Romney is going to get destroyed. He was always going to get destroyed. And it has always been planned to blame this on us, for either 'staying home' or 'voting Obama in protest'. Ron Paul, and more importantly, the Liberty movement, since Ron Paul is retiring, will be painted as the spoiler that gave Obama four more years.
The only way to beat them at their game is to take the nomination despite all their machinations to prevent this from happening. It was always going to be a hard fight. It was always going to portrayed as us defying the will of the electorate. We will always be portrayed as the kooks and rebels.
We will be marginalized until we win. And probably even then, as dying system writhes and hisses, trying to stay relevant.