all 20 delegates seated in Tampa, as we were duly elected at the convention."

The Paul supporters--many of whom are in their 20s, have struggled to come up with the $3,000 to $4,000 each will need for the four-day convention that begins next week. Eric Brakey, a Maine GOP delegate and Paul supporter who formerly directed the presidential candidate's campaign here, says this afternoon's decision by the RNC is a dramatic disappointment for Paul supporters.

"With flights and with hotels--you know, some people have to hire baby-sitters, and it really is a lot of money, it adds up," Brakey says. "This isn't the cheapest week to be in Tampa--hotel rates are marked up considerably with all the influx of people coming in. You know, every single person who was elected as a delegate is someone who's really put their heart and soul into this the last year."

Efforts to reach Maine Republican State Chair Charlie Webster by air time were unsuccessful. Willis and other Paul delegates continue to maintain that if all of the 20 Paul supporters are not seated, then none will be seated.