State Convention/18th District Bruhaha

Kinda torn about this.  I've written about this before, and my position really hasn't changed.


I'm an uncommitted 18th District delegate.

The statement concerning the credentialing report is correct... and the vote versus delegate report was never adequately explained… and it is accurate.

In the 18th, Paul's people implemented Rule One:

They showed up.

They then implemented Rule Two:

They were militantly organized.

Then they went on to Rule Three:

They knew the rules.

Then Four:

They made their deal: both sides of the deal stuck to the deal. (Their mission: kill the unity slate and vote for each other to block any other delegates)

I have replayed the tapes in my head a hundred times. And my conclusions are this:

As near as I can tell, they did nothing illegal. Annoying, maybe, but not illegal.

Let's remember, no Paul supporter I was aware of had any role in running any aspect of the convention.

The vote challenge in the 18th is well-founded. The entirety of the problem is this:

Credentialing, which took forever, announced 213 delegates.

First vote had 284 votes. No one really knows why... or how that happened.... but it did happen.

My guess, and it's purely a guess, is that the 18th will lose all of its delegates as a result of the findings of the credentials committee. But the findings of the credentialing committee are not final, and, if I’m not mistaken, any decision made by any committee is subject to a floor challenge and a floor fight.

If there is to be skull-duggery, it will likely occur at the opening of the convention where, with a straight vote, the Paul/Santorum delegates can take over complete control of the state convention, start to finish. If they can accomplish that, then you can easily envision the results.

In fact, if they CAN accomplish that, then all the delegates from Clark County will be seated. If they can't, then expect the delegates from the 18th to be tossed.

While at the convention, I voted for the Romney/Gingrich slate; the only reason I did that is because of Santorum's deal with the devil.

I've opposed, and will continue to oppose ALL of these people. But my position doesn't change the fact of the matter: Paul's people are likely to take a run at taking over the entire convention. And based on the incompetence displayed across this state by Romney's people (Jeff McMorris was not the best choice for this job, by the way) it's likely there's nothing Romney can do about it.

Let's remember the "If the shoe was on the other foot" rule. And if it was, Romney likely would have done the same thing.

Our system has many weaknesses. The Paulistinian's researched the system, found the weaknesses and exploited them. The problem wasn't Paul's people; if you don't like the outcome, then change the system. Base the delegates on the caucuses or something. But even that has weaknesses... so, perhaps, just holding a statewide primary might do the trick?

But we cannot cry over spilt milk. Once again, the establishment has been out-thought, out-maneuvered and out-executed. Wasn't the first time... won't be the last. There's a reason this state has been so darkly blue it's almost black for the last 30 years or so.