Election Transparency

"There were three sets of delegates to vote for, the two congressional districts (2nd and 3rd) and the delegates to the state convention. We swept both districts, now we're getting read to sweep the state."

"won EVERY large county in Missouri, and about half of the smaller populated counties.

We have more than 50% of the delegates to the state convention. So we will take the majority of National Delegates no matter what and maybe 100% of the delegates to the GOP national convention."

Apparently the chair of the GOP in the 3rd District of Virginia is actively going out of his way to subvert the rules of the republican party in a pathetic attempt to corrupt the electoral process and block Ron Paul delegates from even being considered. Here's a conversation our local supporter had with him regarding nominating our delegates:

The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign condemned today the efforts of the Alaska Republican Party and its chairman Randy Reudrich to disenfranchise Paul and other non-Romney delegates to the party's upcoming state convention. In doing so, the Paul campaign also announced that it will utilize all legal tools at its disposal to prevent or reverse the state party's illegal efforts to omit non-Romney delegates to the convention.

The Alaska Republican Party state convention is set to be held from April 26th-28th, and all previous communications to would-be delegates have stated that a delegate fee of $250 would be accepted up until the convention registration deadline, which is 2:00 p.m. Alaska Time on April 26th.

However, on Monday the 16th state party chairman Randy Reudrich called a state committee meeting at which he stated that delegate fees would be accepted no later than 48 hours from the time of the meeting, which would be Wednesday, April 18th.

However, on Tuesday the state party said that delegate fees had to be paid by 6:00 p.m. that evening. As individual delegates and campaigns scrambled to pay delegate fees, the state party erected bizarre and allegedly extra-legal obstacles in front of Paul, prolife, and other non-Romney delegates, and communications between self-identifying non-Romney delegates and state party personnel degraded.

The Alaska GOP told individual Ron Paul, prolife, or non-Romney supporters that they were prohibited from sponsoring the fee for surrogate delegates, and prohibited from covering any expenses for airfare or accommodations for anyone else.

Of course, this was not true but it worked to send some of the less wealthy delegates back home, without a chance to participate, even after being elected as a delegate from their home District. One Ron Paul supporter who quietly, but firmly, pointed out the legality of the process, and listed Romney delegates whose expenses were paid by friends, was then told, “Yes, but they filed a state GOP waiver form.” He was then told that the party was out of forms. “Sorry.”

In the end, it may be Governor Mitt Romney, and the GOP, who are sorry.

“They are saying that GOP state chairman, Randy Reudrich, was promised a Romney job in Washington,” says one of the Santorum organizers. “He better hope that’s the case because he is finished in this state.”

disabledVet

As a new delegate to the Republican Convention yesterday I was witness to some 12 hours of command and control. It was the worst exhibit of political gerrymandering that anyone could have imagined. From the opening prayer, which was more a speech than a prayer, the call was sent out to "come together," but the backroom control of the party long timers was evident from the very beginning.

With the Committees pre-selected and a clear atmosphere of cronyism, the push was on from the opening of the school house doors to make it difficult for newcomers to navigate the process or feel welcomed no matter how long they may have been a Republican.

The entire convention begin in a mist of confusion, as those pre-selected for committees skirted around lines at the closed doors, of those waiting to sign a "Pledge of Loyalty" in order to obtain entry to the Convention. But even they had to continually ask where am I suppose to be.

The convention started 1 hour late as the confusion at the front door marked the beginning of what would become the most disorganized "organized" event I have ever attended. The program flow was continually interrupted by side bars, candidates wanting to speak about "vote for me," and long waits for committees behind closed doors down a darkened hallway away from the auditorium in secret sessions.

I could go on about the contentiousness of this event, but it was highly controlled by those mentioned in this article as being selected for their longtime attendance and their enthusiasm.

From a new-comers chair, I can tell you and affirm in writing that "inclusion" was not the intent of the Tarrant County GOP. It was painfully obvious the amount of fear of the Ron Paul contingent, although I saw no evidence of an organized covey of people in hats, wearing buttons or signs for any particular candidate.

For I finally figured it out; from our Precinct Meeting, which was a gathering of 21 Precincts where only 11 were attended by those that could then attend the next event, this State Senate 10 District convention, as I looked down our row their were designated areas for delegates that went unfilled during this event. That meant that their Precinct's Delegates would be apportioned by the District authoritarians.
And I learned that by not following Jeremy Blosser's proposal for each Precinct to have one delegate and one alternate, that those in charge could convien a committee to decide whom among the Precincts would be elected as Delegates to the State GOP Convention to vote for those people in each precinct without that precinct having direct representation.

Some point of inclusion hey... we'll decide for you, the people, what your candidate will look like for the November ballot. It's all done behind closed doors in committee while a room full of lemmings sit haplessly by in an auditorium full of people who would love to speak their own minds about what happens within their particular precinct.

At 6:15, I left, tired, frustrated and confused about this selection procress of delegates. I have no idea of who was selected or would be selected. I had full knowledge that "new comers" were less than fullly welcomed or informed..... and would not be getting a ticket to the next dance. It's a good old boys and girls club, that was pointedly clear.

After the caucus commenced at 9 a.m., there was a nomination from the floor to elect prominent policymaking activist and community leader Tamra Smilanich to be the permanent chair of the caucus. She won by a majority of the vote.

Shortly thereafter, King County Republican Party Chairwoman Lori Sotelo announced that the caucus was to be adjourned, claiming that Smilanich was an 'operative' of the Ron Paul campaign and that she had 'taken over' the caucus.

The insurance that was purchased for the event, she claimed, was paid for and covered by the King County GOP only, not the Ron Paul campaign.

There was a flurry of response from participants, many of them frustrated at the political antics and some feeling that their vote was being disenfranchised. Supporters of Ron Paul and other candidates alike agreed that Smilanich, regardless of her presidential preference, was voted in according to Robert's Rules of Order and that her position was therefore legitimate.

A motion was made to move the caucus proceedings to the basketball court outside on the grounds of the school, and this was agreed to by the body.

this is the county where they unilaterally appointed PCOs (automatic delegates) in violation of the rules and were challenged by the campaign. I wonder what is going to happen about that.

It is also the county where they 'accidentally' got a hall too small and instead of convening outside turned 1000 caucusers away on voting day.

Newt Gingrich ends his White House dream today with his political committee facing a mountain of debts -- owing about $4 million to scores of businesses and campaign workers around the country who fear they will never get paid.

Campaign watchdogs said the size of Gingrich's debt is extraordinary -- and could have been avoided if the candidate and his team had been more disciplined.

Help may be on the way. USA Today reports that Gingrich, in an interview, said he is embracing Mitt Romney's candidacy, and Romney and the Republican National Committee have offered to be helpful in retiring Gingrich's debt.

Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race owing $435,542 -- but Romney's campaign helped him raise money to retire the debt in return for Pawlenty's endorsement.

http://news.yahoo.com/newt-gingri...ories.html

Romney supporters are passing out fake delegate slates to trick Ron Paul supporters.

Wow, these people are simply evil.