An ongoing spat between supporters of Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Ron Paul flared again Thursday, when pro-Paul dissidents were kicked out of a Pasco County GOP Executive Committee meeting.

Sofie Lefebvre, a Paul supporter, said a sheriff’s deputy escorted her and her husband out of the Land O’Lakes Senior Center, where the meeting was held.

“It’s this little nasty game going on,” Lefebvre said. “This isn’t America where you don’t let your own people into meetings. This is absolute fascism.”

Bill Bunting, the committee’s chairman, said it was a “special” meeting open only to precinct committee members, and he did not want any disruption of a busy organizational session.
“We had a limited number of seats,” he said. “Sheriff’s deputies will be hired from time to time. We’re not going to have interference from people who are not members yet.”
Bunting couldn’t recall the last time the committee hired deputies for such purposes, and acknowledged such meetings used to be open to all registered Republicans, even those who aren’t precinct members.
-- Chuin-Wei Yap, Times Staff Writer