Phantom
04-27-2008, 10:12 AM
Ron Paul's Delegate Wars (III)
Are things about to get nasty? No: They already have.
by George Dance
(Libertarian)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Perhaps this installment of "Delegate Wars" should be subtitled, "The Empire Strikes Back." The Paul campaign's delegate-capturing strategy has spawned the inevitable backlash. The Republican National Committee (RNC) and John McCain's campaign, which have effectively merged into one organization, have sent out the word that the RPR is to be stopped at all costs, and Party officials have been rallying to the cause.
At some county conventions, party officials have been bringing out their own troops by warning of takeovers and hijackings; at others, they have gone so far as ejecting Paul delegates (see the Texas report below).
At some district conventions, delegates have been told to sign pledges to vote for McCain, and Paul backers stripped of their credentials (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/64CF6ED868C2A80286257431000BBF84) if they refused.
In some states, all mention of Dr. Paul and his candidacy has been purged from party websites (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3576.html).
In the most egregious example of all, the Republican leadership shut down the Nevada convention (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/27/ron-paul-campaign-dominates-convention/) last night before it could elect any National Delegates, when it looked like Paul would win a majority.
What are they so afraid of?
For one thing, McCain's forces know that it is still possible for him to lose the nomination. As explained in Delegate Wars (II), not all of McCain's pledged delegates are bound (required by state party rules) to vote for him on the first ballot. Unbound delegates are free to vote for any other candidate; if enough do, McCain gets no majority and the race goes to a second ballot (for which he will have even less bound delegates). At which point, it becomes an open contest that anyone can win.
Which I think is why Romney and Huckabee, even though they have both endorsed McCain, have not released their delegates, and why I predict they will both be on the ballot. If McCain wins the first ballot, neither of them will have done him any harm. If he doesn't, though, either one suddenly has a chance at the nomination. On the other hand, if either one is eliminated, he can try to throw his votes to McCain to save him as the nominee (and give himself a leg up in the undeclared race to be McCain's running mate).
A convention full of unbound delegates supporting Ron Paul must give the RNC nightmares. Even worse would be what some radical Paul supporters are calling for, an open revolt of bound delegates. In the RNC world, conventions are a TV opportunity, free advertising for the party and its nominee; delegates no more than clapping, cheering, signwaving props. (Most definitely not "Ron Paul" signs, either.)
So the RNC/McCain camp battles to eliminate every vestige of dissent from the convention. Meanwhile, the Ron Paul campaign fights on to win largest possible share of delegates for its own good reasons (as Assistant Campaign Manager Debbie Hopper explains in an inspiring video, "We Only Have One Shot At This! (http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul/becomedelegate.html)").
Things are about to get nasty. No, that's not quite true: They already have.
Jo Mannies, "GOP cracks down on Ron Paul activists (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/64CF6ED868C2A80286257431000BBF84)," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 20, 2008.
R.S. Davis, "RPR: A Call to Arms for Ron Paul Supporters! (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3576.html)", Nolan Chart, Apr. 26, 2008.
J. Patrick Coolican, "Ron Paul campaign dominates convention (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/27/ron-paul-campaign-dominates-convention/)," Las Vegas Sun, Apr. 27, 2008.
Richard Bohan, "Party Leadership Walks Out (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3583.html)," Nolan Chart, Apr. 27, 2008.
Paul Willwin, "Can Ron Paul Still Win? (http://www.ronpaulchat.net/drpaulwillwin.html)", Ron Paul Chat, Mar. 10, 2008.
Debbie Hopper, "We Only Have One Shot At This! (http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul/becomedelegate.html)", Become a Delegate, Mar. 5, 2008.
Maine
Nolan chart columnist Gary Wood reported back on Feb. 4: "According to a press release by Jesse Benton, of the Ron Paul campaign, the Texas Congressman, with his message of liberty and freedom, has already picked up 215 of the total 608 Maine state delegates. This number could increase as results come in from the final 6 counties. 35% of the state delegates place him second behind Mitt Romney even though McCain has a slight lead in the popular vote....
"Although many major newspapers are giving all 18 Maine National Delegates to Mitt Romney that is not the case. State delegates in Maine are . The actual allocation of the 18 national delegates will not be determined until May 2 when the Maine Republican Party State Convention is going to be held and the state delegates will then decide."
Gary Wood, "[U]Ron Paul Second in Maine State Delegates with 35% (http://www.nolanchart.com/article2454.html)," Nolan Chart, Feb. 4, 2008.
Oklahoma
From The Oklahoman of Apr. 20: "Paul supporters have won five of the 15 national GOP delegates already selected at Oklahoma's congressional district conventions, Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones said." (Those delegates, though, are bound for the first ballot: 3 to McCain, 2 to Huckabee.) "They also won several of the 15 alternates selected at the conventions.... It's expected Paul's supporters will turn out to add to that count when state Republicans gather May 2-3 in Tulsa to elect 23 at-large delegates and 23 alternates to the national convention, he said."
Michael McNutt, "Texas congressman may grab more delegates (http://newsok.com/article/3232480/1208651544)," The Oklahoman, Apr. 20, 2008.
Texas
On his journalism blog, "The Paulist Papers -- Stories about the Ron Paul Revolution," Patrick Brendel chronicles some gripping accounts of Delegate Wars battles. Here is his take on events at the Harris County convention:
Bob Fulkerson is in Houston. It's March 28, the night before the state senate district convention, the final step in the biennial ritual to determine delegates to the Texas Republican Convention.
There will be a strong Ron Paul presence at the Congressional District 18 meeting a subset of the larger state Senate District 6 he learns. Supporters will make up 40 percent of the CD-18 attendance. They will not have the majority, so they decide to keep candidate affiliation a secret. Instead of blimps, fliers and t-shirts, r3VOLutionaries will identify themselves by wearing Band-Aids on their hands....
They keep quiet and vote as one bloc. In CD-18, supporters sweep the six delegate spots, taking four of the alternates. In the larger SD-6, they comprise about one-third of the 45 selections to the state convention, according to Fulkerson....
"I didn't see any factions or anything like that. I saw a whole group of people, the entire delegation, that was supportive of Sen. McCain," the county chair says.
In Victoria Co., "Band-Aids aren't necessary... They contemplate wearing blue shirts or name tags to the convention, but reconsider. By the time the convention arrives, they know they have the numbers to take over by sheer force.... When the time comes to elect the permanent chair of the convention, the Paul supporters make their move ("an uprising of Young Turks," [a] teacher says). The Turks comprise two-thirds of the attendance. It is a stunning, mostly bloodless coup. The deposed GOP leaders, to their credit, handle defeat with aplomb, Marek says. The supporters, in turn, let them retain one spot in each committee. They also allow them five delegates to the state convention, reserving a spot for the state representative of five terms."
Similar stories, from other counties, are appearing throughout the local media.
In Travis Co.'s SD-25 Convention, the "delegates elected Paul-majority committees to guide them through sorting resolutions and selecting delegates to the state convention in June." Paulunteer "Robert McDonald, an Austin CPA elected the permanent chair of the county's GOP SD 25 convention, said he won the post by about 17 votes."
However, "a similar challenge was tried by Paul supporters at the county's SD 14 meeting, but there was no roll-call vote after it became clear that the temporary chairman, Joe Pojman, and other temporary officers would prevail." (Pojman got out the vote by e-mailing the party membership with dire warnings of a Paul takeover.)
Open warfare broke out at some conventions. In Nueces Co., convention Chairman Mike Bertuzzi "did not recognize the [RPR] group to speak and some members were escorted out by the sergeant at arms. Then about 40 members of the faction convened in another room in what's known as a rump convention.' Rump conventions are a separate meeting conducted by a group that feels it has been disenfranchised. Participants can form their own committees and elect their own delegates, then send a report to the state party, which then decides which convention to recognize from that county."
In some places, though, peace broke out instead. At the SD-12 convention in Tarrant Co., "Convention Chairman Tom Quinones worked out a deal to give the Paul camp delegates based on their numbers. Chad Bishop, a Paul delegate, gave a speech seconding Quinones' nomination, saying the district's conservative heritage is not lost on us.' Quinones said later, I think the Ron Paul delegates will be well-represented on our state delegation list.'"
Patrick Brendel, "Representing Ron Paul (http://paulistpapers.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/representing-ron-paul/)," The Paulist Papers, Apr. 16, 2008.
SD-25, SD-14: W. Gardner Selby, "Paul supporters win one, lose one in Travis County (http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2008/03/29/paul_supporters_win_one_lose_o.html)," Marshall News Messenger, Mar. 29, 2008.
Nueces: Denise Malan, "GOP chairman thwarts takeover (http://www.caller.com/news/2008/mar/30/gop-chairman-thwarts-takeover/)," Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Mar. 30, 2008.
SD-12: Mike Lee, "Paul's supporters make inroads at GOP conventions (http://www.star-telegram.com/elections/story/552306.html)," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mar. 30, 2008.
(To be continued ... )
Link (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3588.html)
For more articles on Ron Paul and the Revolution, visit this Link (http://www.presidentronpaul.741.com/news.html#newsroom)
Are things about to get nasty? No: They already have.
by George Dance
(Libertarian)
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Perhaps this installment of "Delegate Wars" should be subtitled, "The Empire Strikes Back." The Paul campaign's delegate-capturing strategy has spawned the inevitable backlash. The Republican National Committee (RNC) and John McCain's campaign, which have effectively merged into one organization, have sent out the word that the RPR is to be stopped at all costs, and Party officials have been rallying to the cause.
At some county conventions, party officials have been bringing out their own troops by warning of takeovers and hijackings; at others, they have gone so far as ejecting Paul delegates (see the Texas report below).
At some district conventions, delegates have been told to sign pledges to vote for McCain, and Paul backers stripped of their credentials (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/64CF6ED868C2A80286257431000BBF84) if they refused.
In some states, all mention of Dr. Paul and his candidacy has been purged from party websites (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3576.html).
In the most egregious example of all, the Republican leadership shut down the Nevada convention (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/27/ron-paul-campaign-dominates-convention/) last night before it could elect any National Delegates, when it looked like Paul would win a majority.
What are they so afraid of?
For one thing, McCain's forces know that it is still possible for him to lose the nomination. As explained in Delegate Wars (II), not all of McCain's pledged delegates are bound (required by state party rules) to vote for him on the first ballot. Unbound delegates are free to vote for any other candidate; if enough do, McCain gets no majority and the race goes to a second ballot (for which he will have even less bound delegates). At which point, it becomes an open contest that anyone can win.
Which I think is why Romney and Huckabee, even though they have both endorsed McCain, have not released their delegates, and why I predict they will both be on the ballot. If McCain wins the first ballot, neither of them will have done him any harm. If he doesn't, though, either one suddenly has a chance at the nomination. On the other hand, if either one is eliminated, he can try to throw his votes to McCain to save him as the nominee (and give himself a leg up in the undeclared race to be McCain's running mate).
A convention full of unbound delegates supporting Ron Paul must give the RNC nightmares. Even worse would be what some radical Paul supporters are calling for, an open revolt of bound delegates. In the RNC world, conventions are a TV opportunity, free advertising for the party and its nominee; delegates no more than clapping, cheering, signwaving props. (Most definitely not "Ron Paul" signs, either.)
So the RNC/McCain camp battles to eliminate every vestige of dissent from the convention. Meanwhile, the Ron Paul campaign fights on to win largest possible share of delegates for its own good reasons (as Assistant Campaign Manager Debbie Hopper explains in an inspiring video, "We Only Have One Shot At This! (http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul/becomedelegate.html)").
Things are about to get nasty. No, that's not quite true: They already have.
Jo Mannies, "GOP cracks down on Ron Paul activists (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/64CF6ED868C2A80286257431000BBF84)," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 20, 2008.
R.S. Davis, "RPR: A Call to Arms for Ron Paul Supporters! (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3576.html)", Nolan Chart, Apr. 26, 2008.
J. Patrick Coolican, "Ron Paul campaign dominates convention (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/apr/27/ron-paul-campaign-dominates-convention/)," Las Vegas Sun, Apr. 27, 2008.
Richard Bohan, "Party Leadership Walks Out (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3583.html)," Nolan Chart, Apr. 27, 2008.
Paul Willwin, "Can Ron Paul Still Win? (http://www.ronpaulchat.net/drpaulwillwin.html)", Ron Paul Chat, Mar. 10, 2008.
Debbie Hopper, "We Only Have One Shot At This! (http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul/becomedelegate.html)", Become a Delegate, Mar. 5, 2008.
Maine
Nolan chart columnist Gary Wood reported back on Feb. 4: "According to a press release by Jesse Benton, of the Ron Paul campaign, the Texas Congressman, with his message of liberty and freedom, has already picked up 215 of the total 608 Maine state delegates. This number could increase as results come in from the final 6 counties. 35% of the state delegates place him second behind Mitt Romney even though McCain has a slight lead in the popular vote....
"Although many major newspapers are giving all 18 Maine National Delegates to Mitt Romney that is not the case. State delegates in Maine are . The actual allocation of the 18 national delegates will not be determined until May 2 when the Maine Republican Party State Convention is going to be held and the state delegates will then decide."
Gary Wood, "[U]Ron Paul Second in Maine State Delegates with 35% (http://www.nolanchart.com/article2454.html)," Nolan Chart, Feb. 4, 2008.
Oklahoma
From The Oklahoman of Apr. 20: "Paul supporters have won five of the 15 national GOP delegates already selected at Oklahoma's congressional district conventions, Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones said." (Those delegates, though, are bound for the first ballot: 3 to McCain, 2 to Huckabee.) "They also won several of the 15 alternates selected at the conventions.... It's expected Paul's supporters will turn out to add to that count when state Republicans gather May 2-3 in Tulsa to elect 23 at-large delegates and 23 alternates to the national convention, he said."
Michael McNutt, "Texas congressman may grab more delegates (http://newsok.com/article/3232480/1208651544)," The Oklahoman, Apr. 20, 2008.
Texas
On his journalism blog, "The Paulist Papers -- Stories about the Ron Paul Revolution," Patrick Brendel chronicles some gripping accounts of Delegate Wars battles. Here is his take on events at the Harris County convention:
Bob Fulkerson is in Houston. It's March 28, the night before the state senate district convention, the final step in the biennial ritual to determine delegates to the Texas Republican Convention.
There will be a strong Ron Paul presence at the Congressional District 18 meeting a subset of the larger state Senate District 6 he learns. Supporters will make up 40 percent of the CD-18 attendance. They will not have the majority, so they decide to keep candidate affiliation a secret. Instead of blimps, fliers and t-shirts, r3VOLutionaries will identify themselves by wearing Band-Aids on their hands....
They keep quiet and vote as one bloc. In CD-18, supporters sweep the six delegate spots, taking four of the alternates. In the larger SD-6, they comprise about one-third of the 45 selections to the state convention, according to Fulkerson....
"I didn't see any factions or anything like that. I saw a whole group of people, the entire delegation, that was supportive of Sen. McCain," the county chair says.
In Victoria Co., "Band-Aids aren't necessary... They contemplate wearing blue shirts or name tags to the convention, but reconsider. By the time the convention arrives, they know they have the numbers to take over by sheer force.... When the time comes to elect the permanent chair of the convention, the Paul supporters make their move ("an uprising of Young Turks," [a] teacher says). The Turks comprise two-thirds of the attendance. It is a stunning, mostly bloodless coup. The deposed GOP leaders, to their credit, handle defeat with aplomb, Marek says. The supporters, in turn, let them retain one spot in each committee. They also allow them five delegates to the state convention, reserving a spot for the state representative of five terms."
Similar stories, from other counties, are appearing throughout the local media.
In Travis Co.'s SD-25 Convention, the "delegates elected Paul-majority committees to guide them through sorting resolutions and selecting delegates to the state convention in June." Paulunteer "Robert McDonald, an Austin CPA elected the permanent chair of the county's GOP SD 25 convention, said he won the post by about 17 votes."
However, "a similar challenge was tried by Paul supporters at the county's SD 14 meeting, but there was no roll-call vote after it became clear that the temporary chairman, Joe Pojman, and other temporary officers would prevail." (Pojman got out the vote by e-mailing the party membership with dire warnings of a Paul takeover.)
Open warfare broke out at some conventions. In Nueces Co., convention Chairman Mike Bertuzzi "did not recognize the [RPR] group to speak and some members were escorted out by the sergeant at arms. Then about 40 members of the faction convened in another room in what's known as a rump convention.' Rump conventions are a separate meeting conducted by a group that feels it has been disenfranchised. Participants can form their own committees and elect their own delegates, then send a report to the state party, which then decides which convention to recognize from that county."
In some places, though, peace broke out instead. At the SD-12 convention in Tarrant Co., "Convention Chairman Tom Quinones worked out a deal to give the Paul camp delegates based on their numbers. Chad Bishop, a Paul delegate, gave a speech seconding Quinones' nomination, saying the district's conservative heritage is not lost on us.' Quinones said later, I think the Ron Paul delegates will be well-represented on our state delegation list.'"
Patrick Brendel, "Representing Ron Paul (http://paulistpapers.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/representing-ron-paul/)," The Paulist Papers, Apr. 16, 2008.
SD-25, SD-14: W. Gardner Selby, "Paul supporters win one, lose one in Travis County (http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2008/03/29/paul_supporters_win_one_lose_o.html)," Marshall News Messenger, Mar. 29, 2008.
Nueces: Denise Malan, "GOP chairman thwarts takeover (http://www.caller.com/news/2008/mar/30/gop-chairman-thwarts-takeover/)," Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Mar. 30, 2008.
SD-12: Mike Lee, "Paul's supporters make inroads at GOP conventions (http://www.star-telegram.com/elections/story/552306.html)," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mar. 30, 2008.
(To be continued ... )
Link (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3588.html)
For more articles on Ron Paul and the Revolution, visit this Link (http://www.presidentronpaul.741.com/news.html#newsroom)