Breaking: SC Straw Poll Results - Ron Paul 2nd

[Razmear]

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/breaking_news/story/142222.html

Thompson local GOP candidate choice
By Tonya Root

Georgetown County Republicans picked Sen. Fred Thomspon as the next president during a straw poll Saturday at Waccamaw High School in Pawleys Island.

The poll, set to measure voter preferences, also included nine other candidates who garnered support from the more than 200 attendees. Republican presidential candidate Daniel Gilbert, a businessman from Asheville, N.C., spoke to the crowd as did respresentatives for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California.

The candidates and their votes from the poll are: Thompson with 102 votes; Paul 40 votes; Romney 37 votes; Hunter 15 votes; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani 13 votes; Sen. John McCain 7 votes; Brownback 6 votes; Newt Gingrich 2 votes; and Gilbert with one vote.

[Dustancostine]

:(

[DeadheadForPaul]

nice that we got 2nd

was this the straw poll that the media was trying to say was a fluke due to RP support?

[shrugged0106]

How is an undeclared candidate even an option? Whay wasnt I on the list too then?

[Razmear]

The report I read while waiting for these results to be posted claimed that Ron Paul supporters had bought 300 tickets and Thompson supporters had bought 100.
It looks like Thompson's 100 got there, but our 300 did not.
I'll take partial blame for that as I didn't make the 300 mile drive (each way) today to attend.

eb

[MozoVote]

Seriously, it's boneheaded for people to vote for someone that isn't even a declared candidate. Blah. :(

Oh well, the headline really should be:
RON PAUL FIRST AMONG DECLARED CANDIDATES AT SC STRAW POLL

[foofighter20x]

Don't be distracted by the Thompson numbers. This is great news! The more the voters find out about Thompson, then only the better we are going to do.

[Razmear]

New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani 13 votes; Sen. John McCain 7 votes;

[RPatTheBeach]

Well, I am glad to see it was reported properly. All of the reporters had left the event before the last few votes were counted. It was announced the Mitt took second place, but there were 4 more votes for RP that hadn't been counted.

I think this is a good result considering how pro-war this area is.

[RPatTheBeach]

The report I read while waiting for these results to be posted claimed that Ron Paul supporters had bought 300 tickets and Thompson supporters had bought 100.
It looks like Thompson's 100 got there, but our 300 did not.
I'll take partial blame for that as I didn't make the 300 mile drive (each way) today to attend.

eb

300 were not purchased, if my information is accurate. Someone local was asked of the expected turnout for Ron Paul and it was stated that he didn't know... could be 50, could be 300. I believe the words got twisted.

[Razmear]

Might have been a preemptive strike reporting the 300 tickets, I know it got forwarded up here to Anderson, so I was less worried about not making the 600 mile round trip.

One source of the 300 tickets rumor:

http://campaignsandelections.com/SC/articles/?ID=428

A straw poll in Georgetown Saturday likely won't be an accurate reflection of GOP voters in the Lowcountry county, but it means big bucks for the local Republican Party.

Supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, purchased 300 tickets, and supporters of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson have purchased 100 tickets, said Tom Swatzel, chairman of the Georgetown GOP. Tickets cost $10 each.

That likely will skew the voting, but Swatzel said the point of Saturday's event is to raise money for the local GOP while also showing the grassroots strengths of the presidential campaigns.

[shrugged0106]

Ive gotta call BS then because if it were 300
Ron Paul Supporters" who bought tickets, then he would have had well over 200 votes minimum. The whole darned thing only had 223 votes.

something smells funny here folks.

[LibertyEagle]

Don't be distracted by the Thompson numbers. This is great news! The more the voters find out about Thompson, then only the better we are going to do.

Agreed! Thompson will crumble when in a real debate, which is why he's still on the sideline.

This is good news, people. Second place. Keep spreading the word and we will be first soon.

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

I emailed the "reporter:"


Funny. Ron Paul only got 40 votes. Is Tom Swatzel to blame for a preemptive strike? Did one person buy 300 tickets? Or did 2 people wearing Ron Paul tshirts buy 150 tickets each? These would be good questions for a reporter to ask.

[TexMac]

Might have been a preemptive strike reporting the 300 tickets, I know it got forwarded up here to Anderson, so I was less worried about not making the 600 mile round trip.

One source of the 300 tickets rumor:

http://campaignsandelections.com/SC/articles/?ID=428

A straw poll in Georgetown Saturday likely won't be an accurate reflection of GOP voters in the Lowcountry county, but it means big bucks for the local Republican Party.

Supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, purchased 300 tickets, and supporters of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson have purchased 100 tickets, said Tom Swatzel, chairman of the Georgetown GOP. Tickets cost $10 each.

That likely will skew the voting, but Swatzel said the point of Saturday's event is to raise money for the local GOP while also showing the grassroots strengths of the presidential campaigns.


The 300 ticket thing is in DC, not South Carolina

[LibertyEagle]

Ive gotta call BS then because if it were 300
Ron Paul Supporters" who bought tickets, then he would have had well over 200 votes minimum. The whole darned thing only had 223 votes.

something smells funny here folks.

Yeah, that is pretty weird. :confused:

[Razmear]

The 300 ticket thing is in DC, not South Carolina

This was reported in local South Carolina news, the "lowcounty" is the local term for that part of the state, and the person interviewed is the VP of the Georgetown SC GOP.
This was not a DC thing, or at least not in any way I can see.
If you can show otherwise, please provide documentation.

eb

[TexMac]

This was reported in local South Carolina news, the "lowcounty" is the local term for that part of the state, and the person interviewed is the VP of the Georgetown SC GOP.
This was not a DC thing, or at least not in any way I can see.
If you can show otherwise, please provide documentation.

ebYou're right. Sorry.

http://campaignsandelections.com/SC/articles/?ID=428

Weird.

[Razmear]

Georgetown County Republican Party

Fred Thompson Wins Georgetown County Straw Poll





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2007

Contact: Tom Swatzel (843) 357-1673

(843) 222-7456 cell



PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC--Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson convincingly won the Georgetown County Republican Party presidential primary straw poll today with 46% of the votes, while second and third place finishers Congressman Ron Paul and Governor Mitt Romney had 18% and 17% respectively.



Georgetown County Republican Party Chairman Tom Swatzel said, "Senator Fred Thompson and his committee are to be congratulated for their efforts today. It's clear his supporters are well organized and motivated."



Congressman Gresham Barrett represented Thompson at the event.



Swatzel said that there were 223 total votes cast and that overall the event was attended by about 250 people. "For our first ever straw poll, I am pleased with the turn out. It was an enthusiastic crowd that was the essence of grassroots politics at its best," he said.



All eleven of the active presidential campaigns recognized on the state Republican Party web site- plus Thompson, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy soon- were invited to participate the event, which was held in the Waccamaw High School auditorium in Pawleys Island.



The overall results are as follows:



Votes

Fred Thompson 102 46%

Ron Paul 40 18%

Mitt Romney 37 17%

Duncan Hunter 15 7%

Rudy Giuliani 13 6%

John McCain 7 3%

Sam Brownback 6 3%

Newt Gingrich 2 1%

Daniel Gilbert 1 -

[freelance]

Sounds to me like the paper made up that number, BECAUSE they were afraid he would place well. Overstating the case might be the tactic du jour to discredit RP. Watch for more of this in the coming weeks, until it backfires by implanting the thought, "Ron Paul = winner" in the public's mind.

[jjschless]

Don't be distracted by the Thompson numbers. This is great news! The more the voters find out about Thompson, then only the better we are going to do.


Exactly. Thompson is high in the polls until he commits then the spotlight is going to burn right through that facade and reveal the neo-con worm underneath.

[Razmear]

Sounds to me like the paper made up that number,

Nope, not the paper, the local GOP chairman stated:


Supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, purchased 300 tickets, and supporters of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson have purchased 100 tickets, said Tom Swatzel, chairman of the Georgetown GOP. Tickets cost $10 each.

So, did 260 Ron Paul supporters have car trouble today, or did Swatzel provide misleading information about the ticket sales? And why would he do such a thing?

eb

[MozoVote]

I saw some meetup mail that indicated there may have been some advance purchases to induce people to come and vote for free, but 263 unused tickets is too much for me to beleive.

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

How does the abortion lobbyist get away with campaigning but not filing the reports of which he is so fond? Is he afraid of Ron Paul? Does he tremble at the groundswell of spammer support?

[quickmike]

Exactly. Thompson is high in the polls until he commits then the spotlight is going to burn right through that facade and reveal the neo-con worm underneath.

Yeah, my fear though is that many Republican voters might actually want a Neo-Con worm as president.:eek:

[Larofeticus]

So what really happened on the speculated 300 tickets for ron paul was this:

The Georgetown county GOP guy asked a South Carolina meetup person how many ron paul people would come. He responded "i have no idea... maybe 50.. maybe 300"

This got twisted into 300 tickets bought for paul, which is certifiably false, although the statement about Thompson buying 100 tickets could very well have been true.

And we did make a very strong showing. We had the 2nd best organization there. Our supporters beat out romney, in attendence and visibility.

Since we are all completely independent from GOP activities,(and from the looks of it, all the standard GOP members are older than 50 i.e. out of touch) on the county and possibly even state level, they have no damn clue what is going on with us. As far as their gop chairman knew, we might have shown up with a thousand supporters like in greenville. he has no way of knowing, and so he had to try and deflate that possibility before the actual event.

This is a strong barganing chip that shouldn't be wasted. Our representatives can approach county GOP chairs and state things very simply. "you don't know the who what when where or how of the ron paul grassroots support. we know the internet and we know the youth. you can be open minded to the message and we can bring our strength, or you can resist and be swept aside." In some places this claim will be true and in others, it won't, but they have no way of knowing the difference.

I sat in that auditorium and watched reactions. Justin spoke and they shook their heads and dismissed and a couple even heckled. Later ron paul was announced as third (which with a few late arrivals became 2nd) and they shook their heads dumbfounded. With what they don't understand and what we can bring to the table, we may yet save the republican party.

[MozoVote]

I do have to give credit those Paulites willing to get in front of the GOP greybeards, and tell them their party is out of touch with the people.

[Give me liberty]

Fred Thomspon is not even running!
i wonder did the media add Fred Thomspon because the media are sarced and afriad of ron paul? are they so sarced becuse he might the GOP Straw Polls and he might win the the election?


i mean come on.

[RPatTheBeach]

Fred Thomspon is not even running!
i wonder did the media add Fred Thomspon because the media are sarced and afriad of ron paul? are they so sarced becuse he might the GOP Straw Polls and he might win the the election?


i mean come on.

This was a County GOP affair. How would the media add Fred to the ticket?

[Bruehound]

I do have to give credit those Paulites willing to get in front of the GOP greybeards, and tell them their party is out of touch with the people.

Please be very careful about taking this attitude of we the enlightened outsiders are going to kick some sense into you stodgy party elders. It is wrong to assume all Republicans have been conned by the Neo's. Yes, many have been but many in the GOP are traditional conservatives who feel disilusioned and betrayed and are very eager to support RP.

It is arrogant to make an assumption all RP support comes from outside the Republican Party. It does not.

[Larofeticus]

they were all neo-con greybeards; unfourtunately it's true. i have a strong feeling that all the traditional conservatives stopped participating in georgetown gop events a long time ago.

which is a shame because we might have been able to reach those people.

[jj111]

Please be very careful about taking this attitude of we the enlightened outsiders are going to kick some sense into you stodgy party elders. It is wrong to assume all Republicans have been conned by the Neo's. Yes, many have been but many in the GOP are traditional conservatives who feel disilusioned and betrayed and are very eager to support RP.

It is arrogant to make an assumption all RP support comes from outside the Republican Party. It does not.

I think it is better to frame this as the Republican Party leaders at the national level have been increasingly out of touch with their conservative base, and have betrayed the rank and file by abandoning and betraying many basic conservative principles through their actions.

[AZ Libertarian]

UH-OH! My bull$hit meter is pegging in the red again!

_________________________________________________
Fred Thompson
Position: Campaign Finance
"Following the Senate vote of 59 to 41 for the McCain-Feingold bill on April 2nd, McCain held a press conference at the Capitol. With Thompson present, McCain named Thompson, and a few other Senators as being so important to the bill's success that it would not have passed without their efforts."
McCain Press Conference, April 2nd, 2001
________________________________________________
*printed on 2008 GOP RINO Collector Cards - currently in circulation*

GET YOURS TODAY!

[fj45lvr]

Yeah, my fear though is that many Republican voters might actually want a Neo-Con worm as president.:eek:

Republican voters need to really need to wake up!! They are delusional if they believe that they can talk the same talk and win in 2008....they should go with the guy that has the best chance to beat the Dems.

I was listening briefly to Rush Limbaugh today trying to say that the lower U.S. casualities were a sign that things were getting better....hard to believe that people actually believe that propaganda....it isn't getting any cheaper.

[MozoVote]

Maybe things ARE quieting down. And we can keep our troops there for 50 years, like Korea. :rolleyes:

[Jennifer Reynolds]

///

[ghemminger]

I don't get it. Why do these straw polls matter at all if only a handful of bribed people show up for them?

The straw polls are part of the jacked up system of the power elite. It serves as a way of discrediting the 2nd tier candidates....and serves the purpose of deflating or wasting smaller candidates personell and financial resources.

The media 600+ will be at Iowa, because historically it's important...think "Howard Dean" Many things can go wrong for us....but unless we show up in uncontrollably super massive numbers...the MSM will work to discredit him....

My opinion....

[RonPaulalways]

Thompson represents those Republicans who are in denial and still don't want to see the truth. If the Republican party is going to have a chance, it's going to have to go with Ron Paul.

[Sematary]

Thompson represents those Republicans who are in denial and still don't want to see the truth. If the Republican party is going to have a chance, it's going to have to go with Ron Paul.

There is an almost brain dead stubbornness on the part of neocons to give Ron Paul and acknowledgement at all. They ridicule his poll numbers, they will tell you flat out that the reason they won't support him is because he'll end the war. How fucking pathetic is THAT? War is what they WANT! They still couch the concept of leaving Iraq as a "loss" and the people who say we should as "cut and runners" and worse. We will never reach these people and I don't want to waste my valuable time trying to convince brain dead people to vote in a direction I know they won't - even if he wins the nomination - because they won't - they'll sit it out and hand the election to the dems before they'll vote for Ron Paul. So we have to reach the ones, like a gentleman I know from another forum, who feels betrayed by Bush and the Republicans but still believes in the Republican ideals of smaller government, etc...

[Paul-O-Holic]

The reason Fred Thompson won is because South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett spoke to the crowd on behalf of Fred Thompson.

Barrett is very popular among South Carolinians.

"The crowd enthusiastically welcomed U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, of Westminster in the Upstate, to the stage for his 10-minute speech on Thompson.

"I'll take any of our candidates versus what the other guys put up," Barrett said before the voting. "But come January, cast your vote for the next president of the United States - cast your vote for Fred Thompson."

The shepherd spoke and the flock of sheep voted accordingly.