Playing Hardball In West Virginia

Captain's Quarters ^ | Feb. 05, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[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.

[doodad]

And I just got a call from Huckabee here in GA crowing how he won WV.

[levotb]

Excellent post, jdm!

This kind of thing is typical of the left, of Dems, which clearly Suckabee and McNasty are, not Republicans.

But now what? I don’t think it hurts Romney as much as we may think. Better things are coming...out of CA!! Californians don’t like backroom deals, if we know about them as this one, so anything can happen tonight. Suckabee was polling in single digits in CA yesterday. We’ll see how he does in CA. He’s never won a Northern state. He’s keeping Romney from winning in the South. We’ll see who comes out on top. 10 to 1 it’s a brokered convention now, as LEGALLY, Suckabee cannot bow out and “give” his delegates to McNasty...right? That’s ONE backroom deal that will never happen. Too bad Romney and Paul’s folks can’t get together and form a bond of mutual protection...

[Travis McGee]

Huckster is just whoring himself out for a position in the McAmesty administration.

[Cicero]

I don’t think the media are about to tell anyone about this, certainly not before voting closes for the day, and probably not at all.

[Yaelle]

And right now on the radio is a Huckster ad for his stupid book.

[nightlight7]

The rest of the story is that even with McCain's support, Huck didn't have the majority. So his side made a deal with the Ron Paul's supporters to switch to Huck in return for the 3 national delegates. Hence the final WV delegate count is:

15 Huckabee
3 Paul
0 Romney
0 McCain

[socialismisinsidious]

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.

Thank you Huckster for giving us McCain! If there was any doubt: there is no way this man is a Conservative. He is a populist hucking for McCain and hucking for a job. shameless.

It's not -- it's just good, old-fashioned hardball.

Agreed but any self-respecting American wouldn't mess around with the socialist tip. We are too close to ruining this country, rotting it from the inside out with socialism, so why shove US over?

[levotb]

Sorry, Cicero

My tv isn’t on as I can’t stand the anti-Romney mood of all cable news outlets. Are they NOT saying that McCain’s delegates—at the behest of McNasty—colluded with Suckabee’s to beat Romney in WV? Not reporting such an occurance is as bad as telling a lie, IMHO.

[paudio]

It's not illegal, it's part of politics. I don't like it, and neither do many people, but that's politics. Sometime, however, short term politics like this may cost the players another win in the long-run, as people perceive them as un-ethical (regardless whether it's justified or not).

I see it more as McCain's people move than Huckster's, though.

[levotb]

REALLY??? THAT IS COLLUSION!!! Time to tell my conservative friends supporting RP...

[JRochelle]

“It has to be disappointing for the Romney campaign to spend so much gold for yet another silver,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told Mike Allen.

LOLOLOLOL

[calcowgirl]

ping to above

[Common Tator]

Romney's team wasted no time calling this a "backroom deal": Would it make you happier if we called it a front room deal? Of course it is legal. We have known that Huckabee's staying in the race is to spit conservative support between Mitt and Huck. Of couse when the asked about it both Huck and McCain say it is not so. Someone needs to tell the Huckster he will go to Hell for lying. But the Huckster does not believe in heaven or Hell. Becuase he says in his book he could do more good as a politican than as a minister of the gospel. That says being saved from an eternity in Hell is not nearly as important as seeing that the welfare checks get out on time.

[Recovering_Democrat]

CQ has it right: those were the rules.

But then again, the denial by the two camps that they aren’t working together is a testimony to their DISHONESTY.

I don’t trust McLame, and I don’t trust HACKabee.

[I Hired Craig Livingstone]

I don’t think it’s a “dirty trick” either, but I’ve listened to various media outlets and heard no mention of the backroom deals behind the end result — just the same media hyperventilation that accompanied Iowa.

The McCain/Huckabee tag team has just about permanently turned me off to the GOP.

[MHGinTN]

A very troubling aspect of this ‘backroom deal’ is the disdain for the conservative voters it represents. John’kennedy stepchild’McCain is not a conservative in any shape similar to what the Huckleberry has tried to portray himself. Yet when a candidate gets 41% of the first vote the faux conservative prostitutes himself to get the non-conservative delegate count. 41% of the republican voters in WV ought to be super pissed! Do you suppose Huckleberry has promised his count to John Insane in AZ?

[calcowgirl]

The rest of the story is that even with McCain's support, Huck didn't have the majority. So his side made a deal with the Ron Paul's supporters to switch to Huck in return for the 3 national delegates. Hence the final WV delegate count is:
15 Huckabee
3 Paul
0 Romney
0 McCain

The plot thickens. From the link:

"In an agreement first reported by West Virginia television station WSAZ, the three Ron Paul delegates were secured through an agreement with the Mike Huckabee campaign."

[ARE SOLE]

Huckster is just whoring himself out for a position in the McAmesty administration.

Matt, I'm starting to think Mclame was doing the same thing for a spot in Hillarys administration

Regards

[redinIllinois]

Sean Hannity just had Newt Gingrich on his show, and tried to get Newt to say Huckabee’s win in West Virginia was because of dirty tricks, and Newt basically said, there weren’t dirty tricks, that’s how things work.

And when Sean tried to get him to say that Huckabee should pull out to give Mitt a better chance, Newt tried to point out that a lot of Huckabee’s supporters would probably go to McCain over Mitt, but it seemed to be falling on deaf ears.

HUCKABEE / HUNTER ‘08