Caffeine- and adrenaline-fueled Ron Paul supporters took to the streets of Reno and Sparks following their surprise convention success this weekend, looking for more rooms to stack and contests to rig — with decidedly mixed results.
Filled with coffee and hubris, Ron Paul Revolution faithful took on a lounge act, a bingo parlor and some blackjack tables, convinced that the tide of fate was breaking their way. Earlier, Paul backers claimed an outsize number of delegates to the Republican National Convention at the Nevada convention meeting this weekend, just as they have at other recent state-level gatherings.
The Nevada RonPaulios went on a celebration jag, first taking over Trader Dick's Lounge at the Sparks Nugget. All live music was limited to Elvis, Sinatra and Dean Martin.
When the band tried to compromise by playing Hall & Oates, Paul supporters shouted, "We don't need no Adult Education!" and peppered the stage with martini olives and lemon and lime drink garnishes.
Paul's backers next hit the Sparks Bingo Bonus Bongo Bar, where they figured there were so many of them that one of them had to win. But the prize - $1,000 and a pair of bongo drums - was won by June Blythely, a retiree from Sacramento who said she hadn't voted since 1972.
"They kept telling me that my prize money was only worth $400 because of fiat money," said Blythely. "I told them, 'I own a Buick, and I wouldn't drive a Fiat if you paid me.' "
The Paul group then ventured to the blackjack tables at Harrah's Reno casino, scheming that if they worked together and occupied multiple tables they could beat the house.
Given the Paul supporters' penchant for betting long shots, though, too many kept hitting on 16 and 17. They were broke within an hour.
"Was very strange," said one of the blackjack dealers, Iliana Svetmonivich, a Ukranian-born nuclear physicist who emigrated to Reno in order to find a living-wage job. "They keep saying, 'Audit the Fed. Audit the Fed. No! Audit the deck!' "
Svetmonivich didn't know who Ron Paul is, but she grasped that her fervent blackjack players were politically motivated.
"If they want crazy person as president, they should make move to Russia," she said. "All politicians very crazy there."
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