20/28 Nevada Delegates Bound to Romney, but can vote freely on bylaws

[69360]

"So they could vote for Ron. Isn't that obvious?"

But they are bound to Romney...They can't vote for Paul...if they obstain its likely a Romney supporter alternate will get to vote in their place.

If this isn't right then what am I missing?

If the state convention had unbound the delegates they could have voted for whoever they wanted to.

[Dogsoldier]

"If the state convention had unbound the delegates they could have voted for whoever they wanted to. "

Yes thats my point....Now no matter what now they are bound to Romney unless they obstain in which a possible Romney alternate could step in and make the vote for Romney.

If they were unbound they wouldn't be forced to vote for Romney and could vote for Paul.

So why didnt they try to unbind the delegates?

[tsai3904]

So why didnt they try to unbind the delegates?

Unbinding the delegates would have broken the delegate selection rules the Nevada GOP sent to the RNC back in October. The RNC is saying that if you break rules, you will get penalized (like how Florida lost half their delegates for breaking the calendar rule). The RNC said that one penalty may be that no delegates will be seated.

I'm sure the campaign weighed all the pros and cons and thought it was better to not try and unbind the delegates.

[MozoVote]

I'm satisfied with leaving them bound on the first ballot. Make the RNC look like dicks if they refuse to seat a delegation that is following the rules.

[carterm]

the simple gameplan: get over 50% of delegates to be ron paul supporters; change bylaws at RNC; unbind them; win.

[dancjm]

"If the state convention had unbound the delegates they could have voted for whoever they wanted to. "

Yes thats my point....Now no matter what now they are bound to Romney unless they obstain in which a possible Romney alternate could step in and make the vote for Romney.

If they were unbound they wouldn't be forced to vote for Romney and could vote for Paul.

So why didnt they try to unbind the delegates?

The RNC clearly felt it would break their rules for the state convention to unbind the delegates. The RNC sent a lawyer to the convention this morning. That means they would have fought any attempt at the convention to unbound the delegates. That would also mean that (if we had successfully unbound the delegates at the state convention) the RNC would have fought the unbinding of these delegates when we got to the national convention too, probably try to have them removed.

Maybe the Ron Paul campaign feels confident that Romney won't win on the first vote in Tampa, why make a move that will be vigorously challenged by the national party? why not wait and let the delegates become unbound after the first vote at tampa, when their unbinding cannot be fought by the RNC as a breach of the rules? If we had done it today at state level it may have been overturned in Tampa or worse the delegates ejected. When it happens in Tampa after the first vote, there will be nothing the RNC can do about it.

I think.

[Dogsoldier]

Ok now I see.This is nerve racking.

[dancjm]

We just need to keep Romney from the magic number.

[Jeremy]

We just need to keep Romney from the magic number.

That's why Texas and California are so important.

[tsai3904]

Nevada may be considered one of the five states with a Ron Paul plurality:

Hamdan Azhar ‏ @HamdanAzhar
@FHQ Josh, What are your thoughts abt the likelihood of NV counting as a Rule 40b plurality state for Ron Paul? #ronpaul2012 #rnc #nvgop

Josh Putnam ‏ @FHQ
.@HamdanAzhar Tricky question, but would think NV could count RE: Rule 40. Delegates are Romney-bound on roll call only; not other business

Josh Putnam at FHQ is an expert on this stuff so if he's unsure, I'm sure not many people have a definitive answer.