Every now and then an E!! reader-commenter deserves front-and-center for noting some aspect of a story I overlooked…or for seeing it in a new way. Here’s Mike Davis quoting and commenting on a LV Sun story about the four Nevada Ron Paul delegates who ended up voting for McCain:
“Carl Bunce claims Gestapo tactics were used to coerce him into voting for McCain, but I found Lisa Mascaro’s article in yesterday’s Sun to be particularly revealing:
“Dyer said he and Bunce, who ran recently failed in congressional primary elections, want to run for office again. So they had motivation to play nice.
“When the roll call vote came, Bunce and Dyer forfeited their seats so two McCain supporters could fill the slots.
“Not all of Paul’s supporters are pleased. Wayne Terhune, the Sparks dentist who had helped lead the fight, said ‘they should have at least abstained’
“As party Chairwoman Sue Lowden announced Nevada’s 34 unanimous votes for McCain, Bunce and Dyer were at a concert a few blocks away.
“They were listening to Rage Against the Machine, the 1990s rock band that once offered a soundtrack for a generation of politically disaffected young fans.”
After all of the nonsense over the last 4 months to get these guys there, and when the vote finally goes down, two of the four delegates weren’t even in the building.
That’s frigging sad.”
(Mike Davis is the state chair of the Nevada Republican Liberty Caucus, a grassroots org for libertarian-leaning members of the NV Republican Party who are committed to advancing the Republican majority by recruiting and electing candidates dedicated to constitutional government, economic opportunity, and individual liberty.)
Tags: Blogs of Nevada, Carl Bunce, convention, delegates, Dyer, McCain, Mike Davis, Rage Against the Machine, Republican, Revolution, Ron Paul, unanimous, vote, Wayne Terhune
UNbeLIEVEable.
After all the gripes, demands, curve balls and chaos out of the Ron Paul camp here in Nevada this past 5 months…starting with the attempted overthrow of the GOP convention in April and followed by a long, hot summer filled with bitter accusations, a rogue convention, various court filings, angry refusals to negotiate or cooperate, and a formal appeal to the RNC….
AND after being granted four delegates by the RNC – the EXACT NUMBER earned by Ron Paul in the NV caucuses and that was agreed to by the NV GOP way back when…what do you suppose happened on the floor of the convention last night?
All four “Ron Paul delegates” voted for John McCain.
What a colossal waste of time, energy, and money, for all concerned.
Tags: Blogs of Nevada, convention, delegates, Ron Paul, vote
Posted by E!!
on September 02, 2008
Uncategorized /
3 Comments
So let me just say for the record that a thing called the 9/11 Truth Movement is the main (practical) reason why I am Not a Libertarian, why I did not and could not support Ron Paul, and why I think a large part of the Libertarian Party needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and come down off the roof.
Stephen Spruiell blogged today from the Ron Paul festivities in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He reported that after eloquently defending the 2nd Amendment (well worth defending), Jesse Ventura broached a controversial topic — “something that when I discuss it, I get attacked,” he said. “Something called 9/11.”
From all accounts, at every Ron Paul event this year, there have been a lot of people from this so-called 9/11 Truth movement. Apparently today was no different. When Ventura brought up 9/11, these folks starting cheering and clapping. “ Why is it that when you ask questions about 9/11, it’s out-of-bounds?” he asked. “Why has the U.S. Department of Justice not charged Osama Bin Laden for 9/11?”
As Ventura continued to “ask questions” about what “really” happened on 9/11, Spruiell said the crowd started chanting, “9/11 was an inside job.” At one point, Stephen said it got so loud that Ventura had to pause for a few moments before going on. Many in the crowd were applauding Ventura throughout his talk on 9/11 (and to be fair some were looking on with dismay).
9/11 was an “inside job”………..? Does any sane, rational person really believe that? Are they all off their meds? Or are they so paranoid and delusional that they are simply beyond the reach of modern psychiatry?
Message to 9/11 Truthers: Put. The. Crack. Pipes. Down.
If Ron Paul actually believes this nonsense, or even if he just allows it preached at his parties for Effect and to please the lunatic fringe, I must say I have very little use for him. Or for Jesse Ventura, either. There is no place in our national dialogue for such Complete and Utter Nonsense.
(What a bunch of Noodles.)
Tags: 9/11, 9/11 Truth Movement, complete and utter nonsense, conspiracy, delusions, inside job, Libertarian, Minneapolis, paranoia, Ron Paul, speech, St-Paul, Ventura
From Chuck Muth via email:
The Committee on Contests recommended that the National Convention accept the results of the two congressional district elections at the Nevada GOP convention in April. Those results give four seats to Ron Paul supporters and two others. The remainder of the delegation would be selected from the Executive Committees appointments. This is the BEST the Paultards can hope for at this point.
IF…the Nevada GOP accepts this compromise, the Paultards will get one less delegate than they would have had if Jeff Greenspan would have honored the deal he made with the party to take put five Ron Paul delegates on the official Nominations Committee slate of recommendations last April.
But my understanding is that the Nevada GOP is objecting to the recommendation of the Committee on Contests and this decision will ultimately be made sometime before the start of the convention by the Credentials Committee. The Nevada GOP has said all along that there were voting irregularities in those congressional district races and aren’t likely to accept the results of those elections. So it’s still possible that the Paultards will end up with squat.
Tags: Blogs of Nevada, committee, contests, convention, delegates, delegation, GOP, Jeff Greenspan, McCain, RNC, Ron Paul
Remember reading about the unsanctioned state GOP convention in Reno and all the “disenfranchised” Ron Paul supporters a few weeks ago? If not, the sum up is that a defiant posse of Paul fans held their own convention in June after the NV GOP shut down its April 26th convention because there were too few delegates to call a quorum.
When the NV GOP refused to recognize the gathering of Paulsters (also because there were too few delegates to satisfy party rules), Paul devotees said they would take their fight to the National Convention in Minnesota in September and/or that they would appeal their case to the RNC. Then, in a move many saw as futile, the Paul peeps filed a motion with the district court seeking a preliminary injunction restraining the NV GOP from submitting its list of delegates for September.
The update is that the Second District Court sided with the U.S. Supreme Court precedent yesterday. The court said Party disputes are best left to the Parties (and not to judges) and rejected the motion by the wannabe Ron Paul delegates from Nevada.
NV GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden now reports that the executive board of the NV GOP met last night to finish convention business. The party’s 12-member board decided not to reconvene the State Convention and instead to accept the nominating committee’s recommendations for delegates.
Lowden says delegates were not asked which candidate they support and that the criteria for choosing involved consideration for a “fair balance throughout the state,” their service to the party, political recommendations, and military service.
National Committeeman Joe Brown, Committeewoman Beverly Willard, and Chairman Sue Lowden are automatic delegates under RNC rules. The remaining delegates will be notified this week and then submitted to the RNC for approval. Nevada has 34 delegates to the National Convention.
Tags: Blogs of Nevada, convention, delegates, GOP, injunction, National Convention, NV GOP, party disputes, restraining, RNC, Ron Paul, unsanctioned convention
Have you heard about the defiant posse of disillusioned GOP-ers that held an unsanctioned state convention in Reno this past Saturday? Organizers claim it was a lawful reconvening of the GOP’s recessed April 26 state convention in Reno (which was shut down prior to final voting). However, the party’s executive committee has set (and stuck by) a July 26 date to resume activity.
Depending on who you ask, the late April shut down was either (1) a tragedy of epic proportions because it was shaping up to be a national delegation with more backers for Ron Paul than John McCain, or (2) a proper procedural response because there were too few delegates to call a quorum (because the promised Ron Paul reps did not actually materialize on the convention floor).
State rules say roughly 800 total delegates are needed in order to obtain a convention quorum. We didn’t have them in April, and we didn’t have them this weekend either because the Ron Paul reps barely numbered 300. (And just for extra fun, we’re not sure how many of those delegates were credentialed since Paul organizers didn’t have the official delegate List with which to cross-reference attendees.)
Depending on who you ask, the Ron Paul backers (1) asked the GOP for the List and were refused, or (2) did not follow the proper procedure for obtaining the List.
Any-hoo, this weekend’s gathering of 327 was a pretty poor showing considering the Paul camp claims that they had “over 1,000” delegates teed up. Their response? The April convention did not have a quorum and was invalid – but this one counts because this weekend’s first order of business was to change the rules of quorum and (you guessed it) decide that 327 delegates was enough.
Ron Paul devotees say they will take their fight to be recognized as The Legitimate Convention all the way to September’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul and that they will appeal their case to the RNC and/or national convention committee. Many Paul backers have also said they will cast a write-in vote for the Texas congressman in November because McCain is closer to being a Democrat than a conservative.
They have my sympathy, as far as that goes, but all this Brouhaha brings us round to a familiar electoral quandary. Do you cast a principled vote for an Independent candidate who is closer to your (and your party’s) values but could also be the “spoiler” that leads to the election of the opposition? Or do you compromise and go with the safer bet to ensure we maintain at least some semblance of sanity in the White House?
In a swing state where President Bush narrowly won in 2000 and 2004, your decision could play heavily in the national election.
Your comments are welcome, because I’m still undecided myself.
Tags: 2008, delegates, GOP, McCain, quorum, Reno, Ron Paul, state convention, vote
