As the story continues to break, Paul's supporters lie low, while McCain's scare-monger about cults and conspiracies. by George Dance
(libertarian)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I had no plans whatever to write a Delegate Wars (V). But there is too much news right now to even skip a week.
The DW story is beginning to break in larger-circulation media, in combination with a second tale: McCain's repeated inability, even as President Bush's anointed successor, to consolidate support in his party. As AOL pundit Tommy Christopher predicted last month, a narrative is beginning to build; McCain's hitherto "free ride" in the media is beginning to end.
The Boston Globe skillfully wove both narratives together in a May 9 feature that was carried verbatim by the Seattle Times the next day:
Senator John McCain is sailing toward his coronation as the Republican presidential nominee while the Democratic candidates battle fiercely. But Republicans also are engaged in some tough infighting that could disrupt the national convention and make it more difficult for him to unite the party in the fall.
Across the country, at state and county GOP conventions, diehard supporters of maverick Ron Paul are staging uprisings in an effort to secure a role for Paul at the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
And in the four primaries since clinching the nomination in early March, McCain has yet to reach 80 percent of the vote, as Paul and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee continue to siphon away votes....
The lingering anti-McCain sentiment among some voters and the continuing Paul insurgency suggest that McCain has not fully quelled hostility from some elements in his party.
For their part, McCain supporters are trying to whip the Party members into line with hysteria about cults and conspiracies. As in this bit of scare-mongering from McCain blog Reality Bites:
It's obvious that the Ron Paul organization is a top-down well-organized machine. In the caucuses the Ron Paul supporters were told to stand up and say, "He touched my heart," and so they all did. The ground troops do what they are told. They report back to the mothership as instructed....
Normal citizens in Germany in the thirties thought Hitler and the Nazis were buffoons. They didn't take them seriously and thought nothing would come from their antics. It would be a mistake to think of the Ron Paul supporters the same way. They are a cult. And they are frightening.
Similar tales of conspiracy come from Nolan Chart's own Dave Nalle, who gave readers of Blogcritics a thoroughly distorted account of the RPR's goals and strategy:
Although John McCain is the presumptive nominee, as the various state conventions roll forward -- largely in obscurity -- conflict and chaos continue to be spread by Ron Paul's enthusiastic followers who continue to try to storm the ramparts of the GOP establishment.
These efforts by libertarian-leaning Republicans, far-right John Birch Society agitators, and anarcho-socialist infiltrators looking to strike a blow against the dreaded neocons have met with some successes and some failures and a considerable and I think very undesirable backlash. Their strategy, as demonstrated at district conventions around the country, is to show up in large numbers, use procedural motions to disrupt the convention, and if then if their forces are sufficient, force a vote to suspend the convention rules, remove the convention leadership, and start over again with their faction in control. If they don't have the numbers to pull that off, their goal is to disrupt the proceedings as much as possible so that little or no business can be conducted.
That theme is popping up in major media as well -- like the Santa Fe Reporter, which seized on the "uprising" and "chaos" angles for its May 7 feature, adding an apocalyptic warning and even dragging in the dreaded 9/11 Truthers:
Ron Paul Uprising -- Will a GOP uprising take place at the Republican National Convention?
As the mainstream media obsesses over the Democratic Party's brewing civil war, supporters of Republican presidential candidate US Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, are already staging their own quiet uprising at GOP conventions across the nation.
If, by a strange twist of fate, the Republicans' presumptive nominee, US Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., fails to win the first ballot at the national convention, "all hell will break loose," one Santa Fe County delegate tells SFR....
Already, hell is breaking loose at the county and state levels, especially in the Southwest. YouTube video of the Nevada State Convention last week shows chaos and confusion after a super-majority coalition of state delegates, organized by Paul supporters, overturned party rules to allow new national delegates to be nominated from the convention floor.... .
Similar skirmishes have been reported in small-town newspapers from Maine to Texas. Furthermore, much of Paul's campaign is driven by the 9/11 Truth Movement, which has grown increasingly aggressive, staging disruptions at events ranging from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher to public appearances by Bill Clinton.
The RPR has responded to all this by mainly lying low for the time being. RPR sites are clamping down on information (see Utah report), and would-be delegates turning to a stealth approach.. Even the Paul campaign (says the Reporter) is advising: "It is not recommended for any of the delegate candidates at this stage to 'fly the colors' as Ron Paul supporters. Delegates should simply represent themselves as interested, involved and committed Republicans."
Brian C. Mooney, "Infighting rains on McCain's party," Boston Globe, May 7, 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/09/infighting_rains_on_mccains_party/?page=1
Michael Schulyer, "Ron Paul Storm Troopers on the March," Reality Bites, Apr. 28, 2008. http://michaelschuyler.blogspot.com/2008/04/ron-paul-storm-troopers-on-march.html
Dave Maass, "Ron Paul Uprising," Santa Fe Reporter, May 7, 2008. http://sfreporter.com/articles/publish/outtake-050708-ron-paul-uprising.php
Reporting May 10 from the state convention in Mesa, blog Politicker.AZ announced that "only one Paul backer, Roy Miller in CD4, will join the Arizona delegation to the RNC. 'He told me he's going to sign the pledge' to support McCain, said Randy Pullen, Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party." (AZ's delegates are bound to McCain, the primary winner, for one ballot.)
"We just don't have numbers in Arizona like we had in Nevada. I mean, this is obviously John McCain's home state, so what do you expect?" Jeff Greenspan, the campaign's Southwest Regional Coordinator, told the blog. "Had we come in here with 20 more delegates, it would have been a different story."
Evan Brown, "A disciplined convention," PolitickerAZ.com, May 10, 2008. http://www.politickeraz.com/evanbrown/1207/disciplined-convention#comment
New Mexico
For its May 7 feature, "Ron Paul Uprising," the Santa Fe Reporter did some local investigation:
"Last week, the local parties held their County Quadrennial Conventions to nominate delegates to the state convention, where the national delegates will be elected..... [A]ccording to Paul's New Mexico field coordinator, Jeff Wright, Paul's delegate count looks good. Wright tells SFR that 19 out of 25 of Santa Fe County's delegates, seven out of nine of Lincoln County's delegates and more than 50 of Bernalillo County's 156 delegates, are Paul supporters.
"At the state convention on June 14, 29 delegates and 29 alternates will be elected for the September national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn." Those delegates will be bound for the first ballot, proportional to the results of NM's primary. "In New Mexico, Paul would need to collect 15 percent of the popular vote to win [bound] delegates to the national convention. That's exceedingly unlikely in New Mexico," adds the Reporter.
The Salt Lake City Tribune reported May 9 that "a number of Utah Ron Paul backers are trying to get elected Saturday as delegates to the Republican National Convention where, under a proposed rule change, they could be free to vote for whomever they want." However, no figures are being reported, even on RPR sites. When one Utah Paul National Delegate's name was posted on The Daily Paul last week, the poster was advised by a reader to delete it because "they are watching."
Utah's National Delegates are bound to Mitt Romney for one ballot. The motion to unbind them came from the McCain camp, who planned to follow up with a second resolution urging them to vote for McCain instead. Paul's state delegates opposed the move to unbind, their reasoning being that first-ballot votes for Romney are votes against McCain. The motion, which needed a 2/3 'supermajority,' did not pass but did not fail either; as reported by the Deseret News, it was "postponed indefinitely."
Utah GOP vice-chairman Todd Weiler told the News: "'They're bound to vote for Romney. Whether they vote for Romney is another issue.... I think there will be a lot of temptation' to disregard party rules and vote for McCain (maybe a few for Paul) anyway. When asked what would happen to a delegate who refused to vote for Romney, Weiler said, 'We'll find out.'"
Comments to Paulette, "Any News from Utah?", The Daily Paul, May 11, 2008. http://www.dailypaul.com/node/48672
By Bob Bernick Jr. and Leigh Dethman, "Utah Republicans: Cannon hangs on for primary race," Deseret News, May 11, 2008. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700224831,00.html
Minnesota (update)
The controversial motion passed at Minnesota's 6th Congressional District convention Apr. 6, binding its 3 delegates (two of them Paul supporters) and 3 alternates (all Paul backers) to vote for John McCain has been thrown out as unconstitutional. Chairman Mark Swanson advised the delegates and alternates that "After consultation with our party leadership and a review of the appropriate documents, we have come to the conclusion that the motion does not pass constitutional muster.... Delegates (and alternates) are not bound to vote for any particular candidate."
At the state covention in Tulsa May 3, "The Liberty Coalition, made up of disgruntled supporters of Ron Paul and other unsuccessful Republican presidential candidates, attacked the state executive committee's slate of at-large national convention delegates and alternates as insufficiently conservative and tried to force a roll call vote on its own slate of delegates.... The faction did claim one victory -- one of its members, former attorney general candidate James Dunn of Luther, edged out Steve Curry of Oklahoma City for national committeeman." The national committeeman is an automatic National Delegate, or 'superdelegate.'
On May 5, state party chairman Gary Jones told the Oklahoman that Mike Huckabee has released the 6 bound National Delegates he won in the Feb. 5 primary. "Jones said Monday he has contacted Huckabee's delegates and all but one' of them said they would vote for McCain. The other delegate is going to vote for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas."
Randy Krehbiel, "Spat over delegates marks GOP meeting," Tulsa World, May 4, 2008. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080504_1_A22_BIELW54834
Michael McNutt, "Huckabee frees delegates, supports McCain," NewsOK.com, The Oklahoman, May 6, 2008. http://newsok.com/huckabee-frees-delegates-supports-mccain/article/3239487/
The views expressed
in this article are those of George Dance only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
George Dance is solely responsible for the contents
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I love the fact that those in the political realm (as far as journalism is concerned) do not take the time to really see things for what they are, the article you quoted was absolutely hilarious, and ironic.
"Their strategy, as demonstrated at district conventions around the country, is to show up in large numbers, use procedural motions to disrupt the convention, and if then if their forces are sufficient, force a vote to suspend the convention rules, remove the convention leadership, and start over again with their faction in control. If they don't have the numbers to pull that off, their goal is to disrupt the proceedings as much as possible so that little or no business can be conducted."
OK, umm have you ever watched CSPAN? that is what politics is, you campaign for your "issue", whether it be the economy, social security, a new bill you're pledged to support. Any thing in congress is supported and passed by a majority, (hence the reason we have so far a two party system, the two parties have had the majority and have lost their traditional views, obscuring and overcomplicating the process for other parties to enter the fray, and when challenged by the new majority ,they are (the ron paul supporters) playing it by the books, anything they do the rest of the republican party has done, and its all written in a couple of books they follow, things like Robert's Rule of Order, and other state written by-laws.
Having a majority vote to get power or not allow something by making it last too long,(hmmm, filibuster anyone) when there is not a majority shows that you mean business in politics, either hear us because we want you to at least acknowledge our existence and our vote, or we will carry this on until you compromise. Eventually, people will start (walking out, forcing binds, questioning your loyalty, etc....) until they agree, because that is what unity is about. COMPROMISE
This is how politics works, its an amusing thing if you watch it like a game. :-)
Andrew Malcolm at the LA Times seems to be covering the story weekly in his blog. It may gather more steam after the pant-suited Senator sings her final aria.
Liberties - Don't you understand that we are supposed to do as we are told? Those in positions of leadership in the party know what is best for us. They have the knowledge, insight and wisdom to know and understand all things. They are omnipotent, omnicient and omnipowerful. We should do as we are bid.
Otherwise they would lose all control over everything and become unecessary.
Thank you to everyone who commented, even anon. I realize anon is a spammer, but his spam is on-topic. Dr. Steve Parent, who was featured back in DW2, is a principal of revolutionbroadcasting.com and is often featured on-air; those interested in the story might like to give him a listen.
Yes. Buyers remorse around selecting McCain is really setting in. If there was only a way we coudl reduce the tide. My fear is that McCain and his ilk will either co-opt or "include" the Ron Paul Republicans in his platform. Don't be fooled.
George, thank you for writing this series of articles on the Delegate Wars..I ask that you write at least one more...As this last weekend we had 3 more battles with mixed results. Here are a couple links to some of the actual delegates that you might be able to interview for your story. I am sure there is more to write about this issue than the few links I have provided. Thanks for considering this . If you want more source material feel free to contact me at my email address. I may have more information for your article.
For several months, Ron Paul supporters flooded Republican county, district, and state coventions to get their voices heard on the platform and to get their supporters elected as delegates to the national convention. In some cases, they were remarkably successful, in others less so. What I'm wondering is, since most of the district conventions also nominate candidates to vote in the Electoral College, are there a substantial number of Ron Paul Republicans who could be electors in December? I haven't seen it anywhere online, but I would assume that there must have been at least a few somewhere. If so, that could prove critical in this election.
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