The Ron Paul campaign “delegate strategy” would work a lot
better if delegates to the convention in Tampa were not bound to
vote (either proportionally or in total) in line with the GOP
voters of the state in primaries or caucuses. 

Local Cincinnati Fox-19 TV journalist Ben Swann has been

talking a lot about RNC “Rule 38” which on the surface seems to
not permit entire state delegates to be bound to the same
candidate–though other Paul fans
threw cold water on that by pointing out most states have a few
wildcard delegates that get around that rule.

Swann now claims to have found ironclad proof in the 2008
opinion of an RNC lawyer that as far as they are concerned, every
delegate to national can vote for whoever the heck they want. The
video, relevant part at around 2:20:

For my Pre-Mcluhanites who would like to see this argument in
words, from
Mason Buran at Examiner.com:

The Republican National Convention Legal Counsel deals with
rulings and controversies within a party. Utah follows the
winner-take-all delegate awarding system, which means that the
majority winner of the state attains all 40 delegates. In Utah,
during the 2008 GOP Nomination process, a delegate refused to vote
with the state’s primary winner, John McCain. The Republican
National Convention Legal Counsel commented with this statement

“Jennifer Sheehan, Legal Counsel for the RNC, plainly stated in
a letter to Nancy Lord, Utah National Committeewoman, several weeks
before the convention, ‘The RNC does not recognize a state’s
binding of national delegates, but considers each delegate a free
agent who can vote for whoever they choose.’”

In order to become a delegate, it involves a long and enduring
process by attending after-caucus/primary meetings. Following those
meetings, potential delegates are then required to attend district
and state conventions where the delegates are then nominated to the
convention. The process requires that the supporters have a lot of
patience, while still maintaining enthusiasm for their ideal
candidate. Ron Paul’s supporters have been taking advantage of this
process ever since Iowa. In many of the winner-take-all states, Ron
Paul supporters have been nominated as delegates to the Republican
National Convention but are still hypothetically bound to Mitt
Romney. However, according to this ruling by the Republican
National Convention Legal Counsel, they are not required to vote
for Mitt Romney in any circumstance.

That letter notwithstanding, this language from the 2008
“Rules of
the Republican Party” adopted in September 2008 does seem to
allow for binding according to state Party rules or even state law.
See page 18:

Delegates at large and their alternate delegates and
delegates from Congressional districts and their alternate
delegates to the national convention shall be elected,
selected, allocated, or bound in the following manner:

(1) In accordance with any applicable Republican Party
rules of a state, insofar as the same are not inconsistent
with these rules; or

(2) To the extent not provided for in the applicable
Republican Party rules of a state, in accordance with any
applicable laws of a state, insofar as the same are not
inconsistent with these rules; or

(3) By a combination of the methods set forth in paragraphs
(a)(1) or (a)(2) of this rule; or(4) To the extent not
provided by state law or party rules, as set forth in
paragraph (d) of this rule.

Thus, it seems, deciding whether any state’s delegates are
bound, by the language above or at least how I’m understanding it,
requires looking at that state’s laws or party regs, not just the
language of a letter from an RNC legal counsel

For how Ron Paul got so far that this is even a live issue,
consult my out-soon book
Ron Paul’s Revolution: The Man and the Movement He
Inspired and/or its
dedicated blog.