Ron Paul's Delegate Wars (IV)
"We're picking up delegates all the time. That's what campaigns are supposed to be for." - Ron Paul
by George Dance
(Libertarian)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The
official Republican primary season -- the time when all National
Delegates are selected -- runs from Feb. 5 through July 28. At the
halfway mark, Ron Paul's campaign is on a roll, suddenly back in the
media eye. CNN had him on twice this week (with first John Roberts,
then Wolf Blitzer), and even FOX News gave him face time.
Other eyes as well. Even the "luminaries" of the Trilateral Commission, at their Apr. 25-28 meet in Washington, DC (reports American Free Press)
"expressed concern that Paul's rallies have attracted multitudes of
young people who are getting 'their political education.' They want
Republicans to pressure Paul to drop out now and stop his education
rallies. This assignment was given to Thomas Foley, former U.S. House
speaker."
Good luck to him. Paul is clearly enjoying the
campaign, and has no intention of conceding before the National
Covention. As he told CNN's Roberts: "What's the sense of having a
convention if everything is decided?"
Three factors seem to account for the new interest. (1) Paul's recent surge in Pennsylvania; (2) the release of his new book, already a NY Times bestseller (and #1 on Amazon); and (3) the major Delegate Wars battle at the Nevada convention.
(1)
While some are spinning Paul's 16% as a result of low GOP turnout, that
doesn't completely wash. Paul's absolute numbers were also up - 120,000
votes is double what he received, in more populous New York, just two
months earlier. Either the RPR is growing, or anti-McCain conservatives
are beginning to come to him; either one is good news for him.
(2) The idea of giving a copy of The Revolution: A Manifesto to every Republican National Delegate is beginning to go viral on the RPR portion of the internet.
(3) But the big news, in DW context, was what happened in Nevada. What did happen?
Reportedly
the GOP leadership had a deal, negotiated with all campaigns (including
Jeff Greenspan for Paul's), on a "unity slate." National Delegates were
assigned as per the Jan. caucus vote, with Romney's share going to
McCain. That would have given Dr. Paul 5 delegates.
However,
when convention chairman Bob Beers proposed the slate, the state
delegates rebelled and by a supermajority -- two-thirds -- opened
nominations from the floor. That was followed, after long delays, by
Congressional District elections (to be followed, in turn, by voting
for the at-large National Delegates). With two districts counted, Paul
had won 4 of 6 Nationals. Before the final district's results were
announced, Beers declared the meeting adjourned, to a chorus of boos.
Then he, the leadership, and the McCain delegates walked out, breaking
quorum.
The convention will be resumed, at some point, no
doubt after feverish negotiations between all parties. But there seems
little chance that Nevada GOP unity can be patched up so easily. First,
the Nevada leadership is determined that Ron Paul will not win its
convention. Second, the Ron Paul Republicans (RPR) will settle for
nothing less. If they have a majority of state delegates, they want a
majority of National Delegates; if they have two-thirds, they want
two-thirds.
And who can blame them? When they have a minority,
no one is going to give them a deal; they and Paul will get nothing.
Case in point: this weekend's Maine state convention, where, despite
his 20% showing in the Maine caucus, Paul was given zero at-large
National Delegates.
As I've pointed out before, there are two
campaigns in play for Ron Paul. One is the official campaign, with the
traditional organization and structure: Hope for America, or HFA. The
other is the grassroots spontaneous order that calls itself the Ron
Paul rEVOLution. The Ron Paul Republicans (RPR) are part of that latter
group. They work with HFA, but not for it.
Which makes the
question of whether HFA can strike deals with the GOP leadership almost
irrelevant. HFA does not speak for the RPR; if they don't like a deal,
they will vote against it. (And then the GOP leadership will crack
down.) That is what happened in Nevada. The same thing happened in Jackson County, Missouri.
Dr.
Paul himself cheers them on. As he also told Roberts, in context of the
Nevada happenings: "We're picking up delegates all the time. That's
what campaigns are supposed to be for."
And the HFA website continues to exhort them:
"Ron
Paul needs you to be a delegate. Delegates select the platforms for
their county, state and national party. They make the rules, influence
their peers, and even pick the presidential candidate! In every step of
the process, it is essential that Ron Paul supporters are engaged,
active and numerous.
"If we are going to make our voices heard and affect necessary changes, then becoming a delegate is mission critical.
"Please
sign up now to become a delegate and a leader in our movement. If we
can turn out enough delegates, we can alter the course of the nation by
helping Ron alter the course of the Republican Party."
- James P. Tucker Jr., "Global Elite Gather in D.C.," American Free Press, May 12, 2008. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/global_elite_gather_135.html
- "Paul: GOP Can’t Shut Me Out," CNN Video, Apr. 28, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/04/28/intv.ron.paul.cnn
- Emanuel, "GENIUS IDEA! Purchase REVOLUTION: MANIFESTO for Delegates!!", Ron Paul 2008 Meetups Everywhere, May 2, 2008. http://ronpaul.meetup.com/1338/boards/thread/4641442
- "Sign up to be a Ron Paul Delegate," Ron Paul 2008 (accessed May 1, 2008).
https://voters.ronpaul2008.com/grassroots/delegatesignup.php#
Washington
"What's This? Ron Paul Tops McCain?" cried the Clark County Columbian on Apr. 25. Under the subheading "Weird Item 1," the Columbian
opined that, at the county convention, John McCain "was left in the
dust by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, the anti-Iraq war, anti-tax,
anti-big government libertarian.... Paul outpolled McCain by a
substantial margin overall. Most of that margin was built among
participants from the 18th Legislative District of north and far east
Clark County, where Paul forces captured between 25 and 28 of the 30
delegate slots bound for the state convention."
The Columbian
added that "what happened at the Spokane County GOP convention was even
weirder. 'The Paul forces ate McCain's lunch,' a Spokane reporter told
me, vastly outnumbering them and pushing through a get-out-of-Iraq-fast
plank in the local party platform."
Ron Paul won the Feb. 9
caucuses in Spokane Co. with 46% of the vote his best showing in the
country. At the Apr. 12 county convention, a convention-goer later told
The Daily Paul, the "McCain campaign came prepared to win by trying to
dominate the event.... Throughout the day we witnessed the McCain team
doing everything within their power to try to dominate the agenda and
sway the voting (as expected). Their tactics were both subtle and overt
as they tried to confuse the newbie Ron Paul conventioneers by quoting
obscure rules and procedures. At other times, they used heavy-handed,
authoritative sounding directives and gamesmanship in attempts to
promote their chosen delegates and derail the Ron Paul delegates and
positions." One McCainiac went so far as "trying to steal an unattended
Ron Paul delegate list."
The McCain camp also "employed a
multi-media projector that prominently displayed on the front wall
exactly which (McCain) delegates they expected everyone to vote for.
After another round of protests and debate, their projector was
eventually turned off (almost by force) and their subsequent attempts
to dominate the process were systematically beaten back ."
The
bottom line? "107 out of 111 delegates were elected who favor Ron Paul
and his positions. Only 4 delegates were elected who favor McCain. This
was a HUGE and unexpected upset that surpassed the wildest expectations
of everyone in our group."
Similar stories have been reported
around the state. In Lewis Co., "Seven rows of benches in the former
courtroom of the Lewis County Courthouse were packed with party
faithful and new faces. In a meeting that was expected to last only
three hours, procedures that included repeated voting on potential
delegates continued until mid-afternoon.... Much of the morning was
spent with Republicans divided up into the three county commissioner
districts in which they live. Each would get seven delegates to send to
the state convention." Paul won District 1, 4 delegates to 3, but lost
the other two (4-3 and 6-1); for 8 state delegates, 26% of the total.
"The
'Ron Paul people' took over the Whatcom County convention as well,
[Lewis Co. Commissioner Richard] Graham said. 'It's a mess. It's a
mess.'"
In Port Townsend, "Jefferson County Republicans on
Saturday [Apr. 12] elected four delegates for Arizona Sen. John McCain
and two for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul."
In Stevens Co., "Ron Paul
delegates handily picked up 11 of the 13 at-large county delegate
positions to go to State Convention in Spokane on Memorial Day weekend
next month. The old guard didn't have a clue what hit them."
In
Whatcom Co., too, "solid strategy and a well-organized grassroots
campaign put Ron Paul on top, at the Whatcom County Republican Party
convention.... GOP [county] Chairman Chet Dow said it appears that Paul
received the majority of delegates who will be sent to the summer state
convention in Spokane. From there, delegates will be selected for the
national convention. How did that happen ...? 'One word: organization,'
Dow said."
- Gregg Herrington, "What’s this? Ron Paul tops McCain?", Clark County Columbian, Apr. 25, 2008. http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/2008/04/04252008_Whats-this-Ron-Paul-tops-McCain.cfm
- "Decision 2008: Washington State Caucus Day," KHQ Right Now, Feb. 9, 2008. http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=7847796
- Goodbytes, "Something Significant Happened in Spokane," The Daily Paul, Apr. 22, 2008. http://www.dailypaul.com/node/46535
- Sharyn L. Decker, "McCain for President? Not Yet, Ron Paul Backers Say," Lewis County Chronicle, Apr. 7, 2008.
http://www.chronline.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1207589826&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1
- Jeff Chew, "Jefferson Republicans split delegates: 4 for McCain, 2 for Paul," Peninsula Daily News, Apr. 12, 2008. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20080413/NEWS/804130302
- Ernie Silvr, "Washington State, Stevens County Convention Results," Ron Paul War Room, Apr. 13, 2008. http://www.ronpaulwarroom.com/?p=9375
- Sam Taylor, "Ron Paul wins here where it counts," Bellingham Herald, Mar. 18, 2008. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/354325.html
West Virginia
West
Virginia held its state convention back on Super Duper Tuesday, Feb. 5.
The bad news? Ron Paul's 10% first-ballot vote put him in last place,
and he was dropped from the next ballot. The good news? "In an
agreement first reported by West Virginia television station WSAZ,
three Ron Paul delegates were secured through an agreement with the
Mike Huckabee campaign.... Ron Paul delegates to the state convention
swung their sizable support to Huckabee - putting Huckabee over the top
- in exchange for the delegates."
Huckabee National Delegate
Greg Smith later "confirmed a deal was hatched between the two camps,
clarifying that the National Huckabee Campaign was not involved at
all." Bob Fish, CEO of the convention, added "that Huckabee's WV
Delegates are not 'legally bound' to vote for Huckabee at the GOP
Convention. As it was the Huckabee Delegates who helped broker the
deal, they can honor their commitment for 3 to support Paul."
Missouri (update)
Ron
Paul Republicans Catherine Bleish, Larry Holland and Gregory Pals won
the 3 National Delegate spots up for grabs at Missouri's 5th
Congressional District (CD-5) convention in Kansas City on Apr. 19.
Reported the Kansas City Star: "Paul delegates agreed to sign
a pledge to follow party rules, including the current rule binding them
to the winner of Missouri's presidential primary McCain. In exchange,
GOP regulars agreed to drop potential challenges of Paul delegates, who
were picked at a tumultuous Jackson County meeting in March. 'It's good
for the party because we avoid any further acrimony,' said Jackson
County Republican chairman Bunk Farrington, who walked out of the March meeting."
Nevada (update)
The
Paul campaign reports that at least 4 (and possibly 7) "delegates
supporting Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul were
elected" in Congressional District elections at the state convention
Apr. 26. Chris Dyer was one of 3 delegates elected for CD-1. In CD-3,
all 3 National Delegates - Arden Osborne, Carl Bunce, and Elizabeth
BelCastro - were Paul supporters.
"In Congressional District 2,
Congressman Dean Heller was in the lead, followed closely by Paul
supporters Robert Terhune, Pat Kerby, and Marla Criss. When the count
was halted, the remaining (approximately 50%) of the uncounted ballots
were placed into seven sealed envelopes, signed by supporters of both
John McCain and Ron Paul, and deposited in a safe at the Peppermill
Casino in Reno."
Maine (update)
In
CD-1 elections held May 2 at the Maine state convention in Augusta, the
RPR "got one delegate to the national convention. Patrick Eisenhart of
Augusta is one of 21 Republicans from Maine who will go to the
convention in early September."
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See also:
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3255.html
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3438.html
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3508.html
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3588.html