Iowa delegates won't push Paul in Tampa

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DES MOINES, Iowa, June 17 (UPI) -- A leader of the so-called liberty movement said there would be no attempt to nominate Ron Paul at the Republican national convention in Tampa, Florida.

Dave Cushman, a member of the Iowa state GOP committee, said naming a number of Paul supporters to the state's delegation to Tampa was a statement of their preferences, but was not the beginning of an insurgency at the convention.

"The movement has a huge responsibility when it goes to Tampa to show Iowa we're a real movement and we're not there to be rabble-rousers," Cushman told the Des Moines (Iowa) Register.

"The goal is not to embarrass the party," Cushman added. "The goal is to make the party stronger and broaden the base."

The liberty movement has been a worry for some GOP leaders who fear they could appear as a crack in the party's overall support of presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, the Register said.

Iowa is sending 28 delegates to Florida, all of whom are free to vote for whoever they want. Paul, a Texas congressman, finished third in the Iowa caucuses, but Cushman said his supporters wanted their pro-Paul message to be heard at the convention.