Article claims RP in 3rd for WV Delegates

[ursamajor]

http://www.dailymail.com/News/200712090316

what's up with this? I thought we were in a clear 3rd with 200+ delegates

[Patrick Henry]

Yeah, what the heck is this? Did something happen or is this just more MSN sabatoge/bad reporting?

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

?? The link is bad. There's no text on the page. Just the header and the adverts on the righthand column.

[Patrick Henry]

?? The link is bad. There's no text on the page. Just the header and the adverts on the righthand column.

It worked for me when I first clicked on it, but now it doesn't.

[megasooner]

Hopefully they caught their error and took it down

[rich34]

Guys we are leading the total amount of delegates in the AT-LARGE race. The numbers the dailymail just showed are guranteed delegates which includes people in the legislature that are backing either Romney or Thompson. We still have to vote on who the delegates are going to be from the largely contested counties. Hopefully with the extra amount of at large delegates we'll be able to vote in ONLY Ron Paul delegates in those counties that are going to be contested. And even if we do, we still have to sway the undecides. Relax we're very much in this thing!

[Patrick Henry]

Hopefully they caught their error and took it down

It is working again now.

[bgoldwater]

I saw that, read the ending. It makes sense when you do.

[anewvoice]

The article I read was claiming Romney, Thompson then Paul based on "guaranteed seats running unopposed" or some crap. And even those seats only boasted a 39% committed rate. SOunds like some spin to me.

[mavtek]

nope still up for me

[rich34]

Paul ended up with 299 AT LARGE delegates, while Romney had 227. I think that's what you guys were referring to.

[skiingff]

With many undecideds, GOP delegates back Romney, Thompson, Paul

By LAWRENCE MESSINA

Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Mitt Romney appears to be the best-positioned of the Republican White House hopefuls heading into the West Virginia GOP's Feb. 5 presidential convention.

The former Massachusetts governor can count on fielding at least 107 delegates at the "Super-Duper Tuesday'' event, which will award a single candidate a majority of the state party's seats at the Republican National Convention.

An analysis by The Associated Press shows that no other contender has as many guaranteed delegates -- those with reserved or uncontested seats -- at the state convention.

"I think the numbers speak well for Gov. Romney's support among West Virginia Republicans, and of the efforts of his grass roots team,'' said Bill Phillips, who is overseeing the front-runner's Mountain State campaign.

Fred Thompson is assured 77 delegates, the second-highest margin, while Ron Paul follows with 54.

"Without spending any money, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out,'' said Gary Abernathy, Thompson's in-state director.

But about 61 percent of the guaranteed delegates have yet to commit to any campaign. Organizers hope such a sizable wild card will help lure them personally to Charleston.

"That's the 800-lb. gorilla. It leaves things wide open,'' Abernathy said. "This, I think, will come down to Feb. 5.''

The convention aims to attract the candidates, as well as national media, by releasing final results hours before any of the 22 other states holding party caucuses or primary elections that day.

The latest roster shows that 1,558 West Virginia GOP members signed up to be delegates by the Nov. 30 deadline. But of those, 960 filed for the 610 seats, distributed among the counties as at-large spots.

With 350 more filings than seats, online voting and caucuses slated for January must decide contests in 31 counties. That will leave the convention with 1,208 delegates, close to the goal of 1,446 set by organizers.

"While we're very, very pleased with the registration now, I expect the total attendees to grow as the county chairs make appointments,'' said Bob Fish, the convention's CEO.

The vacancies include 235 seats reserved for state and county party officials who failed to register for their slots. Seats were also set aside for the Legislature's 39 GOP members. All but two, Troy Andes of Putnam County and Mike Porter of Mercer County, claimed their spots.

Any seats left vacant by the county chairs can be filled by state GOP Chairman Doug McKinney within 10 days of the convention.

The AP counted as guaranteed those filings for reserved or uncontested at-large seats. The results show that while Ron Paul has the most overall delegates, 299, all but eight filed for at-large seats. Of those, only 46 are uncontested. Romney, meanwhile, saw 227 supporters register to be delegates.

The analysis also shows that Romney has the largest portion of five of the 54 county delegations slated to attend, the most of any candidate. Every county except Democrat-dominated McDowell saw at least one Republican file for a seat.

Three other contenders -- Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Thompson -- have an edge among delegates in one county apiece. Paul has the biggest margin in two.

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Lawrence Messina covers the statehouse for The Associated Press.

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On the Net:

Republican Party Convention for 2008 Presidential Election: http://www.wvgopconvention.com

AP-ES-12-09-07 1956EST

[skiingff]

Paul ended up with 299 AT LARGE delegates, while Romney had 227. I think that's what you guys were referring to.

That's an error. He has 229, not 299.

So right now Ron Paul is GUARANTEED the third most committed delegates. Obviously we still have work to do, but we're on the right track.

I'm optimistic about WV.

[rich34]

Skingff how many at large delegates did Paul get in Kanawha County? If the majority of those extra at large delegates came out of Kanawha maybe we can stack the deck and pull in another 40 or so delegates.

[rich34]

That's an error. He has 229, not 299.

So right now Ron Paul is GUARANTEED the third most committed delegates. Obviously we still have work to do, but we're on the right track.

I'm optimistic about WV.

Oh, that sucks then. I was hoping we had that extra amount to offset Mitt. We'll be alright.

[10thAmendmentMan]

Their figures are out of date. That's why they're wrong.

[LarryWhite]

It's always been stacked towards the establishment, the only vote is on the at-large delegates, the committees and legislature go automatically.

We have the most total delegates signed up, but most of ours are at large, so we have to get elected. It's ok, if we pull it off even if we don't have the most delegates we'll have the 'people's vote' angle to play.

Kanawha county has 30 Paul delegates out of a slate of 51. We're second in Kanawha, Romney has 38. There are 43 uncommitted, so it's anybody's game.