Rand Paul Endorses Romney

Rand Paul endorsed Mitt Romney on Thursday, one day after the Kentucky senator's father admitted that he wouldn't have the delegates to take the GOP nomination for himself.

"My first choice had always been my father," the younger Paul said of his father, Ron, during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. "But now that the nominating process is over, tonight I'm happy to announce that I'm going to be supporting Gov. Mitt Romney." 

Romney, in turn, released a statement saying he was "honored" by Paul's endorsement, and explaining why the freshman senator's support could be of value to his campaign: "Paul has been a leading voice in the effort to scale back the size and reach of government and promote liberty... as President, I will reform the federal government and make it smaller, simpler, and smarter."

The Romney campaign is likely hoping that a Paul endorsement (either could work, really) will help swing the weight of libertarian, Tea Party, and conservative voters behind the GOP nominee in what is shaping up to be a tight race to November.

But if the comments over at the Daily Paul are any indication, some Paul supporters are unlikely to support Rand's decision. A small, unscientific sampling: "Rand has lost my support, he has sold us all out period!"; "Note to all of the Romney trolls, this will get no one from the Liberty movement voting for your candidate, it will only kill Rand!"; and "I will NEVER support Rand ever again... EVER."