2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWhat if Romney did NOT win Maine?
Would this make any difference going into Super Tuesday? There are reports out on the interwebz that Ron Paul actually won the Maine caucus.
Rachel Maddow did a segment on this last night and it's being covered extensively by one of the local Fox affiliates up in Maine.
Votes from 3 counties were not.. well, counted. The head of the GOP admits this. Some counties had vote totals of ZERO. Votes from one county were recorded incorrectly even when they were turned in correctly.
Romney only edged out Paul by 164 or so votes. Needless to say, there is a huge push underway to "find" the missing votes.
Now, I know Maine is a little state, and nobody paid much attention; but didn't this just happen in Iowa?
I still have PTSD from Florida in 2000. Oh, and Ohio in 2004. Is that where we're headed again?!
http://www.fox19.com/story/16937227/reality-check-was-there-voter-fraud-in-maine#.Tzs3qAjkZYo.facebook
And here's a link from the Brevard Times paper, in Maine, announcing the investigation:
http://government.brevardtimes.com/2012/02/voter-fraud-in-maine-caucus.html
baldguy
(36,649 posts)So, they made it so he beat Paul and Santorum.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)The wingnuts down here in the South will vote for Santorum on Super Tuesday. Or even Newt.
There is a big Ron Paul contingent among young people in the South.
I feel a train wreck of massive proportions coming on.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)K Gardner
(14,933 posts)Super Tuesday, per the GOP in Maine. Just like Iowa.
Cosmocat
(14,575 posts)It really is a BIG deal, the very foundation of our democracy, but it is the Rs, so no talk of it from the "liberal media."
Imagine the outrage if this had happened with Hillary/Obama, the Rs would have been screaming about it and the national media would have carried water for them - see all of the outrage over Joe Sestak's statement during his race, which is not even in the same universe what this is.
quakerboy
(13,921 posts)The Republican party is not a democracy. Not even the Democratic party is. They get to choose their nominee's. We like to play democracy, but we all have super delegates and caucuses and primarys and open primarys and all of that. And then in the end, at the convention, everyone votes for the winner in the end anyway.
Now, When they cheat in the General election, then its a big deal.
But if they chose to operate their own internal nomination procedure based on the free market bribery principles they claim to support, that's just republicans slightly less hypocritical than usual.
European Socialist
(2,181 posts)Why didn't John Kerry scream bloody murder about Ohio in 2004? Why do candidates work so hard to win and then give in to being cheated?
Little Star
(17,055 posts)I just posted a link (down thread) to a segment of Rachels show where she explains what Ron Paul is doing and how he intends to win the caucus states. He's got a pretty good game going on for himself. Rachel did a fantastic job of explaining Paul's game in that segment, it's well worth the watch.
politicasista
(14,128 posts)Strange.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)politicasista
(14,128 posts)Senator Kerry screaming bloody murder about Ohio, and then complement Paul on the campaign he is running?
It just came out wrong maybe.
Little Star
(17,055 posts)"why isn't Ron Paul screaming bloody murder". That was what I was talking to.
politicasista
(14,128 posts)Peace.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)no one except the people at the highest levels of power in a party know why a contest is contested, or not. It's not always up to the candidate. But there was no slight intended to Senator Kerry here that I see.
politicasista
(14,128 posts)It still looked like the poster was throwing shade at the Senator.
To be fair, we would all like to know what the Kerry/Edwards team was thinking that night, but to continue to put the blame on one person instead of those that should have been doing the heavest lifting lets them off the hook.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)the momentum to Romney could soon be off to the races.
He should be more vocal about it and put Romney's win loudly into question, IMO.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)dirty work for him. He doesn't have to do anything
politicasista
(14,128 posts)That's the easy way of course.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)nothing sinister here, move along. A metaphor, if you will.
politicasista
(14,128 posts)Apologies for the comments here.
Johnny2X2X
(19,193 posts)I am calling shenanigans. The delegates are not important here, it's the money that matters. Santorum already got totally hosed in Iowa, he ended up with the win and the delegates in the end, but he missed out on tens of Millions in cash. The same is happening in Maine now, Ron Paul wins Maine cleanly and money flows into his campaign. This is at least 2 races now where there has been confusion that greatly benefited Mitt Romney. The GOP establishment is clearly fixing the race for the Mitt and the other candidates are going to start really crowing about it.
This would be a completely different race had Santorum been given the win in Iowa right away and Maine been correctly awarded to Paul. Romney would be an under dog by now.
K Gardner
(14,933 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)Maine is a caucus state and the results are not binding as far as I know. The delegates are not even formally allocated until district and state conventions in May.
I know that Ron Paul is saying that he will win other caucus states because his supporters are getting themselves elected as delegates by staying for the business meetings after the actual caucus attendees vote.
Did you see the earlier show that Rachel did about how Paul is trying to win caucus states? It was a fantastic segment! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#46349475
No doubt there could be other crap going on there too with votes missing and such. Personally I think caucus states are more susceptible to fraud.
denem
(11,045 posts)VERY informative.
yellowcanine
(35,702 posts)K Gardner
(14,933 posts)votes from that county won't be announced until AFTER Super Tuesday.
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)making it so.
ETA: If it turns out that Mittens and his fans are tampering with the votes or commiting some other form of fraud or voter suppression, that'll only piss off the voters even more. Mittens is taking a real risk, but he's an arrogant son of a bitch, so it fits.
Craigtee3030
(25 posts)Ron Paul had been victorious.
Mitt would have soiled the Magic Boxer Shorts and legally changed his name to "Toast".
Caucus Interruptus - Part Douche! Thoughts at 3 A.M. http://thoughtsatthreeam.blogspot.com/?spref=tw