Ron Paul's loyal band of supporters are just accepting now what many have known for a long time: the Texas congressman's White House bid is

Paul's poll numbers are down and he has no chance of earning the Republican nomination. He is 29 percentage points behind front-runner Mitt Romney in a poll for Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.

Now, the main questions remaining are whether his followers will switch their allegiance to another candidate, and if Paul can still carry his libertarian banner into the Republican convention in August and beyond.

Paul's message of sharply reducing the role of government, scrapping the Federal Reserve and ending the U.S. military presence overseas is unique to him. Many of his followers say they would not vote at all in the November 6 general election if Paul were not the Republican nominee.

"I would have a hard time voting for anybody in the general election," said Mike Hurlock, a junior at the University of Maryland, where a crowd gave Paul several standing ovations during a 50-minute speech this week.

"I'm not a fan of anyone (other than Paul) in the election."

Romney is also likely to easily beat Paul and the other Republican hopefuls at Tuesday's primary in Maryland. Paul has won none of the state nominating contests in the 2012 election season, despite boasting the most passionate supporters and committed volunteers on the ground.

Earlier this week the 76-year-old congressman energized about 2,000 people at the University of Maryland, where the arena echoed with chants of "President Paul, President Paul" and "End the Fed, End the Fed."

But fired up fans do not always translate into support at the ballot box, said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak.

"There is a level of excitement at rallies - so going to one of his rallies is sort of an act of defiance. But voting is very solitary," Mackowiak said.

Paul is now holding only a couple of campaign events a week, compared to several a day by the top two candidates Romney and Rick Santorum.

Polls show Paul commands around 12 percent of the Republican vote nationally.

He is unlikely to drop out of the race soon, but some of his backers may gravitate toward Romney in the vote for the nomination, Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said, noting that Paul and Romney have maintained cordial relations in the often bitter campaign.

"Paul supporters are not fans of Romney, but one thing for sure is that Ron Paul would rather have Romney than (Newt) Gingrich or Santorum," O'Connell said.

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Last Edited by SPUD on 03/31/2012 01:32 PM