Posted on 02/05/2008 2:12:01 PM PST by jdm
Almost heaven ... West Virginia ...
Mike Huckabee took the West Virginia state convention and the state's 18 delegates as John McCain's team threw him their support to defeat Mitt Romney. The state allocates delegates on a winner-take-all basis, and the late action by McCain's delegates keeps Romney from winning any of them. It closes out one of the states in which Romney could use to keep pace, but the move has some Republicans seeing a different kind of red:
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee won 18 delegates here Tuesday as backers of rival John McCain threw him their support to prevent Mitt Romney from capturing the winner-take-all GOP state convention vote.
In first contest decided on Super Tuesday, Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, bested Romney on the second ballot with 51.5 percent of the 1,133 delegates attending the state GOP's first-ever presidential nominating convention. Romney was backed by 47.4 percent.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who poses the biggest threat nationally to front-runner McCain, had entered the event with the largest pledged bloc and attracted the largest vote — 41 percent — on the first ballot. Huckabee captured 33 percent on the first tally; McCain, 15 percent and Texas congressman Ron Paul, 10 percent.
Some of the correspondence I've seen on this topic calls this a dirty trick. It's not -- it's just good, old-fashioned hardball. Mike Huckabee's continued presence in the race allowed it to happen, and it may not be the last state where his campaign trips Romney's run for delegates.
Romney's team wasted no time calling this a "backroom deal":
"Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain's inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney's campaign of conservative change.
"Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today's first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party."
While there may be some truth in this -- clearly the state had more of a leaning towards Romney than either McCain or Huckabee -- it's a little like arguing against the Electoral College. The rules were set in advance, and the result may not represent the one-man, one-vote principle very well, but we knew that going into the contest.
In fact, it shows why indirect mechanisms like caucuses and conventions are much less desirable than direct primaries. It turns these elections into games, and it increases the cynicism of the voters at a time when we need to attract them and make them believe they can make a difference. The last-minute hardball by the McCain campaign couldn't have been pulled in a primary state.
I'll be live-blogging from Minnesota's caucus tonight, where I'll probably be one of the few skeptics to attend.
Ron Paul is Huckabee’s stalking horse........ ;)
Huckster, that name fits him to a tee. Now what do we call those who think he is some fine Christian leader?
This is complete and utter BS! Huckabee has no intention on winning the nomination - he knows he is toast, yet runs interference for the front runner? I guess this opens up a new playbook for future campaigns. Enlist in a helper with no real chance of winning but enough charisma to steal votes from whoever your biggest challenger is. Even the Dems may not be capable of such. At least Edwards stepped down to let the two front runners duke it out.
Romney's people try to cut a deal first, but Ron Paul guys apparently didn't trust them. They also figured that joining Huck improves their chances for a brokered convention. After all, in 1860 Lincoln barely made it into the brokered convention with only 22 delegates (out of 233).
And while I agree that this is, in the end, hardball politics the fact remains that Huckabee and McCain cannot honestly state that their campaigns are truly in competition with each other. That is now crystal clear.
These idiots need us more than we need them. Talk about mass political suicide not to mention that everyone, from McCain to Hunter to Huckabee to the MSM in all it's tentacle forms is anti-Romney. Talk about a mass endorsement. If Romney gets through Super Tuesday with more delegates than Huckabee the mo will be his. This is just not going to sit well and I have to guess that there are alot of WV conservatives none to happy with being portrayed as the return of backroom politics.
While the door is closed a window is still open.
That's a potent point I have to say.
Exactly. That argument cost them exactly 18 delegates.
What a crock! And you can't back it up because now Paul has given up any notion of being independent of the other campaigns. He made a deal for the only reason that naturally comes to mind - that he actually would get some delegates. Doesn't sound like the act of a man with strong convictions about the nefarious doings of Washington.
This was reported by Ron Paul's WV delegates. As to why his supporters would cut a deal:
1) 3 delegates are better than 0 delegates that Romney & McCaing got.
2) Huckabee's win splits the vote further and increases chances for brokered convention.
I see nothing wrong with either, especially if you're getting zero free publicity from MSM, while others are getting hundreds of millions.
How do you mean?
Huckabee will lose badly to Clinton or Obama. He’ll never get the libertarian or independents to vote for him because he’s a statist Christian socialist.
If you can't beat 'em, join them. Even engaging in this Paul is still purer than the driven snow.
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