raiha
04-10-2010, 09:49 PM
I was just trawling around looking to see whether Newt or Sarah gave away free tickets and came across a sour grapesish kind of report:
On the SRLC Straw Poll
By Doug Brady
The following is a report from C4P reader Peter S who is on the ground in New Orleans at the SRLC. Readers may recall that Peter authored an excellent guest post for us a few weeks back.
I'm writing from SRLC (and yes, the C4P'ers have been hanging out together). The article below by Brian Montpoli of CBS News confirms my anecdotal "on the ground" observations from the conference. The Paul folks are aggressive, organized, and pushy. We know their admission was paid for by some shadowy source--you'll recall it posted at C4P a few weeks back that a block of 800 tickets were purchased by the Paul folks out of 3,800 total to give out to Paul supporters to come and vote for him. The Romney folks are sophisticated, organized, and trying to create a sense of momentum and inevitability, in part by stuffing the ballot box:
I just wrote about "Evangelicals for Mitt," a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney who are pressing people to support Romney at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll.
Afterward, I spoke to a young female delegate who said she planned to vote for Romney in the poll. I asked her how she had ended up at the conference.
She said "Evangelicals for Mitt" had contacted her and offered to pay for her to have a limited-access ticket -- so long as she agreed to vote for Romney in the straw poll.
Asked how "Evangelicals for Mitt" got her name, she said she didn't know. But she said that she was on the e-mail list for Romney, and speculated that the Romney team had given out their e-mail list.
"Evangelicals for Mitt" co-founder David French said in an interview yesterday that his group is not coordinating with the Romney team, though he noted that his wife had worked with the Romney campaign in the past.
UPDATE: Politico's Ben Smith reports that a conference organizer told him that "Evangelicals for Mitt" and Ron Paul's "Campaign for Liberty" bought blocks of tickets to the conference, which can then be given to supporters who cast ballots in the straw poll. Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom denied to Smith the Romney e-mail list had been released to "Evangelicals for Mitt."
Meanwhile, a commenter at a Web site for Paul supporters posted what the commenter claims is an e-mail from "Evangelicals for Mitt" to Romney supporters offering free tickets to the event. They normally go for $119.
"I'm writing because the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is the kick-off of the 2012 Presidential election, in New Orleans in April," it says. "'Evangelicals for Mitt' is trying to get people there who would vote for Gov. Romney in a straw poll there."
"In addition to voting in the straw poll, we'll provide tickets that will enable you to get into all of the speakers if there's room," the e-mail continues. "Also, you'll have access to all of the break-out sessions, and a large Friday night party called The Taste of Louisiana. We'll also have free autographed copies of Gov. Romney's book 'No Apologies' and tee shirts there, and there will also be plenty of great food!"
Governor Palin's support is grassroots, authentic and enthusiastic, and there are tons of us, but we are entirely unorganized. Both Romney and Paul will get many more votes through their organization and purchasing of votes than their actual support at the conference warrants. While Paul, of course, has no chance at the nomination,(Watch this space, Bucko!! OP) Romney has very real support and this is something I've noticed at other conferences, especially CPAC, and even among the conservative base who are not natural supporters of his. Part of it is exhaustion from having the most inexperienced, most radical (by far) president in American history and observing the damage that president is doing on a daily and even hourly basis. Romney’s support is magnified by the steady drumbeat of inevitability from the MSM and GOP insiders. Unfortunately, a large segment of the conservative base are buying into the meme that Romney is the safe candidate, and the Governor either won't run or isn't ready.
Why are they whingeing about the MSM?
I can't take these people or their candidate seriously and I am at a loss as to why they take her or themselves seriously.:confused:
So go for it O Aggressive, Pushy, Ones...take it to the next level. You know you can!!
On the SRLC Straw Poll
By Doug Brady
The following is a report from C4P reader Peter S who is on the ground in New Orleans at the SRLC. Readers may recall that Peter authored an excellent guest post for us a few weeks back.
I'm writing from SRLC (and yes, the C4P'ers have been hanging out together). The article below by Brian Montpoli of CBS News confirms my anecdotal "on the ground" observations from the conference. The Paul folks are aggressive, organized, and pushy. We know their admission was paid for by some shadowy source--you'll recall it posted at C4P a few weeks back that a block of 800 tickets were purchased by the Paul folks out of 3,800 total to give out to Paul supporters to come and vote for him. The Romney folks are sophisticated, organized, and trying to create a sense of momentum and inevitability, in part by stuffing the ballot box:
I just wrote about "Evangelicals for Mitt," a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney who are pressing people to support Romney at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll.
Afterward, I spoke to a young female delegate who said she planned to vote for Romney in the poll. I asked her how she had ended up at the conference.
She said "Evangelicals for Mitt" had contacted her and offered to pay for her to have a limited-access ticket -- so long as she agreed to vote for Romney in the straw poll.
Asked how "Evangelicals for Mitt" got her name, she said she didn't know. But she said that she was on the e-mail list for Romney, and speculated that the Romney team had given out their e-mail list.
"Evangelicals for Mitt" co-founder David French said in an interview yesterday that his group is not coordinating with the Romney team, though he noted that his wife had worked with the Romney campaign in the past.
UPDATE: Politico's Ben Smith reports that a conference organizer told him that "Evangelicals for Mitt" and Ron Paul's "Campaign for Liberty" bought blocks of tickets to the conference, which can then be given to supporters who cast ballots in the straw poll. Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom denied to Smith the Romney e-mail list had been released to "Evangelicals for Mitt."
Meanwhile, a commenter at a Web site for Paul supporters posted what the commenter claims is an e-mail from "Evangelicals for Mitt" to Romney supporters offering free tickets to the event. They normally go for $119.
"I'm writing because the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is the kick-off of the 2012 Presidential election, in New Orleans in April," it says. "'Evangelicals for Mitt' is trying to get people there who would vote for Gov. Romney in a straw poll there."
"In addition to voting in the straw poll, we'll provide tickets that will enable you to get into all of the speakers if there's room," the e-mail continues. "Also, you'll have access to all of the break-out sessions, and a large Friday night party called The Taste of Louisiana. We'll also have free autographed copies of Gov. Romney's book 'No Apologies' and tee shirts there, and there will also be plenty of great food!"
Governor Palin's support is grassroots, authentic and enthusiastic, and there are tons of us, but we are entirely unorganized. Both Romney and Paul will get many more votes through their organization and purchasing of votes than their actual support at the conference warrants. While Paul, of course, has no chance at the nomination,(Watch this space, Bucko!! OP) Romney has very real support and this is something I've noticed at other conferences, especially CPAC, and even among the conservative base who are not natural supporters of his. Part of it is exhaustion from having the most inexperienced, most radical (by far) president in American history and observing the damage that president is doing on a daily and even hourly basis. Romney’s support is magnified by the steady drumbeat of inevitability from the MSM and GOP insiders. Unfortunately, a large segment of the conservative base are buying into the meme that Romney is the safe candidate, and the Governor either won't run or isn't ready.
Why are they whingeing about the MSM?
I can't take these people or their candidate seriously and I am at a loss as to why they take her or themselves seriously.:confused:
So go for it O Aggressive, Pushy, Ones...take it to the next level. You know you can!!