RNC delegation chair see strength in splinters (Colorado)

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Mitt Romney’s camp limped out of the Colorado Republican Party Convention in April reeling and dazed. The Romney campaign didn’t know what hit it.

A coordinated ambush by organized, unified Rick Santorum supporters and Ron Paul backers masquerading as uncommitted to any candidate swiped the majority of delegates to the national convention.

Just 16 of the 36 Colorado delegates coming out of the state convention had committed to support Romney, when conventional wisdom held that Romney’s delegates would have a clear path to the majority. He had lost the state’s nonbinding Republican caucus to Santorum in February, but Santorum exited the race the week before the state convention.

Santorum supporter Sean Conway, a longtime GOP activist and current Weld County commissioner, spearheaded the “Unity Slate” of upstart candidates for national delegate positions to have a vote in the nomination of the party’s presidential candidate.

Republicans at the state convention rewarded Conway by electing him chairman of the state’s delegation to the Republican National Convention, which begins this weekend in Tampa, Fla.

The distinction traditionally is reserved for Republican governors and state party chairs, and the coronation of a Santorum acolyte further unnerved shocked Romney supporters, who expected the party’s old guard to waltz all the way to Tampa.

“It was obviously a tense situation, to be quite frank,” Conway admits.

As chairman, Conway has toiled to unify the splintered delegation that he helped create. But he is adamant that holdouts committed to their candidates and not Romney are free to go their own way.

“Those folks who support another candidate who want to vote for that candidate, I think that’s fine,” Conway said. “I think that diversity within our delegation strengthens us, not weakens us. We’ve come together. Does that mean we have unanimity? Not quite.”

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more at link

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20...sey=nav%7Chead

At least the guy is reasonable, not sure how that fits in with him unifying behind R-money.

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Originally Posted by FSP-Rebel

At least the guy is reasonable, not sure how that fits in with him unifying behind R-money.

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Actually, I think our guys elected him delegation chair under the condition he promised to vote for Ron.

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Originally Posted by sailingaway

Actually, I think our guys elected him delegation chair under the condition he promised to vote for Ron.

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This is true. And this is why we all had originally thought we won Colorado - because Colorado allows this position to submit a vote for the nominee on behalf of all Uncommitted delegates. Since we captured it, and anyone who signed on to our slate presumably accepted this deal, then we have the moral right to do so. Otherwise, the state chairman (a big Romney fan) could have voted for any Uncommitted delegates on the first ballot, which he promised that he would not do (ie, would allow Uncommitteeds to vote their conscience). However, I've come to distrust anyone in a higher leadership role in the GOP since the RNC has decided that rules don't apply to them.

And actually the reason many of us were Uncommitteed (I was not - I pledged to Paul when I ran, with great pride :) ), was that the 'establishment' treated us poorly last time. I've heard that they distributed 'hate slates' in 2008 with a list of people to NOT vote for (ie, Paul pledged people), but I didn't live in Colorado when that happened so I do not have first hand knowledge. So that's why many moved to Uncommitted - to avoid this type of behavior.