Did Ron Paul actually win the Maine Caucus?
Mitt Romney is the chosen one in the establishment GOP and within the media. He is the man that both these entities want to see as the Republican nominee, and he is the man who is being thrust upon us as the only man who could possibly beat Barack Obama in November. But could the GOP be intriguing against the other candidates in an effort to ensure the once inevitable nominee holds on to win the nomination?
First we had Iowa; Mitt Romney was declared the winner in the first contest in the nation by a margin of eight votes, but reports of a miscount quickly surfaced. When this knowledge came to light, the man who told news outlets there was a problem with one county’s report was reprimanded for speaking out. One has to wonder if the original results would have been challenged if this news didn’t leak out to the media–maybe the “typo” was even intentional and that is why there was backlash against the whistleblower.
Once the news leaked out there was no other option for the Iowa GOP, the votes had to be counted and several weeks later Rick Santorum was announced as the official winner of the state–far too late for him to gain real momentum in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Now comes Maine, and more reports of problems in the process which just happen to benefit Mitt Romney. Maine’s caucuses are not like the usual caucuses as they are stretched out over a period of a couple of weeks, rather than all being held on the same night. All counties which held their caucuses after February 11th were told they would not have their votes counted toward the presidential race. That’s fine, they knew the rules and they decided to hold their primaries after the deadline anyway. However, is it possible the state GOP asked these counties to place their caucuses after February 11th because it was known these were Ron Paul friendly areas? This is just speculation on my part, but it is fueled by an interesting situation in regards to Washington County, as well as the results of Maine’s recount which is being held close to the vest.
Washington County scheduled its caucus before the final cut off date, yet postponed it until after the date because of an impending snowstorm. A snowstorm which never materialized. Hmmm…..
Because of this sudden delay in Washington County’s caucus the Maine GOP informed the county that its votes would also not be counted. Ron Paul supporters in the state of Maine cried foul, stating that if Washington County’s votes were counted, he would win the state. This was denied by the Maine GOP because with a 200 margin between the two candidates there simply weren’t enough voters in Washington County based on past turnout to hand Ron Paul a victory.
But that might have changed yesterday, and this is where the story gets very interesting. It turns out there were miscounts in several counties in Maine and yesterday those results were handed in and guess what? Nobody is willing to tell us what these results were.
The head of the Maine GOP, Charlie Webster , has stated “people can whine and complain and plead, but I’m not going to make them public,” because he isn’t interested in “restarting the fire.” He also stated that people would “sense a conspiracy” if he were to release the new totals.
If the new vote count reaffirmed a Mitt Romney victory would there be a “sense of conspiracy?” Would there be a “restarting of the fire,” if Mitt Romney’s lead had grown after the votes were recounted? I think the obvious answer is no, in fact this would help to squelch the conspiracy talk. The only reason for the head of the Maine GOP to fear a backlash because of the new results would be if Ron Paul either won the Maine caucuses or pulled close enough to Mitt Romney to make the Washington County votes extremely important.
We know the establishment Republicans want Mitt Romney to be the nominee, but would they stoop to this level to help guarantee it? Is there a conspiracy afloat? Something is amiss here.
America's Watchtower 
Considering that dead people are voting for Romney and the counties that overwhelmingly favor Ron Paul aren’t being reported, I’d say the republican party has turned into a hypocritical cesspit.
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Just for the record, I only speculated on the possibility that some of the caucuses were held after Feb. 11th because they were Ron Paul ffiendly. I do not know if they were Ron Paul friendly of not, I was just asking the question.
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Washington County didn’t cancel the caucuses, the state GOP did. This is the same state GOP that now says that the votes don’t count. There is just no doubt with this in mind and the miscounts in other counties that the fix is in.
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It certainly seems so to me also.
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If Ron Paul doesn’t even care, then Romney will keep the W.
Though it criticized how the state party conducted the vote, Paul’s campaign has said it would not seek a recount on its own. Spokesman Jesse Benton told USA Today the campaign wasn’t interested in having the party review the “meaningless, partial” vote.
Paul doesn’t care. What’s his game?
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Interesting, maybe he sees the writing on the wall and doesn’t want to upset the party because he wants to influence the Republican platform.
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The more weeds we are slimeing into,the more we are looking like a Banana Republic. This whole primary process is suspect in many States. Why Dems can participate in some and not others beats me.
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Each state is allowed to hold its elections in the manner it sees fit, that is why the rules vary from state to state. I still can’t for the life of me understand why either party in any state would allow for an open primary.
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Bunkerville, Steve’s right – it’s not just that Dems can participate in GOP primaries in some states, but in those same states, Republicans can participate in Democratic primaries.
Of course, in both cases, voters who switch over forfeit their vote in their own party’s primary.
Nevertheless, such rightwing pundits as Rush Limbaugh saw an advantage in open primaries, calling on Republican voters in 2008 to cross party lines and vote in the Dem primaries, setting off chaos – his term, not mine.
How Limbaugh still has any credibility within the right wing also eludes me – some could easily argue that it was his shortsighted and ultimately adolescent strategy that led to the selection of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate in 2008.
Anyway, let me quick being snarky for a moment and suggest that the reason some states have open primaries is that voters shouldn’t be required to alert the government when their sensibilities shift and they find their ideology is more in tune with the other party. You must admit it adds to the cost of government, as well as its power, to require voters to register as members of one or another party, and to notify the government whenever they want to change parties.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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I was a little shortsighted in my answer as well; I understand why states such as New Hamphsire have open primaries. New Hampshire’s largest voting block is the undeclared–or independent–voters, so being unaffiliated they can chose a ballot from either party and I don’t have a problem with that. They shouldn’t be shut out of the process. Democrats and Republicans cannot vote in the opposite primary without first undeclaring and then taking a ballot and the only time this could lead to intrigue is in a year such as this when one party is running a candidate unopposed.
As far as Rush goes: he is an ass and has done more harm than good for the Republicans over the last few years. I usually put him on for about 15 minutes during lunch and when he isn’t too busy talking about himself he is either revelling in the fact that the economy is still bad, or he sounds disappointed when we hear good economic news.
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I have to wonder if the Obama campaign will find a way to use this behavior against the GOP in November?
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Sadly I think the GOP has already killed their chances of defeating Barack Obama in November.
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COF – you should hear the way Mr. Gingrich is characterizing Mr. Romney here in Georgia. You can be certain that those words will be broadcast and rebroadcast nationwide in October and November.
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I haven’t heard the ads Gingrich is running in Georgia, but the way he and Romney have run their campaigns they have just about guaranteed an Obama victory in November. They have destroyed any chance the Republicans once had of winning back the White House.
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This is what happens in a culture where morals decline and integrity becomes an afterthought. Rules not longer matter and it becomes an ends justify the means society. These are the actions of the left and sadly it looks like they’re alive an well in the Republican Party.
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I agree John, at this time neither party is better than the other. Even if the Republicans do win in November they will not do what is needed to correct our problems.
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It seems that the RINO Republicrats are acting just like their regressive comrades on the left . We see the smear campaigns, and not some apparently crooked dealings with elections. All they need to do now is start beating up people in the streets, and the circle will be complete.
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There seems to be very little difference between the two parties as this point and it is sad to see the Republicans (like Mitt Romney) stoop to the lever they have in order to win the nomination.
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