Paulistas hijack the Iowa delegation- fair and square
I had a great time watching Gwen Ifill, Mark Shields, Judy Woodruff of PBS fiercely striving to simultaneously pose as objective journalists and refute virtually everything anybody said at the Republican convention last night. It was only afterward, though- when the local news came on- that I realized something that, in perspective, didn't disturb me so much as amuse me.
Jeff, a supporter of Ron "We Killed A Million Iraqis" Paul who used to comment on this blog (and is welcome to again despite my recent contrary statement; I miss him), would pass on all manner of paranoid and utterly crazy claims about how Crazy Ron was being robbed by Romney-loving Republican establishment types. He even pointed in one comment to a Paulista blog making the utterly insane claim that somehow Romney had "stolen" the nomination from the vastly-outvoted fringe candidate with the limited, if fanatical, appeal.
Well, Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucuses, as you may recall, edging Romney out in a photo finish. Paul- largely because Iowa's Republican party is one of the nation's zaniest- finished a surprisingly strong third.
But yesterday all but six of the Iowa delegates cast their votes for Paul. Now, I understand exactly what happened, and while I disapprove I'm not going to cry foul, as the Paulistas have over and over with far less (well, actually with no) provocation. Republicans in Iowa don't allot convention delegates at the precinct level. That process begins at the county and congressional district conventions, and ends with the state convention. Delegates to these generally are volunteers willing to pay the required fees.
And the well-motivated if somewhat, er.... eccentric Paul delegates volunteered and paid the fees. As a result, when the delegation got to Tampa, a state where Paul had finished a respectable but decisive third wound up with nearly all the votes.
A Paulista would doubtless whine about that. I won't. They played by the rules, used the process, and won. But nevertheless, it's a cautionary tale.
Should I ever attend another Iowa Republican caucus, I'm going to volunteer and pay the fees- again (I did it in 2000 for Dubyah). And I'm going to memorialize the state party to adopt the process the Democrats use, and divide delegates proportionally among the candidates from the precinct level up.
I've actually felt that way for some time. But when the supporters of a fringe candidate like Paul can manipulate the process to achieve a success at the convention they simply didn't deserve on the basis of their popular support, the process is clearly broken badly enough that fixing it is a matter of some urgency.
Comments
I wouldn't worry so much about next time, however. Maybe you haven't heard, but Romney hammered through some rule changes that took a bunch of power away from state parties regarding delegates and put it in the hands of the candidates.
If you want to know about delegations that were hijacked in a not-so-fair-and-square-fashion, ask Maine's governor.
Jeff, it's good to have you back and raving.
The rule changes, too, were passed the way the Republican party passes rule changes. The difference is that while both proceedures were fair and square, the process by wish the will of Iowa's Republican voters was circumvented was certainly undemocratic- and given the way you guys whine, more than a little hypocritical.
The process needs to change so that next time the delegation reflects the will of the Republican voters of Iowa.
One good thing about this, of course, is that Crazy Ron is now history. I expect now you'll be pulling for Slightly Less Crazy (but still bonkers) Rand.
I do not in any way doubt that. But that is hardly something the Republican party should be proud of.
"In the opinion of the chair that the ayes have it."
Really? Cuz I thought it was kind of close. The chair must have good ears.
The difference is that while both proceedures were fair and square, the process by wish the will of Iowa's Republican voters was circumvented was certainly undemocratic
The Iowa delegation didn't make the delegate selection process undemocratic. The process was undemocratic by design. "The will of the Iowa's Republican voters" did not enter into the process one iota. The caucuses voting was nothing better than a straw poll, according to the process.
Not that there was anything inherently wrong with that. The process wasn't democratic, it was republican. The caucuses selected the delegates they wanted to represent them at the national convention.
In the opinion of the chair that the ayes have it."
Really? Cuz I thought it was kind of close. The chair must have good ears
Yeah. After all, Ron Paul had the majority of the delegates, didn't he? Come off it, Jeff. And even if it had been close, I didn't notice the Paul people asking for a roll call. Why was that, y'think? Hmmm?
The Iowa delegation didn't make the delegate selection process undemocratic. The process was undemocratic by design. "The will of the Iowa's Republican voters" did not enter into the process one iota. The caucuses voting was nothing better than a straw poll, according to the process.
Not that there was anything inherently wrong with that. The process wasn't democratic, it was republican. The caucuses selected the delegates they wanted to represent them at the national convention
Again, as usual, you combine amazing naievette with simple ignorance as to what you are talking about.
The pedantic distinction between America as a "republic" rather than a democracy doesn't apply here. In fact, it is the essence of the caucus process to be precisely democratic by design. That's why, rather than delegating the process to somebody else, we in Iowa come out on a cold January night to make our choices in person.
And no, the people in the caucuses didn't choose who they wanted to represent them at the national conventioon. Volunteers were solicited- the privilege cost $35, payable up front- to be delegates to the county and congressional district coventions. The most motivated people volunteer. And yes, there is something inherently wrong with that. It frustrates the intentions of the people who go to the caucuses, rather than allowing them to be in any sense "represented."
It's at the county and district and state levels- each further removed from the will of the people, and more arbitrary and elitist- that the delegates to the national convention are picked. And yes, there is something very much wrong with that. It needs to be changed.
Jeff, you lost. Ron Paul appeals to a small minority of Republicans. The majority chose Mitt Romney. You may not like that choice, but there it is. Standard practice is that the nominee, having the majority at the convention (chosen by a process that, for the most part, really does represent the will of the people), the decision being made, participation in convention affairs depends on endorsement of the nominee and a focus on winning the election.
You guys are behaving like spoiled children. The Romney people have bent much further over backwards to accomodate you than a nominee usually does for a defeated opponent. But you continue to whine and complain.
In the case of Iowa, a the Paul people agreed to cast their vote for Paul and then change it to Romney for the sake of party unity. They broke their word- something they seem to do quite regularly.
Tonight, plans are already being made none too secrety to boo Romney and walk out. Which is fine; it's a free country.
But I think you can expect that the consquence wil be that the Paulistas who are unwilling to disassociate themselves from such antics will be read out of the party. Which is only fair.
You guys are no more Republicans than you are conservatives. You're followers of a cult lead by an idiosyncratic racist.
His son, Rand, behaved like a Republican- and a grownup- last night. Has Ron disowned him yet?
And yes, there were definitely calls for a roll call vote. I don't know why you didn't hear them.
Hey look! Somehow the teleprompter knew the results of the vote before the vote was even taken. Amazing.
Jeff, all they had to do was to go to the microphone of a state delegation at get recognition.
In any event, naive as you are (like Paulistas generally), surely at some level you understand that at that point you guys were simply making fools of yourselves. The issue had been decided. The party had its nominee, no matter how Ron Paul and the rest of you might sulk about it. Your irrelevance, and his- which has been the bottom line throughout the primary season, and really throughout Paul's career- was formally obvious to a degree that even you guys should have noticed.
You'd become a side-show. Not even that, really; a disheveled person wandering around outside the circus tent mumbling to himself and swatting at imaginary statists buzzing around his head.
Have some pride, for crying out loud. Stop embarassing yourselves.
Let Ron Paul pass into history, at least, with a little dignity.
No, it really wasn't. The issue is decided at the "roll call for nomination of president of the United States" part of the convention.
The microphones were turned off by the way.
I hope you have a great day, Mr. Waters.
First, the results were certified. Seocndly, the whole confusion was over a handful of votes.There is no possible question of Paul having caught either Romney or Santorum. He finished too far behind.
These nutty, self-serving re-inventons of reality you come up with only serve to make you look like an idiot and reinforce the well-deserved impression most people have of Paulistas as nut cases.
Jeff, you lost. Ron Paul's career is over. He was never a serious candidate, and now he's a bizarre chapter of history. Deal with it.
First, the results were certified. Seocndly, the whole confusion was over a handful of votes.There is no possible question of Paul having caught either Romney or Santorum. He finished too far behind.
These nutty, self-serving re-inventons of reality you come up with only serve to make you look both foolish and fanatical, and reinforce the well-deserved impression most people have of Paulistas as nut cases.
Jeff, you lost. Ron Paul's career is over. He was never a serious candidate, and now he's a bizarre chapter of history. Deal with it.
No other outcome of the roll call was then possible.
C'mon, Jeff. At least TRY reality for a change! You might like it!