Old-fashioned deal-making wins in W.Va. (GOP Primary)

[Lasher]

Huckabee freezes out Romney for GOP victory with ‘backroom’ agreement

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the pre-convention favorite, was left to complain loudly about last-minute maneuvers that saw Huckabee strike a deal with supporters of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the national front-runner, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, an also-ran, to squeeze Romney out of the winner’s circle.

<snip>

The convention’s rules stipulated that in order for a candidate to win the convention, he needed to have a majority of votes. Delegates representing each county voted twice.

Romney won 41 percent during the first round to 33 percent for Huckabee. McCain won 16 percent, and Paul brought up the rear with 10 percent. Since no one had a majority, delegates voted a second time, with Paul eliminated.

Representatives of McCain’s and Paul’s campaigns urged their supporters to put their votes behind Huckabee. McCain’s goal was to stop Romney, his closest competitor in the national polls, from picking up momentum; Paul’s goal soon became clear.

As the Huckabee and Paul campaigns huddled, they reached an arrangement: Paul would throw his support to Huckabee in exchange for three of the 18 national delegates that Huckabee could claim with the victory.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23017706/

[davidinalameda]

1. screw Mittens

sorry but if the shoe was on the other foot, he'd be making deals as well

[MadAnne]

2. Hold your nose and read Vic Sprouse's

blog. Lots of pissed off R's. The Gazette said a lot of them went to the polls trying to vote on Tue. No wonder the D's have been in power so long.

[Lasher]

3. OK now I need a long hot shower.

I read the February 5 & 7 entries of Sprouse's blog.

http://www.changewv.com/

You're right, this convention circus backfired on the state GOP. Lots of Republicans are upset.



Republican turnout in the general election was already going to be low, and this fiasco ensured it will be even lower.



And you know what? They'll have their convention again next time, because politicians like Sprouse love the attention and power they get from it.

I found a Gazette article you might have been thinking of:

February 7, 2008
W.Va. GOP convention voting caused confusion across state
Some Republicans went to precincts to cast votes

There were some confused Republicans in West Virginia Tuesday. Some thought they were supposed to go to their polling places to vote for president. Others, on the floor at the state party's convention, wondered how their delegates to the national convention ended up where they did.



State Republicans scheduled the convention early on Super Tuesday to get some national attention, and they got it. Unfortunately, their strategy also confused a lot of registered West Virginia Republicans, who believed they were supposed to go to the polls to vote.



No doubt that was true in Wood County, which has one of the larger GOP bases in the state. County Clerk Jamie Six's office received more than 200 phone calls Tuesday from voters wondering why the polls were closed.



In the Secretary of State's Office, calls came in from Roane, McDowell and Monroe counties from confused voters, said Sarah Bailey, office spokeswoman.

"We understand some folks did show up at their polling places," she said.



http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200802060775?page=2&build=cache

[neverlander]

4. History making

This is probably the first time in WV history that the Republicans convinced more people to vote Democratic than the Dems did.

[Lasher]

5. And I'm sure they convinced a lot of Republicans to stay home on November 4

That's almost as good.