It's almost laughable that Phil Gramm is trying to convince Ron Paul to make a McCain endorsement. I attended the Paul "Rally for Liberty" in Minneapolis last week, and if I can tell you one thing about Paul and his supporters, it's that the only person they despise more than Barack Obama is John McCain (and vice versa). A young Paul supporter from Texas I interviewed at the rally actually told me, "I hope in two years, John McCain is like Bob Dole -- doing Viagra commercials." In all seriousness though, the idea of Paul as a Republican loyalist at heart, one who can be cajoled into making an endorsement, is ridiculous. This is a guy who is actively encouraging his supporters to write his name in on their ballots. Ron Paul is still campaigning. His supporters, by the way, are made up primarily of independents and outsider-types who like any candidate who seems to stick it to the establishment. For the most part, they are not Republicans disgruntled by the Bush years. So I don't know why the McCain camp seems to think a Paul endorsement would be such a valuable prize. --Dana Goldstein
