In an apparent attempt to bind not only those delegates who support Ron Paul, but the tongues of those delegates as well, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is trying to intimidate the delegates from Maine into casting their votes for the presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney. After being rebuffed by the Maine delegation, the state's Republican Party proposed a compromise and on August 7, Maine’s delegation rejected that compromise.

The story begins in May when 21 of the 24 state delegates chosen by Maine’s Republican Part... were won by people supporting Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Last week, 20 of those 21 delegates (and 20 alternates) received an envelope with a Boston ZIP code (a ZIP code shared by the national Romney for President campaign headquarters) informing them that the RNC had received a request that the entire Maine delegation be barred from being seated at the national convention in Tampa later this month.

At issue is a challenge filed by Charlie Webster, chairman of the Maine Republican Party. Webster claims that 20 of the pro-Paul delegates were elected as the result of shenanigans at the state convention and that they should be replaced prior to the opening of the national convention in Tampa.

A committee of GOP bigwigs from around the country is scheduled to meet later this week in Washington, D.C., to hammer out an agreement regarding what role the Maine delegation should be permitted to play — if any — at the national convention.

The RNC’s “Committee on Contests” will consider not only the challenge filed in Maine, but those in other states as well. Kirsten Kukowski, spokeswoman for the RNC, said the committee will review paperwork related to the challenges this week and will meet again sometime during the week before the convention to conduct final hearings and make a decision.

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