In a repeat of Iowa, where a Mitt Romney State Chairman held up
accurate results of the vote for weeks, the Arizona State Convention
has gone into overtime. Ballots are supposedly locked up, waiting to be
counted “tomorrow.” But citizens and journalists on the floor had no
trouble discerning that Ron Paul forces had seized the day and if the
vote is fair, he will likely win the majority of delegates from Arizona
to the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
If the victory in Arizona proves true, and remember, there is a
tantalizing and suspicious delay, then Ron Paul will likely win the
right to be nominated on the floor of the Republican National Convention
in Tampa. It isn’t over yet, there are some Ron Paul states that have
been won at the County or District level, that still need the formality
of winning the state convention, but barring parliamentary jujitsu, it
is on track to happen. It is big news.
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The past weekend began with infuriating news for the Ronulans, from
Norman, Oklahoma, where Santorum and Romney forces united to shut out
the Ron Paul people at the Oklahoma State GOP Convention. By some
estimates Ron Paul supporters were a majority on the floor of the
convention and thus should have walked away with another win. Others,
basing the vote on an attempt to elect Ron Paul supporter, Richard Engle
as national committeeman, suggested that they actually accounted for
48.2% of the state convention vote.
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Said Engle, “Under a one man, one vote scenario, I had a
majority. This was acknowledged as the roll call came in from each
county. When the program to apportion the votes was done 48.2% was
reported. I am challenging the results and calling for a recount as the
difference between victory and defeat is less than 2% as we have proof
of prior mis-reporting of county numbers as well as a history of making
rounding errors. Regardless, the actual majority of Delegates did
support me. There is no way of knowing if that directly represents a
majority for Dr. Paul.”
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And we may never know. Frightened that the Ron Paul delegates had
become the majority in the convention, the establishment GOP, running
the event, used its own errors in the Credentials Report to stall the
convention for several hours. On the premise that the time for the
convention hall rental was coming to an end they refused to hold a final
vote on credentials or to acknowledge the calls for a roll call vote on
the Delegates and Alternates as required under the rules.
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Said Engle, “They played fast and loose with the rules. If they
had not used a roll call vote on my race I would have won and then they
used a voice vote on 50 members of the Delegation and refused a roll
call vote at that point. The chair ruled that a roll call was not
required when the party rule was shown him in plain English. When the
ruling of the chair was challenged he called for a voice vote and
proceeded to rule that his decision was upheld despite the overwhelming
sound of Delegates against him.”
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The final slate was 62% Romney, 22% Santorum, 4% Gingrich and 4% Ron Paul. A devastating defeat for the majority.
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Paul delegates who had give up weeks and months of their lives to get
elected as delegates at the precinct and county levels were
scandalized. Taking a chapter from Missouri, they tried to convene
outside the venue in the parking lot, claiming a plurality and calling
to do things in order. But was it too late? Challenges will surely
follow.
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Meanwhile, in Phoenix, Arizona, cocky Romney forces led by Nathan
Sproul saw defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Ironically, the
Ron Paul forces came to the state GOP convention to play nice. They
offered a deal. ”You know our knack for organizing?” They said, ” You
know we have the numbers? Why don’t we make sure there are no surprises
and nothing embarrassing. Your candidate has the nomination, we will
give you 50% plus one of the delegation to Tampa, that gives you the
majority, and let us have a nice delegation of the leftovers for our man
too.”
But no. The Mitt Romney forces insisted on scorched earth. ”You can have one,” they said.
The Romney team then proceeded to fall apart. It was so bad that Ron
Paul operative Shawn Dow couldn’t have given them a victory if he had
wanted it. Said a Ron Paul staffer, “No matter how we tried, the Romney
people wouldn’t move off their one delegate offer. We had no
choice. We had to win.”
Sydney Hay, a Ron Paul spokesman who is sometimes seen on the Bill
Mahr Show and once won a congressional nomination in Arizona , gave a
positive, conciliatory speech to the convention. And Josh Romney was
well received by all. And then, in a moment poorly handled, he returned
to the microphone to pitch his daddy’s green ballot, with the Romney
slate.
Yes, indeed, at that point there were boos but they came from the
whole floor, even from Romney supporters who had worked hard to get
their names considered as delegates. No one was in the mood to let
outsiders dictate a list of his friends who should go to Tampa. It was
yet another example of a poorly run machine. The Romney kid should
never have been given such an assignment.
“Why make Josh Romney get involved in a precinct level fight for
delegates?” asked Sydney Hay. “Here was a presidential candidate’s son
down in the gutter in a fight. They never should have put him in this
place.”
Ron Paul took 11 of 18 delegates decided in the district
caucuses. It was the “at large” delegates that were left in the
air. The Romney forces stalled for hours, hoping to outlast the
Ronulans who stayed put as Romney delegates, disgusted with their own
organization, finally began to drift away.
In a last ditch effort the Romney forces tried to declare that there
was now no quorum and other motions were offered. When the vote for the
“at large” delegates was finally taken it was sealed, under lock and
key, with the promise that “tomorrow we will count those and sort things
out.”
Uh huh.
Finally, the lights were turned out and the Ronulans were sent home,
exhausted and weary, unaware that they had probably just made history
and put their man into nomination at Tampa. For the Romneyites,
the unthinkable had happened. It is not done yet, but Ron Paul may very
well see his name entered into nomination in Tampa.
This last weekend was perhaps the most mean spirited of all. One has
to wonder, if Mitt Romney has won the nomination, why can’t they
communicate that message to the state conventions? The fact is that
something bigger is happening than the nomination of a candidate. The
Republican Party is being remade in the image of Ron Paul, the Thomas
Jefferson of our generation. The Ronulan invasion continues. It is not
a conspiracy. It is organic. It is natural. And it cannot be stopped.
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Update: Friends in Oklahoma insist that the convention which
continued on the parking lot outside was indeed legal, had the quorum
needed, and resulted in another win for Ron Paul. I hope they are
right and we need to support that process legally and follow the
challenges involved.
http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/ron-paul-arizona-upset-win-is-game-changer/
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