Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Half of Louisiana's GOP Delegates Sought in Primary In a previous article, I attempted to explain the Bayou State's Caucus/Primary system. Today's vote will count only if one candidate gets more than 50%.by DigitalBob
(Libertarian)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
In a previous article, "GOP Votes Several Times In Louisiana", I illustrated not all the delegates will be picked today (2/9/08). Of Louisiana's 47 delegates, only 20 of them will be selected by the state's primary. Those 20 will all go to one candidate, if that candidate gets more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, it will be the caucus goers last month who will decide at their state convention on Feb 16.
How likely is this scenario? It would have been more likely, had Mitt Romney not dropped out of the race earlier this week. His upbeat speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference urged Republicans to unify under one candidate, John McCain. Voters today may feel compelled to rally behind the front-runner for the sake of party unity.
The state delegate winners from the caucus last month are posted at Louisiana GOP website. But there is no indication as to which candidate they are pledged. When Fred Thompson dropped out, many of his supporters pledged to a slate of "undecided, pro-life". The John McCain assumes this slate has given him its support.
However, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee have pledged to keep going, in spite of their Super Tuesday performances. Unlike West Virginia, there is no incentive for the camps to make a deal. The Ron Paul campaign believes it won the caucus last month, and urges the state GOP to count all the votes. Huckabee's popular vote wins in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, may translate into a strong showing in another southern state.
The goal for the campaigns today is not to win or even finish second. The Huckabee and Paul campaigns can claim victory if combined they deny McCain 50% of the vote. If they can attract the frustrated supporters of Romney, and even those Fred Thompson, they just might do it. We'll know in a few hours.
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2008 DigitalBob, all rights reserved.
Published: Saturday, February 9, 2008
Last modified: Saturday, February 9, 2008
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2008 DigitalBob, all rights reserved.