The cult of Paul is very good at bringing a small group of energized people out to win presidential straw polls, but they pretty much flop when it comes to actual primaries. Perhaps Rand will be different, but I highly doubt it. Rand won't be the nominee, though I expect he will be more competitive than his father.
I’ve worked several Iowa caucuses, one as a campaign advance man and one as a party functionary. People have NO IDEA the effort required to get your people to those little meetings all over 99 counties. If the Ron Paul supporters were as organized as they claim to be, they’d have pulled off a surprise win there.