Wish me luck, I'll be doing everything possible to bring Ron Paul votes today!
May the Ron be with you.
R[∃vo˩]ution
I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. -Ronald Reagan
Courage and luck!
Although I would like to espouse the same cander as the revolutionary patriots I must say "eat $#@! neocons" and bring us victory LibertyVI.
Good Luck
Good Luck
Well, I can't say it was exactly a success.
I drove down to the caucus site about 10 AM, for the preliminary activities. I had a couple packs of slimjims on hand, thinking that would be plenty of supplies. Imagine my surprise when I drive up and the whole place is decorated in Ron Paul signs!
Unfortunately I was disappointed to find out that the campaign had just sent the gear down and the party put it up, and it wasn't an actual groundswell of support. At least the outside of the polling place looked great, lots of Paul signs and nothing for McCain. Inside they had tons of bumper stickers, literature, DVDs, and LOADS of slimjims. It was actually very excessive.
The party insiders were very polite and receptive, and I got to talk with voters and educate people. Ron Paul prepared a video addressing the VI that was played for us (McCain sent a letter). There were a lot of people saying that they liked what Dr. Paul had to say but there was "no point" in voting for him since McCain was going to win. One of McCain's delegate candidates spoke and said basically "don't vote for anyone but McCain delegates because having Paul/uncommitted would be embarassing to the state party".
I was the first voter, and then I stuck around for a little while and the party leaders asked me to be a poll watcher since I was the Paul supporter. I left at around 1:00 and came back at 6:00 to watch the vote count.
The results are difficult to really report because we were voting for delegates and there was no presidential preference sheet. A lot of people actually voted for some McCain delegates and some uncommitted, probably just for people they knew. It seemed like most people just didn't care so they came to vote for their family and friends to get a free trip to St. Paul. I can tell you though that there was only one candidate pledged for Dr. Paul and he got only 3 votes on St. Croix and 2 on St. John. St. Thomas has not reported. I would guess a presidential preference would have been about:
McCain 60
Uncommitted 30
Paul 10
It looks like the delegates will be 3 for McCain and 3 uncommitted.
I also ended up with a ridiculous amount of Paul supplies. All of the extra stuff (and there was a LOT) went to me almost by default, as the big Paul supporter. I'm actually looking for somewhere to send it now, since I don't have anything to do with it. I'm not sure it would get to Pennsylvania from here in time, but there are probably 1000+ slimjims, a good number of signs, and a lot of the campaign booklets. I also have 1000 stickers and probably 50 or so bumper stickers. I'll try to find a meetup group in an upcoming state to send all this to.
All in all, not a huge success by any means, but I enjoyed a day of talking to people about our candidate.
Thank your hard work. It is an uphill battle when people are shaming others into voting for McCain. The shaming tactics show that people are waking up. It is going to be a long process to bring liberty back. Neo-cons did not get power overnight, we wont get it back overnight either. Keep your head up
Here is an article in the newspaper.Originally Posted by libertyVI
Quiet Night for V.I. GOP Caucus
by Bill Kossler
GOP candidate Ron Paul's backers haven't thrown in the towel, if the signs outside Gertrude's are any indication.
GOP candidate Ron Paul's backers haven't thrown in the towel, if the signs outside Gertrude's are any indication.
April 5, 2008 -- It was festive but a little quiet at Gertrude's Restaurant Saturday for the V.I. Republican caucus.
With Arizona Sen. John McCain the party's presumptive presidential candidate, the election was really about who will be the nine delegates and six alternates to the Republican National Convention Sept. 1-4, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn., not which candidate they will support.
Signs for candidate Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, lined the road in front of the restaurant, and inside a light turnout of a dozen or so people heard candidates speak about why they should be selected to go to St. Paul. Party officials sat at a table on a small stage, moderating the speakers, making periodic announcements and manning teleconference equipment linking the caucuses on St. Croix and St. Thomas.
State GOP Chairman Herbert Schoenbohm played a recorded message from Paul, who had been scheduled to speak but had to cancel at the last minute. Paul gave his greetings to the people of the territory, apologized for being unable to make it and spoke for a bit about his libertarian principles.
"Sure we need to regulate," he said. "But we need to regulate the Federal Reserve, not the markets."
David "Fitz" James and father David James were there manning a table piled high with Ron Paul campaign supplies.
"I'm really more of a Libertarian," Fitz said. "The Republicans talk about smaller government, but Ron Paul is the only candidate who is really for smaller government."
State Committeewoman Lilliana Belardo de O'Neal said she planned to bring the message to the RNC that the Virgin Islands should not be ignored by the party. She supports McCain but would have been happy with any of the candidates this year.
State Committeeman Holland Redfield II said the Iraq war, the economy and the mood of the country made this year an uphill climb for the party
"We as Republicans have our hands full this year," he said. "The Democrats have not had a taste of water in years. They are motivated and want the White House back. McCain's burden is to impress upon the nation we cannot cut and run out of Afghanistan and Iraq; that the consequences would be far worse than staying there."
The party needs to "stick to our guns" on taxes and government regulation too, he said.
South Dakota needs supplies. Let me know what we can do for shipping. Thanks for showing your support down in the islands!
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