Mittens can't even get it right in his home state.

[Down1]

I guess he thought he was going to a coronation.

Romney's Former Lt. Governor Loses Delegate Bid In Massachusetts
Ron Paul supporters flooded the state convention.
Mitt Romney's former Lieutenant Governor, Kerry Healey, lost her delegate bid to a Ron Paul supporter at the Massachusetts Republican convention Saturday, an alarming sign about Romney's organization in his old home state.

With the nomination in hand, Romney had put together a slate of Mass. delegates to represent him at the Republican National Convention in Tampa — but a surge of libertarian activists at the convention resulted in the defeat of many of Romney's picks.

More than half of the 27 delegate slots went to Paul supporters, the Globe reports. One of the casualties was Healey, who remains a top Romney supporter.

The defeat is symbolic: Under state rules, all delegates will still be bound to vote for Romney at the national convention, which Romney won handily last month. But the Massachusetts delegates will have the opportunity to make mischief with votes on the party platform and to elect a chairman — a suggestion that Paul could play an outsized role at the convention this spring.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/romneys-former-lt-governor-loses-delegate-bid-in

[Libertytree]

"The defeat is symbolic: Under state rules, all delegates will still be bound to vote for Romney at the national convention, which Romney won handily last month. But the Massachusetts delegates will have the opportunity to make mischief with votes on the party platform and to elect a chairman — a suggestion that Paul could play an outsized role at the convention this spring."

Not so fast....they'll only be bound to vote for mitty on the 1st round, if it were to go to a second round of voting they are free to vote as they please.

[madfranks]

"The defeat is symbolic: Under state rules, all delegates will still be bound to vote for Romney at the national convention, which Romney won handily last month. But the Massachusetts delegates will have the opportunity to make mischief with votes on the party platform and to elect a chairman — a suggestion that Paul could play an outsized role at the convention this spring."

Not so fast....they'll only be bound to vote for mitty on the 1st round, if it were to go to a second round of voting they are free to vote as they please.

And that's the rub - we have to have a brokered convention, it's RP's only hope. What are the chances?

[Ares]

And that's the rub - we have to have a brokered convention, it's RP's only hope. What are the chances?

All depends, they may be Bound to vote Romney during the first round. But here's the rub, they do NOT have to vote. They can abstain from voting. Romney would lose and the convention would be a brokered convention.

I can't remember which presidential candidate in the past did it, but he asked that his delegates not vote and abstain in the first round of voting.

[vacuum]

All depends, they may be Bound to vote Romney during the first round. But here's the rub, they do NOT have to vote. They can abstain from voting. Romney would lose and the convention would be a brokered convention.

I can't remember which presidential candidate in the past did it, but he asked that his delegates not vote and abstain in the first round of voting.
wow...I wasn't aware of this possibility.

[Ares]

wow...I wasn't aware of this possibility.

It was Teddy Roosevelt

He ordered his delegates to abstain from voting in rebuke of Taft's "steamroller tactics".

http://unitedstateshistorylsa.wikispaces.com/Progressivism

[Ares]

It was Teddy Roosevelt

He ordered his delegates to abstain from voting in rebuke of Taft's "steamroller tactics".

http://unitedstateshistorylsa.wikispaces.com/Progressivism

Now whether that would work today, or they'd just call in the alternates is something that's currently being researched by Ron Paul supporters.

[vacuum]

Now whether that would work today, or they'd just call in the alternates is something that's currently being researched by Ron Paul supporters.
Are alternates generally RP supporters as well?

[Ares]

Are alternates generally RP supporters as well?

Honestly couldn't tell you. I'm not sure

[Heimdhal]

Harding was the one.

Harding won after 10 rounds of voting, and moved on to become in the general.

[Libertytree]

"The 2012 Republican nomination for president is now down to two candidates, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich is expected to suspend his campaign on Tuesday, leaving his campaign over 4 million dollars in debt. The Republican National Committee endorsed Mitt Romney last week, on the very day that the Gingrich campaign started to discuss exiting the race.

Ron Paul supporters will not let this news get them down. In fact, supporters of the 12-term Congressman from Texas have continued to grasp delegate positions in states where, despite the caucus winners, delegates are unbound. There are thirty states where delegates are able to vote for whomever they chose, regardless of primary and caucus results.

"The dirty little secret is: At the end of the day, these guys and gals can vote any way they want," said a Republican who has attended national conventions for decades. "Each state has different (laws) on pledged delegates."

Ron Paul supporters claim to be dedicated to a movement, not a candidate, and have announced they will support "no one but Paul". They have currently been discussing whether bound delegates may legally abstain from voting in the first round of voting at the Republican convention.

The act of abstention is when a participant in a vote is present for the roll call before the vote, but then purposefully casts either a blank vote or marking the ballot incorrectly. In many cases, the abstention of voting may be considered an act of protest. In fact, during the Republican National Convention in 2008, 14 delegates did not vote. These delegates were present during the roll call, but would not vote for any of the candidates at the time. Ron Paul supporters claim this would improve the ratio of votes in Ron Paul's favor. An example of this is explained with no one abstaining (and a tiny voting pool) Mitt Romney would get ten votes while Ron Paul would get five votes. Mitt Romney would win, having obtained the 50% +1 needed to grasp the nomination. With delegates abstaining, this could change drastically. Mitt Romney could get five votes, Ron Paul would maintain his five votes, and five voters would abstain. As long as all the abstentions had participated in the roll call, no one would win the 50% +1 votes needed to become the nominee and on to the next round and a brokered convention.

This was a considered option for Hilary Clinton supporters in the 2008 election and was widely discussed. The question remains will delegates be kicked out of the convention if they abstain from voting.

RNC for Life discusses, state by state, how many delegates are bound and how many are unbound after the primaries, but it has no mention of the Republican state laws regarding abstaining from voting. There are fines of up to $1,000 for "faithless electors" who do not vote as bound, and many are considering this to apply to the Republican National Convention. These are not applicable. An elector is not a delegate. An elector is a member of the Electoral College, voting in the final election.

Many in the Republican Party are "outraged" at this suggestion by Ron Paul supporters. They dislike the concept of these "Ron Paul Republicans" breaking the party's rules to support their candidate. However, Ronald Reagan's campaign considered the exact same option in 1976. Check out this 1976 headline: "Reagan Forces May 'Steal' Ford Votes".

"In secret strategy sessions, Reagan aides have toyed with the idea of asking delegates to abstain as long as their state laws require them to honor the primary verdicts. This would prevent the President from riding up an early-ballot victory. Then, in subsequent ballots, they could legally switch to Reagan."

In fact, Rick Santorum, before suspending his own campaign, had hinted at the fact that he may ask delegates to abstain from voting for Mitt Romney. Gingrich seemed to imply the same thing. Ron Paul supporters and looking into this without any urging from the Ron Paul campaign.

It seems that each delegate must analyze the Republican Party rules in their own state to see if this form of protest voting would cause the delegate to be kicked out of the convention. At least 14 delegates did this in 2008. It seems the Republican race is not over yet."

More links...
http://exm.nr/IlGe8U

[Libertytree]

Are alternates generally RP supporters as well?

That's hard to answer definitively because some of them are stealth delegates, ok...maybe more than just some. ;)

[Down1]

Mass. Republicans oust Ron Paul delegates
They did not deliver affidavit in support of Mitt Romney on time


An affidavit is never mentioned in the Republican Party’s rules for selecting delegates and has never been required of delegates in the past, GOP critics say. Suspicions are steep this year because Kenney and the others are supporters of Ron Paul, the libertarian candidate whose quixotic campaign for president culminated in an effort to take over state caucuses nationwide. The delegates must vote for Romney, based on his strong primary win in Massachusetts, but Paul’s supporters hope to use the convention to draw attention to his agenda, including auditing the Federal Reserve and requiring wars to be declared by Congress.
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/23/romney-campaign-ousts-ron-paul-delegates/3xYwhZ5kbZuRMyMBlXy6EK/story.html

[Libertytree]

They will be added to the class action lawsuit and will be seated in Tampa. They won't even have to vote for mitty on the 1st round either :)

[Steal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZBSZsQAo3Q