Posted on 08/31/2007 9:09:35 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
Grasping at straws?
Speeches, protests and presidential politics, Texas style.
That's what will be going on in and around the Fort Worth Convention Center on Friday and Saturday, during the Republican Party of Texas' first-ever GOP Straw Poll. Who is coming? What are they saying? What are they doing?
Many presidential hopefuls -- Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, to name a few -- have sent their regrets. But several lesser-known candidates -- U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Surfside, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ray McKinney and Hugh Cort -- are still expected to show.
Star-Telegram staff writers Anna M. Tinsley and Aman Batheja will be on the ground, giving you an inside look and posting updates throughout the two-day event.
Friday, 10:45 a.m.: Who is this man?
Supporters of GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul are a visible presence outside the Fort Worth Convention Center this morning. You’ll know 'em when you see them. They are wearing orange T-shirts, with Paul’s likeness on it, with the saying “Who is this man? And why is he going to win the Texas Straw Poll.”
-- Anna M. Tinsley
Friday, 10:35 a.m.: Just breathe
Anyone who gets a little stressed at the first day of the GOP Straw Poll can head over to candidate Ray McKinney’s booth. The Georgia mechanical engineer is offering free blood pressure checks.
“Why not?” he said Friday morning. His mom, Marian McKinney of Florida, is actually the one to administer the checks. She said she’s been able to help people in the past, including a man who had heart problems but didn’t know it until she did the check.
Her heart, meanwhile, is swelling with pride for her son’s presidential campaign: “It’s great,” she said with a smile. “I raised him if you don’t like something, try to change it. If you don’t want to get in the race, then shut up.”
-- Anna M. Tinsley<
Friday, 10:30 a.m.: No hope for Fred Heads
Sorry to dash the hopes of local Fred Heads, but actor Fred Thompson will almost certainly NOT be at the Texas Straw Poll.
Some supporters had held out that the former Tennessee Senator might make a surprise visit to Cowtown and officially throw his hat in the ring, even though he wasn’t expected. But with yesterday’s news that his official announcment will be Sept. 6 , a Thompson cameo looks even more unlikely.
Candidate or not, his name will be still on the Straw Poll ballot and he’s planning a sweep through Texas later next month.
-- Aman Batheja
Friday, 8:45 a.m.: Dems dish up chips, salsa and insults at Blue Mesa
Democrats started warming up with their put-downs of the Republican event at a Thursday night gathering. At the Blue Mesa Grill, local elected officials and activists were having fun mocking the Straw Poll, which they all believed will be an embarrassment to the GOP. The Democratic fund-raiser at the restaurant attracted about 30 people, with the running joke being that that might be more people than attending Saturday's Straw Poll.
Yet there wasn't much enthusiasm for the anti-war protest planned for Saturday, either. Almost none of the Democrats there were planning to attend the non-partisan event and some were skeptical that it would attract the thousands Texans For Peace have been promising.
Pretty soon, people switched targets and started cracking jokes about Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. None were suitable for printing on a family web site.
--Aman Batheja
Friday, 6 a.m.: Coffee with the Paulites
Ron Paul supporters got an early start, meeting over coffee at 6 a.m. But of the 20 Paulites in a downtown cafe, not one was a voting delegate.
"Hey, how many Mitt Romney supporters do you see out at this time of the morning?" asked Clayton Slade, 24, an Allen software professional. "Our goal is to show delegates that Ron Paul has support."
Albert Meyer, 56, a Plano accountant, made an offhand comment explaining why no poll voters came for coffee: "We're the disaffected, the disillusioned ... That's why we're not delegates."
-- Bud Kennedy
Last i was able to tell, she was still with the campaign (or at least with Ron Paul) as of April 4, 2k7.
There may be something funny going on here, because, according to George W. Bush and OrthodoxPresbyterian, both of whom are volunteers with the Ron Paul campaign, Penny Freeman is still with the campaign.
We might be seeing some disinfo from some quarter.
It may be that Gulfbreeze's constituent was contacted by somebody who wasn't who she claimed to be.
i'm certain that some people here will be looking into that.
Thanks for the heads-up
I actually think Ron Paul will do well in this, 3rd or 2nd place probably. He’s been gunning at this thing for a while, and got all his foot soldiers to lobby the actual delegates. The top tier really don’t care much about this event, and he’s got a seat there too.
It will be interesting to see how many delegates are even available to vote.
RP ping
Nothing, I just thought it was funny.
We didn't do combat in Bosnia, just peacekeeping, got to be something specific and obscure.
This whole thing is becoming more and more convoluted.
Might be worth seeing how this turns out.
..but that is a fight for another day.. The Clintoons handled it wrong, but so did the Dividians.
i scanned that in my searches as well. Notice that there is no URL for the posted article?
Gentlemen, (pardon me if i got the wrong gender for anyone) it appears that we have moved beyond convoluted into bizzare.
Some whackjob called me on behalf of Duncan Hunter last night - at nearly 11 PM, awakening both my wife and my son.
“Is this too late to call?” he asked.
FR policies prevent me from posting my reply to him.
Penny has always been as high up as I said in Ron’s organization. I noticed a post here on this thread just a moment ago that indicates she is not there anymore. I don’t know if that’s the fact or not. They seemed to have a lot of facts.
Penny told our volunteer that Ron had been to on a trip to the mideast (nothing wrong with that, he IS a congressman) and that he apologised for us “interfering” with their countries to their leaders.
This lady, the constituent, was and is, a regular volunteer for Republican candidates and the Republican party.
If you don’t believe it, that’s fine. It is from my own experiences exactly as I have relayed it to you.
Some here have called you a troll. I’d say you look more like a former freeper. Duncan Hunter would not want you as a supporter.
I took from that article that I referenced that it was posted by Penny herself based on the person it was written in and the reference tag on the article.
This is getting very bizarre.. I think there is enough in Paul's record to keep him from being qualified for President, at that, town crier, but I don't want to see BS going around about anybody.
This does keep 'Paul' news on the top though doesn't it? Ron Paul is kind of like an internet hoax, if you ignore it, it goes away, but if you keep passing along the e-mail, it keeps popping up..
Look, I was dealt with rudely and dealt it back in the same measure. I apologized for the content and for losing my temper. Get over it.
Ok, thanks. I’m over it.
Thanks. BTW , I Reported my own post asking that it be pulled.
Great. That would have been my only suggestion.
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