Posted on 02/06/2008 7:50:37 AM PST by Congressman Billybob
The first state results to be reported on Super Tuesday came from the Republican Caucus in West Virginia. The result was that Mike Huckabee got all the delegates from that state to the Republican Convention. What makes the story really interesting is, HOW he got those delegates.
From the report I have, here’s how the delegates voted in round one:
* Romney 464 * Huckabee 375 * McCain 176 * Paul 118
Ron Paul, who got the fewest votes, was dropped from the ballot for the next round of voting. The results then became:
* Huckabee 524 * Romney 479 * McCain 11
Anyone who can count to twenty without removing his socks can see what happened. McCain’s operatives saw that they were going nowhere in West Virginia. So they instructed their people to give the state to Huckabee. And most of their delegates obeyed that order.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran this title on the story: “Wild and Wonderful Win for Huckabee.” That title is false. This was a “Down and Dirty Win for McCain.” Huckabee is going nowhere. Eventually, at the Republican Convention if not before, Huckabee’s candidacy will fold like a cheap lawn chair. At that point, who will get those West Virginia delegates?
If you guessed Mitt Romney, I’ll allow you another guess. John McCain has just stolen the votes of West Virginia by giving them, temporarily, to his ally in the theft, Mike Huckabee. By the way, national convention delegates must vote as they were pledged when elected, depending on state laws. I understand that none remain bound beyond the third roll-call vote.
As the saying goes, politics ain’t beanbag. What was just done in West Virginia is entirely legal. But it smells as bad as a dumpster full of day-old crab shells behind Phillips Crab House in Ocean City, Maryland, in mid-July. Believe you me, that is REALLY rank.
If the delegates from West Virginia are enough to put McCain over the top, then McCain has just stolen the nomination. Right in front of God and everybody.
Well, has anything similar happening among the Democrats? Just by coincidence, it has.
In order to preserve the special status of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the Democratic National Committee required that no other state conduct its Democrat primaries before a certain date in 2008. Democrats in Florida and Michigan decided to move their primaries up in violation of that limit.
The DNC then “stripped” the delegates from both states for the Convention. No delegates were then elected in the “beauty contest primaries” in those two states. Democrat candidates had also pledged not to campaign in those states, and in Michigan, Hillary Clinton was the only major candidate to leave her name on the state ballot.
Well, Hillary Clinton won both of those states. After those non-delegate elections, she wrote a letter to the DNC demanding that delegates for her from those states be seated at the Convention. The rest of this discussion is somewhat obscure, but I guarantee it is correct. I speak as the former Parliamentarian for a national political convention. (The convention was for Ross Perot’s Reform Party. But the principles of operating a convention are the same, regardless of the candidate’s chance of winning the coming election.)
When the Democrats meet in Convention in the summer, initially no delegates from Florida or Michigan will be seated. But let’s say at that point that Hillary Clinton has a majority of the seated delegates, but not the absolute majority of all authorized delegates which is required for nomination. You with me so far?
Who gets to decide whether Hillary Clinton delegates from Florida and Michigan get seated? Why, it’s the delegates who are already seated, that’s who. In that circumstance, Hillary can use her plurality on the floor to steal the delegates from those two states. Having done that, she will have stolen the nomination. Right in front of God and everybody.
In short, there is a possibility that the 2008 presidential election may be unique in American history. Before 2008, nominations have been stolen. Elections have been stolen (recall the Hayes-Tilden race of 1876). But never before have two candidates, both of whom stole their nominations, faced each other in a general election.
If the vote tallies are tight at both the Republican and Democrat national conventions, it is possible we might see that unique circumstance, two election thieves facing each other with one guaranteed to win, between John McCain and Hillary Clinton.
Sorta makes you proud to be an American, don’t it?
- 30 -
About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu He lives in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina.
- 30 -
John / Billybob
You’re depressing me, John...
Two words for you: Boo hoo!
Hits the nail on the head. I can’t see how the country will get cleansed. We’ve turned a corner and are no longer the land we were intended to be.
The way we elect presidents sucks. By the time we got to vote in California crossover DemocRATS voting for McCain had a bigger say on who we could vote for than we California republicans did. We never got to vote for Thompson or Hunter. That was decided for us.
It sucks, hard.
Regards
Thanks for this information.
Amazing that in America - the land of the free - we have not managed to come up with a fair election after all these years.
What is the purpose of all of the campaigning if there is merely going to be manipulation behind the scenes. Why contribute to a party or candidate?
Seems a big waste of money to me.
I brought this up at our Minnesota caucus when a Huckabee supporter was bragging that Huckabee “won” WV. He was floored that this happened; so was everybody else in the room.
McCain lost in our precient by 17 points. I don’t think think the WV garbage helped him even with our Governor, Tim Pawlenty, stumping for him. The precinct leader read McCains letter to the precinct and then “forgot” to read the rest of the candidates letters until reminded....
I brought this up at our Minnesota caucus when a Huckabee supporter was bragging that Huckabee “won” WV. He was floored that this happened; so was everybody else in the room.
McCain lost in our precient by 17 points. I don’t think think the WV garbage helped him even with our Governor, Tim Pawlenty, stumping for him. The precinct leader read McCains letter to the precinct and then “forgot” to read the rest of the candidates letters until reminded....
I am shocked...shocked to find that politics takes place within the world of politics! Too bad Romney went out of his way to cheese everybody off, things might have worked out differently.
Only positive thing about McScampaign: he’s got a bag of dirty tricks at least as big as her Thighness.
McCain would have dropped off the next round of balloting anyway as the number 3 choice. McCain’s delegates would naturally go to Huck; it was the smart play. Nothing underhanded, typical politics.
Ha ha. Succint and to the point. Romney thought he could play cut throat early on and he ended up getting his own throat cut. Serves him right, can't say I feel sorry for him.
Make that succinct.
But I've yet to see him take on Democrats like he does conservatives...the Dems in the Senate are his "good friends".
Ahh, a sore winner. Would it kill you to show some class? The man you are dogging is a constitutional lawyer and a Freeper since 1998. He has done more for conservatism than you will ever do with your graceless attacks newbie.
Yes, it would kill him to show some class, he wouldn’t survive the implant operation.
nOOb, Billybob has more class in his smallest fart than you've managed to generate in your entire life.
I see in your profile:
Christian First.
Father and Husband Second.
American and Conservative Third.
Classless, clueless moron
There, fixed if for you
Couldn’t agree more.
While I don’t agree with these backdoor deals and whatever, Romney has no one to blame but himself for the fact that the other candidates are teaming up against him. Its been widely reported for a couple of months that Romney isn’t exactly a popular guy among his fellow candidates, and for good reason. He’s run a very negative campaign against everyone else and now its coming back to bite him at the worst possible time.
Wow, now that IS class. Thanks for showing everyone the way!
I don’t see why this is unfair. In caucuses you get a second choice if your first doesn’t get enough initial support.The McCain people went to Huckabee, fair and square.
The fact is that Romney is a stuffed shirt, an empty vessel and more fake than a 3 dollar bill. Voters don’t like him, no matter how much the conservatives in the media (hannity, Rush etc etc) pump him up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.