Quietly Ron Paul wins Minnesota and Iowa

[General of Darkness]

Of all people Rachell Maddow is the ONLY one I see talking about this. Hmmmm, the GOP must be shitting in their pants. I wonder how many other states that this is going to happen in, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania?

Ron Paul wins Minnesota and Iowa - Romney lollygags along as the media darling

Lake Jackson (http://www.allvoices.com/United-States-Of-America/Texas/Lake-Jackson) : TX (http://www.allvoices.com/United-States-Of-America/Texas) : USA (http://www.allvoices.com/United-States-Of-America) | Apr 22, 2012 at 9:32 PM PDT

Wow! Mainstream news just admitted Ron Paul won Iowa and Minnesota! =)






http://img3.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/111/111/56056633-ron-paul.jpg
Ron Paul (http://www.allvoices.com/people/Ron_Paul) has done it again! What has he done? Well, it is hard to believe he has done anything since it is not reported much by the mainstream media, but watch out ladies and gentlemen Ron Paul has turned a corner that changed everything in the race for the Republican nomination since Rick Santorum (http://www.allvoices.com/people/Rick_Santorum) stepped aside.



According to WeConservatives.com, Minnesota's RNC National Committeewoman tweeted, Ron Paul takes 20 of 24 Congressional District delegates to the Republican National Conventions from Minnesota.


Then a blog by Doug Wead which has a title that tells the whole story, Ron Paul Wins Iowa and Minnesota, Romney in a panic (http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/ron-paul-wins-in-iowa-and-minnesota-romney-in-a-panic/), puts the Ron Paul revolution in a strong position that may be difficult to slow down or even stop. While Mitt Romney (http://www.allvoices.com/people/Mitt_Romney) lollygags along gaining complete control of the media, Ron Paul's grassroot's supporters diligently work like an army of ants carrying a load twice their size, doing the impossible, staying completely committed to liberty and fighting for Ron Paul.



Whether it be sign waving, phone calling, winning delegate positions and standing firm, Dr. Paul's people have not given up hope.


Their tenacity has paid off with a great reward since many American's are not aware of the unity slates between Santorum and Paul to defeat the Mitt which pulled in quite a few delegates for Paul and Santorum together defeating the media darling, overall. What happens now that Rick Santorum suspended his campaign? You guessed it, Santorum delegates are transferring their allegiance over to Paul which gives him a great advantage over the wolf in Republican sheep's clothing, Mitt Romney.


Delegate numbers for Ron Paul are rising, crowds are getting larger and you guessed it Ron Paul is beginning to see the finish line as his supporters continually chant, "President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!" It has been a crazy race, to say the least, but the tireless 76-year-old shows no sign of age as his volunteers pick up the slack all over the nation, pulling in more and more supporters to his team.


Meanwhile, an article by Business Wire less than two weeks ago is headlined, Ron Paul Only Candidate Able to Defeat Obama in New Poll (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ron-paul-only-candidate-able-011300652.html). “Now that other candidates presenting themselves as the ‘conservative’ alternative to Mitt Romney have stepped aside, the numbers are clear. Ron Paul is the only conservative able to garner the enthusiasm, resources, and votes required to win in November. Voters perceive the contrast, and are ready to elect the candidate who will end the status quo and Restore America Now,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton.


On a personal note, just this week as I introduced myself to my new neighbor, the 70-something-year old man began ironically talking about politics and the current administration. Part way through his dialogue I interrupted him, fully expecting my comment to shut the door to our conversation, I said, "Well, I'm not your conventional political person, I support Ron Paul."


"I'm a Ron Pauler too," the ex-long-haul truck driver said with a growing grin across his face. Needless to say, we spent a great deal of time over the fence talking about civil liberties and the economy. It didn't surprise me a bit when he said he was a veteran and loved Ron Paul's foreign policy.


As we said our "Nice to meet you's," my new blue-collar neighbor got the final word in with, "It will be fun to live next door to a Ron Paul supporter."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EfS1x5RnZZQ

[Cebu_4_2]

I couldn't believe the MSNBC banner in the video, had to look a few times before I realized it was real and not a hoax.

[iOWNme]

I hope people realize the severity of what they did. If RP would have openly won the first couple of rounds, he would have had an enormous amount of momentum going forward. More nd more people would have noticed and looked into what RP stands for.

This could have been turned into RP's winning year, but TPTB wont have that.

Ever wonder what is was like to live in the Soviet Union under the Politburo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politburo)

[Sparky]

Don't mistake their intentions. Now that Romney is in the driver's seat, MSNBC is simply using Ron Paul as an opportunity to make the Republican Party nomination continue to look fractured.

[Glass]

gee she'd be eating some humble pie by now you'd think.... of course this is the great "narrative" for freedom. Not quite the "narrative" she wanted but hey, whatya gonna do.

Look after the details and the big stuff takes care of itself it seems.

[Libertytree]

Quietly winning might have its advantages? In PA for example there's a very low turnout today, maybe most folks think that mitty has it sewn up and are no shows? We know the RP'ers won't stay at home, plus there's a ton of delegates up for grabs at the same time!

[Libertytree]

Ron Paul Yard Signs Dot Pennsylvania Primary Landscape

Sure, there were the typical negative ads by politicians on cable TV, telling anyone willing to listen why this candidate wasn't conservative enough or why this candidate had voted to destroy Medicare and Social Security.

But, try to find a campaign sign that doesn't read “Ron Paul.” Find a TV or radio ad by a candidate for the Senate or the House giving you reasons to vote for them. Or better yet, ask a friend whom they are backing in the election and you wouldn't know there was a primary occurring today.

It isn't just in Pittsburgh that nobody seems to care about the primary. I travel throughout the state. From Erie to Scranton to Allentown to Harrisburg, and have seen a political desert develop. Four years ago, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing signs for Clinton or Obama across the landscape. I live in a ward within a district where the GOP has a significant registration advantage, a ward which came out in waves to support John McCain in 2008 and nearly defeated a two-term Democratic congressman in 2010. The poll workers are expecting less than 20% of registered voters will participate today. Think about that fact for a minute. Less than 1 in 5 are likely to vote in the primary. By extension little more than 1 in 10 will decide who represents either party in the coming general election for president, Senate, House seats and of course all state and local contests.

The Pennsylvania primary has arrived and literally nobody cares about the contests in question. This isn't good news for either party. It takes boots on the ground to win a contested general election campaign for president or Senate or even large House districts. The GOP may look back on the departure of Rick Santorum and lament the weeks and months of primary campaign activity that might have been. It is easy to forget, a good fight is tough to turn your back on no matter which side you are supporting.

The Pennsylvania primary arrived today with voter's delivering one clear message, "We aren't participating, until somebody steps up to earn our vote."

http://www.policymic.com/articles/7403/ron-paul-yard-signs-dot-pennsylvania-primary-landscape

[Libertytree]

April 24, 2012


Romney Nomination in doubt – Brokered Convention likely

April 24, 2012. Des Moines. Two networks yesterday, CNBC and MSNBC, broadcast a little known fact – Ron Paul appears to be winning the Republican nomination for President. When the popular Texas Congressman repeatedly assured supporters that the race was about delegates, not beauty contests, he apparently knew what he was talking about. Now, after three more states locked in delegates to the GOP nominating convention – CO, MN and IA – indicators point to a brokered convention with a possible, even probable, Ron Paul victory.

Mitt Romney in a panic
The only report announcing the news of another Paul victory yesterday was the Doug Wead Blog (http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/ron-paul-wins-in-iowa-and-minnesota-romney-in-a-panic/). That write-up, which included the headline, ‘Romney in a Panic’, was picked-up and reprinted by a number of independent news outlets like RT News (http://rt.com/news/blogs/contrarian-view/wins-iowa-minnesota-ronpaul/) and The Daily Paul (http://www.dailypaul.com/228283/ron-paul-wins-in-iowa-and-minnesota-romney-in-a-panic). Wead’s conclusion is based on a number of factors. First and foremost, Ron Paul continues to win more delegates than Mitt Romney during each state’s respective slating processes. Additionally, the writer points to drastic, last-minute changes to GOP procedure showing an attempt to limit the Paul vote. Some measures include a new poll tax in Washington and robo-calls in New York telling Republican voters that only Mitt Romney remains in the race.

What has the GOP power-brokers and their candidate in such a panic? In three short words – Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa.

Keep in mind that every major US news outlet continues to show Texas Congressman Ron Paul in last place for the GOP nomination and with only 75 delegates. View Politico's delegate tracker (http://www.politico.com/2012-election/delegate-tracker/) as an example. They show Rep. Paul winning 3 delegates in Colorado, 17 in Minnesota and 1 in Iowa. Those networks however, have based their numbers on which candidate each state’s delegates are pledged or likely to vote for. The more important number is who they actually do vote for. And in that race, the only race that matters, Ron Paul is shocking the political world.

Colorado
As reported by this author last week in the article, ‘Colo, Minn, GOP Delegates chosen – Paul Strategy Working (http://www.examiner.com/article/colo-minn-gop-delegates-chosen-paul-strategy-working)’, the local Colorado Ron Paul campaign teamed up with the remnants of former candidate Rick Santorum’s supporters. Together, they created a fusion slate of delegates to take on front-runner Mitt Romney and throw their collective voting power behind the last challenger remaining, Ron Paul.
Last week, the Paul campaign sent out a press release quoting the Denver Post’s headline proclaiming, ‘Stunning Upset’. The Post was referring to Congressman Paul’s delegate haul in the state party’s selection process. More importantly, the Colorado selection was the first to be conducted since former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum dropped out of the race, leaving it to the final two men standing – Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

The result, and a possible indicator of things to come, was Colorado Republicans refusing to give Mitt Romney even half their state’s voting delegates. If that trend continues, Mitt Romney cannot mathematically reach the needed 1,144 delegates, at least not on the first ballot.

This author pointed out last week that most of the national media, as well as the Colorado GOP, refuse to acknowledge Rep. Paul’s delegates in Colorado. The state party simply calls Paul’s delegates, “unpledged”. As the Paul campaign, as well as a small handful of other publications pointed out – Ron Paul actually took home 12 Colorado delegates, compared to 16 for Mitt Romney and 8 for Rick Santorum. Together, the anti-Romney delegates outnumber Romney’s 20 to 16.

Minnesota
The independent-leaning state of Minnesota was one that many thought Ron Paul might win outright. While the candidate didn’t win the “beauty contest” as Paul calls it, the libertarian conservative is cleaning up with regard to delegates. Minnesota’s delegate selection process is one of those that happens over the course of a few weeks and occurs locally, as Ron Paul puts it, “one precinct at a time, one delegate at a time.”

A few days ago, the Paul campaign and this author both announced the candidate’s surprise delegate haul in Minnesota. At the time, three major Congressional districts locked in their delegates and Ron Paul carried all three. In the excited words of the candidate himself, Ron Paul exclaimed, “Have you heard the news yet? Yesterday, Minnesota held three district conventions. Our campaign swept all three – winning nine delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa.” Again, read this author’s April 16th column titled, ‘Colo, Minn, GOP Delegates chosen, Paul Strategy Working (http://www.examiner.com/article/colo-minn-gop-delegates-chosen-paul-strategy-working)’ for more information.

Now, just a few days later and with another block of Minnesota GOP delegates being chosen, Ron Paul has guaranteed himself a victory in the state. As confirmed by Rachel Maddow (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/) last night and by Ron Paul (http://www.ronpaul2012.com/) himself while he was the special guest host of CNBC in the morning, Ron Paul has already locked in 20 of the state’s 40 delegates. 16 of those 40 still remain to be chosen and will be awarded over the coming days. As Paul announced yesterday, and Maddow confirmed last night, 24 Minnesota delegates were chosen through this weekend and 20 of them are Ron Paul’s.

Iowa
In the most stunning and unbelievable example of the Republican Party’s dysfunctional Presidential nominating process this year, the state of Iowa now has its third official winner. As humorously noted last night by Maddow, Newt Gingrich is the only candidate not to have won Iowa.

First, Mitt Romney was forced into the winner’s circle in a crazed, midnight, backroom announcement, even though the votes didn’t warrant it. Whiteout Press was one of the only media outlets in the nation to write about the faulty vote totals and was vindicated two weeks later when the Iowa GOP reversed its decision and awarded the victory in Iowa to Rick Santorum. Read the Whiteout Press article 'Sandorum Won Iowa and didn't say Black (http://www.whiteoutpress.com/articles/q12012/santorum-won-iowa-and-didn-t-say-black593/)' predicting the reversal two weeks before the Iowa GOP reversed its ruling. As a result of the fiasco, the Iowa Republican state chairman resigned. Read the article, ‘Midnight Chaos at Iowa Caucus (http://www.examiner.com/article/midnight-chaos-at-iowa-caucus)’ for election night details.

Nothing sums up this weekend’s surprise results like Rachel Maddow’s on-air announcement on MSNBC, “I think Ron Paul just won Iowa.”

http://www.whiteoutpress.com/files/cache/253aecbd893c2e05711c0750f9e0a9c6.gif (http://www.ballot-access.org/)

The left-leaning political anchor was referring to this weekend’s official awarding of Iowa GOP delegates to the party’s national nominating convention. While the state party (http://iowagop.org/main.php) has yet to post the results or make any announcement, the results are trickling out on their own, including the Paul campaign and on-air comments on CNBC and MSNBC. Those results show Ron Paul winning the most Iowa GOP delegates, including the new Iowa state party Chairmanship.

Iowa has 28 total delegates to the GOP nominating convention. The national media still shows Ron Paul with only 1 Iowa delegate however. Watch closely over the coming days as the state party quietly changes its totals to show Ron Paul going from 1 delegate to 14 - a full 50 percent of the state’s entire delegation to the nominating convention. And again, many of the remaining delegates are party leaders, elected officials and other super delegates who have yet to assign their votes.

Romney in trouble
The only good news for Mitt Romney is that Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado weren’t the former Governor’s strongest states to begin with. And while the Romney campaign may not be in “panic” mode just yet as some independent reports are suggesting, the candidate and his establishment backers must be concerned. With Mitt Romney failing to capture even half of the delegates from these initial states, he is on course to fight it out for the party nomination at a brokered convention this summer.

The Warren Harding lesson
Many political observers, not just within the Ron Paul campaign, are calling the Texas Congressman’s nomination plan the ‘Harding Strategy’. Referring to the 1920 Republican nominating convention held in Chicago, Warren Harding was at the bottom of a list of 12 potential GOP nominees. Unable to unite behind one candidate during the primary process, the delegates were forced into a brokered convention.

Through the first 6 rounds of delegate voting, Harding didn’t even finish in the top three during any of the votes. But by the 10th vote, Warren Harding walked away with the Republican nomination. He went on to win the general election and become President.

While many political analysts are calling Ron Paul’s current journey a mirror image of Harding’s 1920 trek, others aren’t quite convinced. As the Paul campaign itself continues to point out, only half of the states have voted so far. Nothing’s been decided yet. If nothing else, just when the Republican leadership and the national media have proclaimed Mitt Romney the GOP nominee, Ron Paul’s string of delegate victories this week may force them to do what they were forced to do in Iowa – admit they’re wrong.

Whether or not the Texas Congressman can duplicate Warren Harding’s stunning upset on the way to the White House is another question. But if delegate selections continue on the course they’re on, Mitt Romney will not have enough delegates to win the nomination outright. If that turns out to be the case and the GOP heads into a brokered convention, Ron Paul may have the party right where he wants it. A brokered convention has been his strategy all along.

http://www.whiteoutpress.com/articles/q22012/romney-nomination-in-doubt-brokered-convention-likely647/

[Libertytree]

King County GOP leader boots caucus outside after Ron Paul backers take over

Over the weekend, Republicans in the 37th Legislative District gathered to choose delegates to the state convention.

The caucus started out Saturday morning inside Dimmitt Middle School. But it didn't end inside the building.

After supporters of Texas Congressman Ron Paul elected one of their own to chair of the meeting, the gathering was booted to an outside basketball court by King County Republican Party Chairwoman Lori Sotelo.

The move came after attendees irritated Sotelo by rejecting her choice to run the caucus - former King County Councilman David Irons.
Instead, the group voted for Tamara Smilanich, a Paul supporter.
That prompted Sotelo to declare the meeting was no longer a Republican Party event - but a Ron Paul campaign event.

Sotelo says she asked the group to continue its meeting outside because the King County Republican Party -- not the Paul campaign -- had paid for the facility and for the insurance. She added that Smilanich stopped her from addressing the group.

"I said, 'I am going to have to step away from responsibility and have to ask you to take your caucus elsewhere,' " Sotelo said in an interview.
Sotelo called Smilanich a Paul campaign "operative" who did not have the experience to run the caucus. She said there was no reason for the Paul supporters to "take over" the meeting -- they had numbers and were going to elect their favored delegates no matter who chaired the caucus.
"There is no other campaign that feels the need to poke the party in the eye like the Ron Paul campaign," said Sotelo. "For heaven's sake stop hitting us with a firehose."

But Smilanich said she saw nothing wrong with what happened at the caucus.
"There was a vote and the vote went to elect [the chairman] who the body wanted. Everything was legitimate," Smilanich said.

Even though the GOP had reserved the room until 2 p.m., the meeting was pushed outside to the basketball court at about 12:30 p.m. The caucus finished its business outside in the sun, and elected 11 Ron Paul supporters to the state convention, which begins May 31 in Tacoma.

Despite asserting the caucus had ceased to be a Republican Party function once Smilanich was elected chair, Sotelo said she had no plans to challenge the legitimacy of those delegates.The dust-up is the latest in a series of disputes between Paul supporters and local GOP officials.

Paul's supporters have repeatedly accused GOP leaders of conspiring against his campaign. Republican leaders, meanwhile, have been irritated at what they see as rude, disruptive and paranoid behavior by the Paul supporters.

They're also concerned that many Paul supporters have refused to say they'll back the Republican Party's presidential nominee, now all but certain to be Mitt Romney.
Indeed, Smilanich said she would have considered backing Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who recently suspended his presidential campaign.
"I don't care for Mitt Romney," she said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2018061271_king_co_gop_leader_boots_caucu.html