Rand Paul endorses Romney, ruffles some feathers

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, son of current GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul, has recently come out to endorse Mitt Romney for President. Rand Paul had previously been supporting his father up to this point but it appears that nearing the end of the primaries served as a tipping point.

Report from Business Insider:

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul broke ranks with his father’s political army this week and endorsed Mitt Romney as the Republican Party presidential nominee, setting off a firestorm of outrage in the Ron Paul Universe.

The virulent backlash indicates that the endorsement could have harmful political ramifications for the Kentucky Senator, raising doubts about his ability to unite his father’s grassroots army with more mainstream elements of the Republican Party base.

“I think Rand Paul believed he could build from his father’s base,” said Brian Doherty, a journalist who has been covering the Ron Paul Revolution since the late 1990s. “But I think he has probably found in the last 24 hours that this might prove more difficult than he expected.”

But Doherty told Business Insider that he was not completely surprised that Sen. Paul opted to endorse Romney. Unlike his father, Paul has frequently shown a willingness to work with the GOP Establishment, and has previously indicated that he planned on getting behind whoever his party picked as the nominee.

“There are a lot of Ron Paul people who like to think of themselves as a ragtag rebel army,” Doherty said. “But Rand Paul is clearly positioning himself to play the part of the loyal opposition in the Republican Party. Emphasis on loyal.”

What was surprising about the endorsement, Doherty said, was its timing.

Although Ron Paul has admitted he is no chance of winning the GOP nomination, he is still technically running for president and announced earlier this week that he expects to have 200 bound delegates at the Republican National Convention this summer. Moreover, his campaign is still encouraging supporters to try to get elected as national delegates at state and local party conventions.

“It seems like a gratuitous kick in the face to his father’s most ardent supporters,” Doherty said, adding that the endorsement seems to indicate that “Rand Paul might have less respect for the grassroots movement than he ought to.”

There are many Ron Paul supporters reading and commenting here, what are your thoughts? Does it matter?