WASHINGTON — Ron Paul may not win the Republican nomination for president – he has yet to win a single state – but his strategy of trying to amass delegates in caucus states could land him a prominent role at the party’s national convention this summer.

Imagine this: a primetime speech at the GOP convention in which Paul criticizes American military action overseas and condemns the war on terror as an overreach of government authority at home. It’s enough to make some Republicans cringe.

But they may have little choice if they want to placate Paul’s supporters and keep them from becoming a distraction at an event designed to promote party unity and showcase the nominee, whoever it is.

“Paul is fascinating because good ol’ Ron will say just about anything he wants to say at any particular time,” said Dennis Goldford, a professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

“And the last thing you want somebody doing is going off message in primetime at a convention.”

With the exception of Maine, the Texas congressman hasn’t come close to winning the popular vote in any of the first nine states to vote. However, campaign aides say their knowledge of caucus rules combined with the enthusiasm of Paul’s supporters gives them a unique ability to take advantage of a process that could take several months to sort out.

Paul’s campaign manager, John Tate, boldly predicted: “We are confident that when all is said and done and some of these caucus states finish their process that we will end up with either a good plurality or a majority of the delegates out of Maine, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, possibly Colorado.”

Paul echoed Tate’s prediction for Iowa and Maine in a broadcast interview Sunday. “The bottom line is, who is going to get the delegates and we think we’re doing pretty good,” Paul said on CNN.

“The ultimate goal is obviously still to win, to get enough delegates there to win the nomination,” Tate said. “I think there’s lot of secondary goals, to make sure that our and Dr. Paul’s views are represented at the convention, represented in the platform.”

“We want to make sure that the Republican Party understands that we are a major part of the Republican Party,” Tate said. “We’re not to be overlooked; we’re not to be taken for granted.”

Many of Paul’s libertarian views dovetail nicely with mainstream Republican ideas on limited government and low taxes. But Paul breaks with much of his party when he talks about American intervention abroad and government efforts to fight terrorism at home.

“Following the Constitution, don’t police the world, don’t participate in all this nation-building, cut spending, cut taxes, cut deficits – these are traditional Republican principles,” said David Fischer, vice chairman of Paul’s campaign in Iowa. “I consider the view of these Republicans who want to simply grow the size and scope of the government, that’s outside of Republican mainstream.”