Well, it doesn’t matter how many signatures were submitted if fewer than 10K are registered VA voters. That is exactly why Romney and Paul submitted 15K or more.
Honestly, if this is true, it makes me sick. Perry’s ground troops let him down, big time. And he has support at the top levels of the RPV. I’ll wait, tho, until I hear from Pat Mullins, Chmn of the RPV, instead of WaPo and ABC echoing WaPo.
I hope these reports are wrong. If Perry is still in the race by March, VA has a very simple write-in, so all is not lost for his camp, tho this wouldn’t help either practically or as a perception of the campaign’s competence.
Ats all very suspicious.
What’s also curious is that this VA news is dropped on friday night going into the holidays, on the week before Iowa.
Why drop this news now?
To detract from gains in Iowa? Where Perry is gaining ground?
Newt’s pretty easy to spell so I guess he’ll still have a shot too. ;-)
If either one is perceived as a front-runner by the time the primary rolls around, they should be able to mount an effective write-in campaign.
Romney and Paul did awful in Virginia last time, although Romney had dropped out by then. I think it would be a huge advantage for Newt if he was the only other choice on the ballot than them. But if he doesn’t make it, then write-in campaigns for anyone else still in the race should be plausible.
Not sure if all the below actually made it on the ballot last time, but if so it’s quite bizarre that only 2 or 3 made it on this time.
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
John McCain 244,829 50.04% 60
Mike Huckabee 199,003 40.67% 0
Ron Paul 21,999 4.50% 0
Mitt Romney* 18,002 3.68% 0
Fred Thompson* 3,395 0.69% 0
Rudy Giuliani* 2,024 0.41% 0
Total 489,252 100% 60