When we were told that this process was ours to run, we trusted our leadership to allow us to do so, and we would have welcomed their input at anytime as we proceeded to work the issue...
We were not allowed to do so, and the assumptions by the establishment and their minions really divided what was already a very small group of people to begin with after the primary...
We gave it a shot, and got shot down (hard)...And now that they had "their" people in place to make the decision in that committee, two of the counties were told to back off right when we could have finished getting the "electors" chosen, and thus be ready to convene after the legal BS was adjudicated...
All for not...
And after our group made a reasonable, principled attempt to give the constituents a fair shake in this process, that was not what the "politics as usual" pundits wanted...And they pulled every thing they could to get their way in this deal...
We of course did our best to not blame anyone at all, how dared we to question their authority, power and agenda.../sarcasm
We didn't even really diverge far (if anything) from what they wanted to happen as a result of us following the law...
Some people wanted to do this to make a name for themselves, and some thought that was inappropriate at this level in the process...
But nothing can be changed now...And it looks like things are happening to solidify a democrat victory...And the democrats aren't having to do very much except stand there and wait for 7pm on election day...
I understand that you had to move forward as if the precinct chairs could select a replacement. You had to. Even if you thought the Dems had a good legal argument, you had to prepare for the best. I'm sure that the poor legal advice you were given was annoying.
What I would like to know, and what might make a great book, was the party mechanics before primary day. Were there concerns when all the DeLay-Abramoff material came out in Nov. 2005? During the primary, how widely known was it that DeLay did not intend to run in the general? What was the source for the intense dislike of Campbell in the party organization and did the party know that the primary voters would support him to the degree they did?