History of 2008 Republican National Convention

[tsai3904]

2008 Republican National Convention

Voting for the Republican Presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention occurred on September 3, 2008.

Nomination of Candidate

Only John McCain was nominated as a candidate for President as you can see here:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/16212/stop/16267

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney won a plurality of delegates in at least 5 states but they were not nominated as candidates for President on the floor of the convention. This is key because although Santorum has won a plurality of delegates in at least 5 states, more likely than not, he will not be nominated as a candidate.

Voting

Although only McCain was nominated as a candidate, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney received votes from delegates. There were also many delegates not voting.

This shows that delegates who are bound (even on the first ballot) to candidates who have dropped out can choose to not vote or vote for anyone else (even people who did not receive a plurality of delegates in 5 states).

Announcement of Votes

Ron Paul and Mitt Romney were the only other candidates to receive votes. Romney's only votes came from two delegates in Utah. Ron Paul received at least 23 votes but you would have never been able to figure that out based on the proceedings of the convention.

Watch how the Chair announces the votes that Romney receives and the votes that Ron Paul receives.

Utah
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/19475/stop/19538

Notice how the Chair announces Romney receiving two votes.

Now take a look at Alaska, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia. These are states where Ron Paul's votes were publicly announced by each State Delegation Chair but notice how the Chair at the end does not mention the votes Ron Paul receives.

Alaska
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/16423/stop/16469

Oregon
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/19058/stop/19108

Washington
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/19701/stop/19741

Pay attention to West Virginia below. The Chair didn't hear the votes and assumed they all went for McCain.

West Virginia
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/19740/stop/19786

Minnesota is also interesting. Governor Pawlenty only announced the votes for McCain and neglected to announce Ron Paul's 6 votes. Those 6 votes were recorded as Not Voting but after letter by the MN GOP to the RNC, those 6 votes were officially recorded for Ron Paul months after the convention.

Minnesota
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/17604/stop/17650

Ron Paul also officially received two votes from Oklahoma but it was not announced at the convention because of confusion, which you can see below.

Oklahoma
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/18999/stop/19058

Senator Inhofe never announced how the votes were allocated so the Chair assumed all the votes went to McCain. However, according to this article (http://www.batesline.com/archives/2008/09/oklahoma-didnt-vote.html), two delegates elected for the 2nd Congressional District were Ron Paul supporters who were supposed to be pledged to Huckabee. After Huckabee dropped out, the Ron Paul supporters were unbound and chose to vote for Ron Paul.

Delegates Not Voting

Several states had delegates who chose not to vote. I don't know what the consequence of this was or if only certain states allowed this due to their rules but it does seem like it's plausible.

Here's one example of a state having some delegates not voting:

North Carolina
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/18763/stop/18822

North Carolina had 69 votes but the Delegation Chair only announced 65 votes for McCain. The 4 delegates were recorded as Not Voting.

It has been reported that 6 delegates in Idaho and 2 delegates in Nebraska recorded as Not Voting were actually Ron Paul supporters. I'm not sure why they didn't vote for Ron Paul or if they were even allowed to.

Lessons Learned

Assuming Santorum and Gingrich will both have suspended/withdrew their campaigns before the National Convention, they will not be nominated as candidates. If they are not nominated, it seems like all their pledged delegates will be unbound as what happened to Huckabee's and Romney's delegates in 08. Huckabee did not receive a single vote even though he earned many pledged delegates.

Also, the blackout of Ron Paul was in full effect in 08. Although 15 votes for Ron Paul were publicly announced by State Delegation Chairs, when results were tabulated, they announced that Ron Paul received only 5 votes.

You can see the announcement of the final results here:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RepublicanConventionDay3/start/20155/stop/20175

In addition to the 15 publicly announced votes, Ron Paul received 6 votes from Minnesota and 2 votes from Oklahoma that were not announced by each State Delegation Chair. Many of the 14 delegates recorded as "Not Voting" were also speculated to have been Ron Paul supporters.

Source

All information came from The Green Papers here:
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/R.phtml

[kathy88]

So the question is, how can we prevent being railroaded again?

[PaulSoHard]

I still continue to wonder if refusing to vote is allowed on the 1st ballot. From what is said about North Carolina I guess you could, but in states like Oklahoma this year I think they're bound for every round until the candidate releases them.

[Badger Paul]

Having more numbers and more of a visible presence at the convention will certainly help. Four years ago the convention was like a gulag and the RP delegates were harassed, spied on, followed, quarrentined, pressured you name it by the establishment. Having more numbers and more media attention I think will keep this from happening but it must be made clear to those running the show this kind of behavior against duly elected delegates will not be tolerated. Also, no one from the Paul campaign should be cutting "deals" for convention floor decorum. Either we have open convention, as messy as it may be, or it will be a rump convention without our participation. Respect will be paid!

[tsai3904]

I still continue to wonder if refusing to vote is allowed on the 1st ballot. From what is said about North Carolina I guess you could, but in states like Oklahoma this year I think they're bound for every round until the candidate releases them.

Well in 08, Huckabee didn't receive a single vote at the convention and I'm sure some of the delegates he won were bound for every ballot.

The same can be said about Santorum. He's won delegates that are bound for every ballot but he has suspended and will probably withdraw his campaign, which will make his delegates unbound.

[Ivash]

I still continue to wonder if refusing to vote is allowed on the 1st ballot. From what is said about North Carolina I guess you could, but in states like Oklahoma this year I think they're bound for every round until the candidate releases them.

I believe that for most states you cannot refuse to (I mean you technically could but they'll count the vote anyways). Perhaps for other states it is different.

[Paul Or Nothing II]

I still continue to wonder if refusing to vote is allowed on the 1st ballot. From what is said about North Carolina I guess you could, but in states like Oklahoma this year I think they're bound for every round until the candidate releases them.

I think all of our people who are bound to vote for someone else should abstain from voting until they become unbound & therefore make sure that their votes are only counted for Ron Paul otherwise no one else! NO ONE BUT PAUL! :D

[bluesc]

Thanks for putting this together, dude. You're like the bible of politics or something.

[Miguel]

Anyone have a copy or link of the photograph with all the Ron Paul delegates together from 08'? thanks, I had a copy but the harddrive failed that it was on.

[RileyE104]

I heard someone in that video shout Ron Paul when JB asked if there were any other nominations for president... Why was that not allowed? I'm confused now.

[tsai3904]

I heard someone in that video shout Ron Paul when JB asked if there were any other nominations for president... Why was that not allowed? I'm confused now.

Ron Paul didn't have a plurality of delegates from 5 states. That's what you need to be nominated on the floor of the convention.

[RileyE104]

Ron Paul didn't have a plurality of delegates from 5 states. That's what you need to be nominated on the floor of the convention.

ok ok, thanks.

this is going to be so interesting... i want to go to the convention whether or not i make it as a national delegate

[J_White]

wonderful compilation !!
dig into this, find the rules for all states.
this is getting interesting ! :D

[MikeStanart]

Keep in mind your state GOP will likely black-list you from becoming a National Delegate again if you Abstain while bound.



Which is why we take it over & remove the ban.


Tehee.