Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

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Juliette
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Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

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AZ GOP Convention: Paulbots resort to chaos & UPDATE


In a never before seen spectacle, Ron Paul supporters, thrusting their fists in the air like brownshirts, booing and screaming demands, tried to overtake Arizona’s 2012 Republican Convention Saturday. The tactics of disruptive chaos employed by “Occupier” anarchists have been enthusiastically embraced by these zealots.

The Arizona Republican Party held its daylong meeting, as approximately a thousand state delegates gathered to elect national convention delegates to attend the August GOP event in Tampa, Florida. The usually respectful and orderly proceedings held this year at Grand Canyon University became a thunderous battleground for what the zealous, anti-establishment activists refer to as the “Ron Paul Revolution.”

Their childish rudeness reached a pinnacle as the Paulbots loudly jeered and booed Josh Romney, speaking on behalf of his father, presumptive Republican presidential contender, Mitt Romney. Count on the newspaper to get it wrong, headlining that he was “booed off stage.” Josh Romney held firm, was courteous and although his speech was disrupted by the fringe group, he stayed at the podium and finished his comments. Gov. Jan Brewer also spoke.

Balloting for National Committeeman and Committeewoman took place late in the day after many of the Republican attendees left, since those from outlying counties had long distances to travel to return home. Bruce Ash was reelected to his post, but the position of Committeewoman will require a run-off between Sharon Geise who currently holds the post and former state Sen. Karen Johnson, a Paul enthusiast.

State GOP chairman Tom Morrissey had already gaveled the meeting adjourned, since there was no longer a quorum, throwing the Paul supporters into a raucous tantrum. Geise garnered 274 votes, to Johnson’s 329. Another candidate, Linda White, had 133 votes. The necessary 50% +1 was not reached by Johnson.

Out of nine congressional districts, Ron Paul’s delegates won two positions, one each in CD 1 and 5. Platform Republicans, pledged to support the party’s nominee, won the other seven seats.

Although Arizona is a winner-take-all state –with all of the state’s 29 national delegates allotted to a single candidate — we took a hit when the state decided to schedule the primary before March 6. The Republican National Committee penalized Arizona for the transgression by removing half of the original 58 delegates.

Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Comment:

Comment by Mona
May 14, 2012 @ 10:32 am


Brownshirts, thugs, idiots, Occupiers, call them what you may, Ron Paul is running a serious campaign to undermine the Republican Party which, if successful, would result in the election of Barack Obama.

Does Ron Paul think that 4 more years of Obama would guarantee Rand Paul an easy path to the White House? Or that he can force Romney to put Rand on the ticket as VP?

If he does he’s sadly mistaken. What’s happening will force the GOP to vet the candidates it allows to run using it’s name and Rand Paul will not qualify as a Republican.

Vetting of candidates is something the party should have been doing all these years that it has allowed the libertarian Ron Paul to use it for his own gain. Ron Paul is no closer to be a Republican or a conservative than is Barack Obama.

He should have been barred from the party many years ago, just as his supporters are being barred from conservative websites around the Internet. And that is something that is way overdue.

Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Comment:

Christopher Collins · Top Commenter · Dallas, Georgia

When guests speak...it is proper to shut up and be respectful no matter who is on the stage. It is called proper etiquette. Josh's dad is Mitt Romney and of course he will speak for his dad...wouldn't you? And yes, lie and cheat. The RP tactics are out there for the taking and what is out there has happened. I have been in enough forums to see what goes on with the RP supporters, not to mention, see it with my own eyes. So they need to show respect and maybe, just maybe, they'll get some respect.

Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »


Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Some chaos after the meeting was adjourned by the Ron Paul group..



Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Sheriff deputies remove rowdy Ron Paul revolution activists from the AZ GOP Convention after they claimed to have removed the sitting Party Chairman and taken over control.


Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Comments:

The only rules that were broken were by Ron Paul supporters. The thought they knew the rules and had a strategy of delaying conventions until enough deelgates left and they would then be able to control the convention. The only problem with that strategy is that once the convention loses a quorum, they can not longer conduct business.. The delay strategy backfired on Paul supporters and they looked very foolish.

AGStacker
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by AGStacker »

"Some chaos after the meeting was adjourned by the Ron Paul group.."

The meeting was adjourned against convention rules. The chairman didn't get a 2/3 majority vote and he adjourned while ballots were being counted.

We didn't look foolish. If you were there you'd know what I am talking about. The process took place for 12+ hours because of how disorganized the GOP are.

think-then-act
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I was there

Post by think-then-act »

I agree it was very disorganized. However, that does not change the fact that no business can be transacted in the absence of a quorum. Debate can continue but no vote may be taken when there is not a quorum. That includes a vote to adjourn. If you know the rules, you know that at that point no 2/3 vote was needed, nor would it be allowed. I thought David Fitzgerald did an excellent job in defusing the crowd, even though their actions will have no effect.

Those who thought Romney was breaking the rules and giving a nomination speech for the delegates on sight of the lime green sheet do not understand rule 4 prohibiting nominating speeches for delegates. His actions did not cross the line. They may have been hoping that Romney supporters would rely on the booklet being passed out by the Ron Poll booth which listed the various slates of delegates. I noticed that the list of Romney supporters being passed out by the Ron Poll booth did NOT match the list being passed out by the Romney supporters. The orange sheet of delegates being passed out by the unity platform committee noted that Ron Paul supporters at prior conventions had passed out false lists of delegates supporting his opponent.

liberty_belle
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by liberty_belle »

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Last edited by liberty_belle on May 25th, 2012, 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

liberty_belle
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Re: I was there

Post by liberty_belle »

deleted
Last edited by liberty_belle on May 25th, 2012, 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Juliette
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Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

liberty_belle wrote:This is the problem with only having your head in one area. I was there, I have firsthand experience of what happened not only on the floor but in the counting area. I cannot post my experiences right now for legal reasons, but I can assure you that when it is all said and done, I am going to blab it all and your thread and those who made comments that you posted will look like foolish.

You have no idea what you are talking about because you were not there. That is the point of becoming involved, which you chose not to do.

uh, this kind of lies and deception just makes me so angry and want to vomit. So many of the Romney people left because they could hack the stress of it all. The Ron Paul people stuck it out til the bitter end. The bitter end had nothing to do with the evils of Ron "Paulites" but everything to do with the the AZ GOP and the Romney Campaign.

Until then, keep posting your ridiculous lies..........
Sorry I made you so mad Liberty. I know this is an emotional issue, for both sides!

Juliette
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Posts: 2699

Re: Now for the Truth about AZ GOP convention

Post by Juliette »

Ron Paul Warning

Background:

For many republicans...

There are positive aspects of Ron Paul's views including his wanting to balance the budget while keeping taxes and spending under control, and avoiding war whenever possible.


There are negative aspects of Ron Paul's views including an isolationist foreign policy (and dismantling much military infrastructure that protects American interests), open borders, legalized prostitution, abortion, gay-marriage, drugs, and past published views on race.


To date (4/27), just over 10% of primary voters have selected Ron Paul (10.8% to be precise), and many have been Santorum and Gingrich voters choosing Paul as their second choice once their favored candidate dropped out or lost momentum. (1/10th of Paul's votes came from Pennsylvania alone after Santorum dropped out.)


Many of those who voted for Ron Paul share many of the views of other conservatives and republicans and care deeply about the direction of the country. They will vote for Mitt Romney in the general election against Barack Obama because they want less government intrusion and control and hope to save the country from fiscal collapse and other calamities.


But there is an insidious effort going under way, and it has nothing to do with supporting your favored candidate in the primary and rallying around the nominee in the general.


It has everything to do with hi-jacking the republican party and disrupting its operations. This effort is by a highly organized group of Ron Paul supporters who view themselves as democrats or hard core libertarians who will never vote for the republican nominee and are bent on the complete transformation of the republican party under their control or else its utter destruction.


(Ron Paul, a lifetime member of the libertarian party, has set the stage for this by endorsing a 3rd party candidate after he didn't get the nomination last time, and in his support for the libertarian party over the republican party going back over 20 years.)


The Problem:
Strategy and Evidence:

These strategists and ring-leaders often infiltrate party posts and get delegates elected through a strategy that combines organizing their supporters beforehand providing a critical but insufficient mass of support and then pushing it over the edge by not revealing their true intent and getting the votes and support of additional general party caucus goers, who join the Paul voting bloc that secretly knows who their candidates are and their true allegiance.


They have fine tuned this approach using training sessions and tutoring, after a period of trial and error. Many, many mainstream republicans have voted in Paul activists not knowing their true views or agenda and this will start to accelerate if it is not stopped by informed republican caucus goers or unless the party begins to proactively stop any underhanded antics.


The Washington Post and Reason Magazine summarized this approach:



"Regional coordinator Wayne Terhune used a slide show on a recent weeknight to teach volunteers how to participate in a Republican precinct meeting to help Paul win delegates in the state’s caucuses on Saturday. He has tutored packed rooms at Denny’s as well as smaller crowds in the campaign’s Reno headquarters, located in a low-slung office building alongside the airport.



"In a tiny conference room with a water cooler and two dogs on the floor, Terhune told the volunteers not to allow paper ballots out of their sight once votes take place — and to dress neatly and inconspicuously, so fellow Republicans won’t be disinclined to elect them as caucus delegates....



" “You’ll nominate yourself,” Terhune told the room. “They’ll probably have you give your speech. Have a meeting a day ahead so all the Ron Paul people know who the other Ron Paul people are, so you can vote for them. Then you give a generic speech, and the non-Ron Paul people say, ‘Oh, he’s solid, I can vote for him.’ ” ..."




Reason.com - Feb 2, 2012


Alaska is a good case in point with its caucus coming up. The Alaska GOP posted a summary and link to a Paul strategy letter for their caucus:



"This is the email claiming to be from the Ron Paul "Command Center" detailing their strategies for the 2012 Alaska GOP Convention.



"These include: "confusing" other delegates, blindly following voting directives from Ron Paul leadership, and using parliamentary maneuvers to drag out the convention so their opponents will have to leave to attend to their children."



GOPAlaska.com - Apr 27, 2012


The actual letter contained:



"1. This is a numbers game. If more of Dr. Paul’s supporters turn out than any other candidate’s delegates, we control them. If more of our people show up, we take over the state convention, we change the rules, and we take over the Republican Party. Turnout is key.



"2. We vote as a block and never deviate from the voting instructions dispensed by our command center. On every vote, we vote together. We will be informing you via text message on how you need to vote on every vote that comes up. If you have not sent us your cell phone number you will have with you on Saturday, please do so right away... it is absolutely crucial that we use whatever tactics necessary to promote division and confusion amongst their supporters. We promote confusion and division by:



"a. Gaining the trust of our opponents’ supporters and taking advantage of their ignorance so that we can gain control of them and tell them how they have to vote. For example if you are talking to Santorum supporters, tell them you are also pro-life and agree with a lot of what he has to say. Tell them you used to support him but now that he is out of the race you are supporting the only constitutional conservative remaining in the race. Tell them whatever they need to hear so that you gain their trust and establish credibility with them. Once you’ve done that you will control them.



"b. Deception and Misinformation - use any means necessary to divide and conquer our opponents.



"c. Prolonging the convention through parliamentary maneuvers. The longer the convention goes, the better for us. Our opposition will have a majority at the start of the convention but as the day goes on their delegates will have to leave because their baby sitter is only scheduled to watch the kids until 3pm or because they have dinner reservations, or because they just get too frustrated because the convention is taking so long. We will wait them out... All of a sudden what started out as a majority for them dwindles away and the balance of power shifts to us. We will use every parliamentary tactic in the book to prolong the meeting. Dr. Paul’s campaign has sent national lawyers who will run circles over the local Alaska lawyers. Our lawyers are ready to sue anyone who tries to get in our way...



"Despite what the Republican Party wants us to believe, this election is not about beating Obama. This election is about cleansing the Republican Party. The poor excuse for Americans that support Santorum, Gingrich, and Romney need to be run out of the Republican Party. Once we have cleansed the Republican Party... we will put an end to American imperialism, and we will end the Fed!"



NorthernRight.com - Apr 26, 2012


A perfect example of the execution of part c), above, is what happened in Missouri as noted in the next section on this page, and the Reno Gazette-Journal documents it occuring in Nevada as noted below. The Louisiana and Washington sections have good examples of the part a) and b) tactics.


5/1/12 Update: Paul activists have now taken over the Alaska Republican Party as planned, as noted below.


As noted, this is happening in state after state:



" "We like strong party leadership when it comes from us," Paul campaign chair Jesse Benton told Business Insider...



"The fruits of this labor are evident in Iowa, where Paul's former state campaign co-chair A.J. Spiker was just elected as the new chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. Spiker replaces Matt Strawn, who stepped down over this year's Iowa caucus dustup. In Nevada, the state chair has also resigned over caucus disaster, and several Ron Paul supporters are well-positioned to step up to fill the void...



"In Maine, the caucus disaster has made the state GOP prime for a Ron Paul takeover... "We are taking over the party," [Paul senior campaign advisor] Wead told BI. "That's the important thing — and that is what we are doing in Maine." "



BusinessInsider.com - Feb 15, 2012



"As Rick Santorum noted in his CNN interview with Piers Morgan, “Ron Paul is working the delegates really hard. I can tell you that.” ...



"Benton acknowledged the increasing possibility that Paul would not be the GOP nominee, but made clear that the “secondary goal of all of our political action [has been] ... taking over the party apparatus.” "




TheDailyBeast.com - Apr 25, 2012



"The insurgents [Ron Paul supporters] are executing a concerted strategy to infiltrate the Republican Party.



"Five Paul supporters, for instance, sit on the state GOP’s central committee in Iowa, where their candidate finished a strong third in the Jan. 3 caucuses. In Nevada, the vice president of the state GOP backs Paul. In Virginia, Paul supporters are lining up to attend county and district conventions to influence the election of national delegates...



"Paul’s infiltration strategy began in 2008, after his last presidential bid, when he saw the potential to continue building his movement by working within the Republican Party.



"But the idea took off in 2010 when Paul’s son Rand ran for Senate…



"Then, quite strangely, the establishment and the Pauls came together...



" “You can dress in black and stand on the hill and smash the state and influence nobody, or you can realize the dynamics and the environment and get involved in the most pragmatic way...” said Benton, the campaign manager. “That’s what we’re trying to do.” "




EducationViews.org - Apr 5, 2012





Missouri Caucus outcome changed by Paul disruptions

Background:

“A caucus at a school near St. Louis where roughly 2,500 Republicans had gathered was adjourned before a vote could take place because it got so rowdy that extra police were summoned and two people were arrested for trespassing...

“The local caucuses were to elect 2,123 people to advance to congressional district conventions April 21 and a state convention June 2. It's at those meetings that the bulk of Missouri's 52 delegates will be bound to presidential candidates...

“Before even the opening prayer, police were called in to the caucus in St. Charles County to remove a video camera set up by a Paul supporter against the local rules, said Eugene Dokes, the county Republican chairman. Things went downhill from there. Caucus participants "started to become verbally aggressive with event organizers and police officers," said St. Peters Police Officer Melissa Doss.”


USAToday.com - Mar 17, 2012

Result--

Rescheduled Caucus had 36% of the original attendance, with over 450 being Ron Paul supporters. Although Ron Paul took 3rd in the county's Missouri primary with less than 13% of the vote, they took over this caucus meeting and awarded all its delegates to Ron Paul. The Ron Paul ringleader who was arrested during the first caucus meeting over conduct when he objected to the rules, got elected as Caucus Chair and ran the meeting redefining the rules with a winner-take-all approach:

“The Paul campaign used superior organization to get its people to the meeting at the St. Charles Convention Center. More than 900 people took part overall...

“GOP State Chairman David Cole had scheduled the do-over session after the county GOP’s original caucus March 17 disbanded amid boisterous disputes over rules. Two Paul supporters, including Stafford, were arrested at that event...

“Paul's caucus victory occurred even though he got less than 13 percent of the vote in the county in the nonbinding GOP presidential primary in February...

“Stafford was picked caucus chairman over Cole, the GOP state chairman, 480-402. Cole was supported for chairman by the campaign organizations for Romney, Santorum and Newt Gingrich...

“The caucus was the last in a series of 142 such meetings across the state. Cole, from Cassville in southwest Missouri, began the meeting as temporary chairman. He then oversaw the election of the caucus chairman, Stafford...

“The caucus Tuesday night picked 147 delegates to attend congressional district conventions April 21 and 147 to the GOP state convention in June. Those meetings in turn will choose most of Missouri’s 52 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa.”


StLouisToday.com - Apr 11, 2012


“Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, carried half of the 24 delegates being decided at Missouri's congressional district conventions... Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who suspended his presidential campaign earlier this month, won seven Missouri delegates on Saturday. Four delegates went to Texas Congressman Ron Paul and one to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Most of the rest of Missouri's 52 delegates will be decided at a state party convention in June...



“Missouri House Majority Leader Tim Jones... predicted that most or all of the 25 delegates to be allotted at the state convention would go to Romney as he further establishes himself as the likely Republican nominee. Missouri's three other delegates are reserved for the party chairman and the state's two national committee members.”




USAToday.com - Apr 21, 2012





Nevada Shenanigans

“The Paul folks are more organized than four years ago... they have taken over the state party’s executive board and elected a sizable number of delegates to the Sparks confab. And now this, from state Paul Campaign Director Carl Bunce to his folks about Mitt Romney canvassing calls to delegates:



“I fear they will continue to call you until you finally submit some type of answer to them. I suggest that you say you support Mitt Romney on Question 1 and that you are attending the State Convention on Question 2. These answers will give them a false sense of strength in the process moving forward.”


“And you thought the presidential race was over. Not in Nevada...


“As much as I would hate to see it, the Paul folks are intent on trying to do in 2012 what they almost did in 2008 — hijack the national convention delegation. Even though Republican National Committee rules mandate that the Nevada delegation votes proportionally to the caucus results — Romney received 14 delegates to Paul’s five — do the rules really apply to the Texas congressman’s acolytes?”


LasVegasSun.com - Apr 27, 2012

The Washington Post and Reason Magazine summarized some of their tactics:



"In Reno, regional coordinator Wayne Terhune used a slide show on a recent weeknight to teach volunteers how to participate in a Republican precinct meeting to help Paul win delegates in the state’s caucuses on Saturday. He has tutored packed rooms at Denny’s as well as smaller crowds in the campaign’s Reno headquarters, located in a low-slung office building alongside the airport.



"In a tiny conference room with a water cooler and two dogs on the floor, Terhune told the volunteers not to allow paper ballots out of their sight once votes take place — and to dress neatly and inconspicuously, so fellow Republicans won’t be disinclined to elect them as caucus delegates....



" “You’ll nominate yourself,” Terhune told the room. “They’ll probably have you give your speech. Have a meeting a day ahead so all the Ron Paul people know who the other Ron Paul people are, so you can vote for them. Then you give a generic speech, and the non-Ron Paul people say, ‘Oh, he’s solid, I can vote for him.’ ” ..."




Reason.com - Feb 2, 2012


“The Ron Paul presidential campaign has a guerrilla-style takeover strategy heading into next week’s Nevada Republican Convention at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks...


“Those who show up will elect 25 of Nevada’s 28 national convention delegates, as three spots for the state chairman, national committeeman and committeewoman are already taken.


“The Ron Paul folks want to stack that number with their people. Other state Ron Paul organizations are doing the same, Republicans said.


“If the campaign can muster lots of national delegates nationwide, the sky is the limit in the imaginations of Paul’s supporters.


“They hope for a brokered national convention, where front-runner Mitt Romney fails to win the presidential nomination on the first ballot...


“Paul’s supporters swarmed last week’s Texas Republican Senate district conventions, making a push to gain more control of the party, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram...


“For Nevada’s Paul supporters, the state party takeover could be viewed as payback for what happened to them at the 2008 GOP state convention at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno.


“Party leaders abruptly aborted that convention, leaving Paul supporters feeling that the state GOP had cheated them out of a place at the national convention.


“In 2008, Paul’s numerous supporters who attended the state convention won a rules change that would allow them to vote Paul delegates to the national convention.


“The rules change extended the voting process into the evening hours. Just before 6 p.m., party officials abruptly gaveled the convention closed, saying they didn’t have a contract to use the hall for the evening...


“The party didn’t schedule another convention and appointed the delegates, including two Paul supporters...


“Break the rules?


“Although the RNC mandates that national delegates must vote in accordance with state primary or caucus results, Ron Paul’s supporters appear to want to push the mandate to the limit.


“[Paul’s campaign chairman for Nevada] Bunce suggested that some national delegates who support Paul would have a difficult time voting for Romney on the first ballot, even if they were instructed to do so.


“ “They might not be Romney supporters,” Bunce said of the national delegates. “The people who have the heart and minds to make it to the national delegation floor, they have a choice to make. Anything is possible at that point.”


“If Newt Gingrich drops out of the race this coming week as expected, Mitt Romney will be awarded 20 delegates and Ron Paul will be awarded eight. Rick Santorum, who won three Nevada delegates earlier already dropped out. If Gingrich remains in the race, the delegate count will be 15 for Romney, seven for Gingrich and six for Paul.”


RGJ.com - Ron Paul backers prepare takeover of state GOP convention in Sparks - Apr 29, 2012


“Balloting for the national delegates didn’t begin until after 7 p.m., pushing the marathon convention into a 12-hour stretch...



“Paul’s supporters, driven by four years of planning and persistence, vowed to outlast the so-called Republican establishment...



“ “I’m here specifically to offset the huge Ron Paul organization,” said Romney supporter David Dietze. “They are hard at work. There’s been a lot of delays, and clearly their tactic is to be the last man standing.” ...



“First, Paul supporters blocked a move by Romney supporters to require 50 percent of the delegates remain in the room to conduct any convention business...



““We’re prepared to stay here however long. We’re prepared to fight however long and by the rules,” said Paul supporter Allen Adams.”




LasVegasSun.com - May 5, 2012


The Washington Post and Reason Magazine summarized some of their tactics:



"In Reno, regional coordinator Wayne Terhune used a slide show on a recent weeknight to teach volunteers how to participate in a Republican precinct meeting to help Paul win delegates in the state’s caucuses on Saturday. He has tutored packed rooms at Denny’s as well as smaller crowds in the campaign’s Reno headquarters, located in a low-slung office building alongside the airport.



"In a tiny conference room with a water cooler and two dogs on the floor, Terhune told the volunteers not to allow paper ballots out of their sight once votes take place — and to dress neatly and inconspicuously, so fellow Republicans won’t be disinclined to elect them as caucus delegates....



" “You’ll nominate yourself,” Terhune told the room. “They’ll probably have you give your speech. Have a meeting a day ahead so all the Ron Paul people know who the other Ron Paul people are, so you can vote for them. Then you give a generic speech, and the non-Ron Paul people say, ‘Oh, he’s solid, I can vote for him.’ ” ..."




Reason.com - Feb 2, 2012


“The Ron Paul presidential campaign has a guerrilla-style takeover strategy heading into next week’s Nevada Republican Convention at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks...


“Those who show up will elect 25 of Nevada’s 28 national convention delegates, as three spots for the state chairman, national committeeman and committeewoman are already taken.


“The Ron Paul folks want to stack that number with their people. Other state Ron Paul organizations are doing the same, Republicans said.


“If the campaign can muster lots of national delegates nationwide, the sky is the limit in the imaginations of Paul’s supporters.


“They hope for a brokered national convention, where front-runner Mitt Romney fails to win the presidential nomination on the first ballot...


“Paul’s supporters swarmed last week’s Texas Republican Senate district conventions, making a push to gain more control of the party, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram...


“For Nevada’s Paul supporters, the state party takeover could be viewed as payback for what happened to them at the 2008 GOP state convention at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno.


“Party leaders abruptly aborted that convention, leaving Paul supporters feeling that the state GOP had cheated them out of a place at the national convention.


“In 2008, Paul’s numerous supporters who attended the state convention won a rules change that would allow them to vote Paul delegates to the national convention.


“The rules change extended the voting process into the evening hours. Just before 6 p.m., party officials abruptly gaveled the convention closed, saying they didn’t have a contract to use the hall for the evening...


“The party didn’t schedule another convention and appointed the delegates, including two Paul supporters...


“Break the rules?


“Although the RNC mandates that national delegates must vote in accordance with state primary or caucus results, Ron Paul’s supporters appear to want to push the mandate to the limit.


“[Paul’s campaign chairman for Nevada] Bunce suggested that some national delegates who support Paul would have a difficult time voting for Romney on the first ballot, even if they were instructed to do so.


“ “They might not be Romney supporters,” Bunce said of the national delegates. “The people who have the heart and minds to make it to the national delegation floor, they have a choice to make. Anything is possible at that point.”


“If Newt Gingrich drops out of the race this coming week as expected, Mitt Romney will be awarded 20 delegates and Ron Paul will be awarded eight. Rick Santorum, who won three Nevada delegates earlier already dropped out. If Gingrich remains in the race, the delegate count will be 15 for Romney, seven for Gingrich and six for Paul.”


RGJ.com - Ron Paul backers prepare takeover of state GOP convention in Sparks - Apr 29, 2012


“Balloting for the national delegates didn’t begin until after 7 p.m., pushing the marathon convention into a 12-hour stretch...



“Paul’s supporters, driven by four years of planning and persistence, vowed to outlast the so-called Republican establishment...



“ “I’m here specifically to offset the huge Ron Paul organization,” said Romney supporter David Dietze. “They are hard at work. There’s been a lot of delays, and clearly their tactic is to be the last man standing.” ...



“First, Paul supporters blocked a move by Romney supporters to require 50 percent of the delegates remain in the room to conduct any convention business...



““We’re prepared to stay here however long. We’re prepared to fight however long and by the rules,” said Paul supporter Allen Adams.”




LasVegasSun.com - May 5, 2012





Idaho / Utah

“I’m in Idaho where Romney took over 60% of the caucus vote and Paul was third with less than 20%.


“They are trying the exact same thing. All by being sneaky.


“Last weekend they tried it in Utah — and got skunked.”


OrrinJohnson.com - Apr 25, 2012


Colorado

“GOP has chosen 13 Romney delegates and six Santorum delegates. The remaining 17 delegates are unpledged...


“13 unpledged delegates, including me, will vote for Ron Paul on the first ballot. One unpledged delegate will vote for Santorum. The remaining three unpledged delegates, also known as the 'delegates at large,' are the state GOP Chairman, the state GOP National Committeman and the National Committeewoman. Those three will likely vote for Romney...


“The Paul delegates ran unpledged in order to win the votes of Santorum supporters...


“Remember, this is a state where Santorum won with 40% of the caucus popular vote. Romney came in 2nd with 35% and Ron Paul finished last with 12%...


“There were also 36 alternate delegates elected at Colorado’s convention... almost all of the alternate delegates are Paul supporters. He also believes that if nothing changes regarding Santorum’s campaign, many of his delegates may forego the time and expense of attending the convention, leaving the door open for Paul to win the state when alternates pledged to Paul are seated.”


Communities.WashingtonTimes.com - Apr 15, 2012


“In Colorado on Saturday morning, video correspondent Kelly Maher videotaped a meeting of the Denver County Republican Assembly...



“ “The Ron Paul chair here went around the GOP chair and committed $900 worth of security from the Denver Police,” she warned. “And now they’re sending out strategy emails on how to ‘shanghai’ the assembly.”



“And shanghai they did. The meeting, Maher said afterward, “descended into madness” when Paul’s supporters “started screaming from the floor.”



“Maher told The Denver Post after the meeting that “the Ron Paul people showed up with an alternate set of rules and calendar for the day.”



“ “[One woman] was standing at the mic and kept demanding to be recognized. She kept calling ‘point of order,’ and that was the first yelling. Once the rules were adopted, the Ron Paul people demanded they be read aloud.”



“ “So [chairman] Danny [Stroud] called up [secretary] Brett [Moore] to read them, which made everyone flip out again because he did it in his ‘fast reader’ voice (he used to be the reader for the state House.)” ...



“Denver County GOP chairman Danny Stroud sent TheDC a statement about Saturday’s meeting, saying among other things that “we can never let passion trounce on the rights of others. Unfortunately, that was exactly what was attempted at the Denver GOP Assembly. A small, loud group attempted to hijack the assembly and trample on the rights of those who took time out of their busy lives to participate in the political process.” ”




DailyCaller.com - Mar 11, 2012





Louisiana

Campaign manipulations and fraud:

Ron Paul puts 6 identical delegate slates (containing the names of the same 25 people) up for vote, publishes a bogus voter guide called a 3rd party voters guide that tells voters one is the Romney slate, another is the Gingrich slate, another is the Santorum slate, identifying one as actually a Paul slate, identifying one as the Tea Party slate and so forth. The guide called Romney's actual slate an undecided slate, as with Gingrich's and so forth.

Ron Paul activists posing as helpful citizens distributed the guides to the voters, and the Ron Paul campaign chairman told the news it was an attempt to bring clarity to a somewhat confusing situation.

This deception helped get Paul more delegates in this round than the others, although the Paul campaign chair afterwards denied it helped:

“Ron Paul supporters distributed a "caucus voter guide" at Louisiana Republican Party presidential caucus sites Saturday steering voters to choose one of six virtually identical slates of Paul supporters, which the guide variously characterized as backing Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party, defenders of faith, family and freedom, and "Citizens Against Traffic Cameras."

“Charlie Davis, who is running the Paul campaign in Louisiana, described the "third-party voter guide," which was the handiwork of The Dead Pelican, a Louisiana political website, as an attempt "to bring clarity to a somewhat confusing situation." Davis said the "activists" passing out the guide were also passing out a copy of a story from Friday's Times-Picayune explaining the complicated caucus process.

“The Dead Pelican's Chad Rogers defended the voter guide. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the most accurate description and perhaps only real in-depth analysis of the different slates involved," he said in an email.

“But the distribution of the guide seemed more designed to maximize the vote for the Texas congressman than to clarify anything...

“On the ballot, only the delegates' names were listed, without any identification of which presidential candidate they might prefer... On the caucus ballots the delegates were arrayed in nine different slates... and voters could either vote for a slate or pick 25 individuals...

“The Romney campaign was asking its supporters for vote for Slate 5, which also, in a move toward party unity, included some delegates from Slates 2 and 3, which had been backing former House Speaker Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum. In kind, Slates 2 and 3 included some pro-Romney delegates...

“The guide described Slate 5, the one officially backed by the Romney campaign, as "undecided/unknown," and suggested that while 45 percent of its delegates are Romney supporters, "this slate won't accrue as many bound delegates to Mitt Romney as slate #1 does, but it seems that the original intention was to a be a Pro-Romney effort."

“Meanwhile, Slate 1, composed entirely of Paul supporters, bore the "Romney: Believe in America" campaign logo and was identified as the Republican Unity Slate. The guide stated, "Voters for this slate will accrue more unbound delegates and alternates for Mitt Romney at the 2012 National Convention." ”


NOLA.com - Ron Paul supporters disseminate 'caucus voter guide' to guide votes his way - Apr 28, 2012

“Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, dominated the Louisiana Republican caucuses held Saturday... delegates who back the libertarian congressman, who is now the only one of Mitt Romney's adversaries still standing, won the lion's share of the contests, carrying the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts.

“As a result, under party rules, Paul is guaranteed at least 17 of the 46 delegates to the convention at which Romney will almost certainly be nominated for president...

“The delegates elected Saturday will go to a state convention June 2 in Shreveport, where they will choose the delegates who will go to the national gathering in Tampa.

“Based on his victory in the state's March 24 primary, Santorum is guaranteed 10 pledged delegates, and Romney, who finished second, is guaranteed five.

“The balance of the 46-member delegation will include at least 17 Ron Paul delegates; at least one other Romney delegate in the person of National Committeewoman Ruth Ulrich, who just endorsed him...

“Turnout at the caucuses was low. For example, the top vote-getter in the 1st [congressional] District, Bernard S. Smith, received only 922 votes.

“Ron Paul supporters distributed "voter guides" at caucus sites that steered voters to choose one of six virtually identical slates of Paul supporters that the guide variously characterized as the right choice for backers of Paul, Romney, Santorum, Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party...

“While congratulating the Paul campaign "for apparently capturing their first state delegation in this presidential election cycle through an excellent get-out-the-vote effort today," Sarah Roy, chairwoman of the Greater New Orleans Republicans, characterized it as an "odd and undemocratic result" ...

“ "The result of this ill-conceived and confusing caucus clearly does not represent the will of the vast majority of Louisiana Republican voters, as Ron Paul recently received only 6 percent of the vote in the Louisiana presidential primary," said Roy, who on behalf of her organization called for the state party's leaders to resign for designing Saturday's "debacle." ”
This fraud succeeded by a small margin. Had as few as a dozen misled people switched their vote to slate 5, Romney delegates would have won instead of Paul's, and a swing of 50-60 would have captured most of the rest of the delegates. (e.g. Congressional District-2 result sheet)



As a result, 111 delegates, or 74% of the 150 state delegates chosen were Paul supporters. (CBS News)


“The agenda of the second day of RLC [Republican Leadership Conference] donned top billing which included Ron Paul. I have never seen such a scary and weird following of another human being other than those cult leaders we see every now and then in the news... Many of his fans who are among the Tea Party movement have given me the “It’s not him, it’s them,” song and dance routine...


“But back to the people: Paul’s followers are not indicative of who will select our next president. Thank goodness. They were spiteful, hateful, ugly children who were paid to make noise and act like a bunch of fools. You can spot them a mile away in a sea of conservatives and are usually referred to as many names such as “Paulites,” “Paulbots,” “Paulanistas,” and my favorite, “Paulistinians.” They generally all had some type of purple, blue, or black hair, tattoos, piercings…you name it. They came off the bus all the way from Mars, carried their Ron Paul placards and filed into the ballroom on demand prior to and during Herman Cain’s speech, and sat on the floor like kindergarteners taking orders. The offensive part was the booing and jeering they did at Cain when he spoke of America being Israel’s friend. These people were disruptive and did not engage along with the program among others during the conference. They were there for one purpose, one mission.


“The angst I began to feel was shared by many others who felt compelled to cheer a little louder for Cain despite the booing and hissing. Herman Cain finished his speech in an impressive, unwavering, and professional way. He was classy. Paul’s supporters were not...


“After Cain exited the stage, Ron Paul was happily announced by Charlie Davis, the CEO of the conference, and these kids jumped and screamed on cue from all directions, swallowing the audience...


“As Paul began his speech after the noise of his followers calmed down, many of the rest of us quietly exited the room. I was so offended, so angry; I wanted to choke one of the little ignorant Paulbots. They weren’t there because they were for God and country or for the monetary policies they believe in that Ron Paul proposes. They were there to worship a man...


“So the LA GOP had to see this coming. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone. Attendees from CPAC still complain of the coup that took place earlier this year and events prior. From what I see in the order of speakers, Ron Paul really disrupted two great speeches from Herman Cain and Sen. Jim DeMint.”


LouisianaConservative.com - Jun 20, 2011


Minnesota

“Minnesota will send 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Twenty of the 24 delegates based on congressional districts were awarded to Texas Rep. Ron Paul in selection processes that concluded this weekend.


“Thirteen Minnesota delegates will be allocated based on the results of a statewide convention in May, according to Paul campaign senior adviser Doug Wead.”


DailyCaller.com - Apr 23, 2012

“In Minnesota, Ron Paul won in a landslide, taking 20 of the 24 delegates that the state party’s conventions locked in over the weekend.

“If the trend continues... the convention will become a brokered convention and all bound delegates will be “unbound,” allowed to change votes for whichever candidate they choose.

“Although it is impossible to determine the actual number without official counts, Paul’s campaign seems quietly self-assured that at this point, many of Mitt Romney’s bound delegates will vote for Ron Paul and hand him the nomination, not because Paul thinks he can charm and persuade them in Tampa, but because the Paul campaign has already stacked each state’s slate of delegates with his own supporters, who have been stealthily getting elected as delegates. There’s no telling how many of Mitt Romney’s currently bound delegates are actually covert Ron Paul supporters ready to turn on a dime after being unbound in a brokered convention and vote for Ron Paul.”


IVN.us - Ron Paul’s Secret Plan to Win The GOP Nomination - Apr 26, 2012


However, the Ron Paul people failed in neighboring North Dakota:



“At the state convention, Romney supporters successfully elected the most delegates — even though the former Massachusetts governor finished third in the caucuses. In interviews with the AP, 12 delegates said they backed Romney, eight supported Santorum, two favored Paul and one preferred Gingrich. Two delegates said they had no favorite.



“Rounding out North Dakota's 28 delegates are three members of the Republican National Committee who will automatically attend the convention. Among them, Sandy Boehler supports Romney while Curly Haugland and Stan Stein, the state GOP chairman, are uncommitted.”




MSNBC - Apr 6, 2012



Example of how the Minnesota takeover occurred:



“Yesterday I attended the Republican organizational convention for my Senate district here in Minnesota, and what I witnessed was an organized take-over of our nomination process by Ron Paul cultists. They came to this convention with the sole intent to take over as many of the delegate seats as they could, and sadly, they succeeded...



“Before the convention, delegates had been contacted to see if we were interested in running for the State Delegate positions, and we were given plenty of time to put our names in the hat to run for these positions.



“The Paulbots, who did NOT submit their names prior to the convention, were now demanding that they should added to the list of nominees that very day. This is normally outside of the rules, but the Paulbots(there were at least 50 of them spread throughout the auditorium) through a suspension of the rules, demanded that they be added to the list of nominees. It was difficult to override their votes, as they had descended en masse to this event, and the unsuspecting non-Paul delegates were confused as to what was going on!



“After some manipulative moves on the floor, and by using Roberts Rules of order AGAINST the Convention Chair, they were able to add all of their names to the delegate nominations.



“I’ve never seen such unmitigated rudeness at a convention before. The Paulbots would leap to their feet screaming “Point of order!” every time they thought that the chair was being dismissive of them.



“The entire process was chaotic and psychotic, and the non-Paul delegates were stunned. They didn’t understand what was happening, and I tried to explain to an elderly woman from my precinct that this entire coup was PLANNED, and that the Paulbots had every intention of flooding the State delegates with Paul supporters...



“This convention dragged on for 8 hours yesterday, because the Paulbots slowed down the procedure with motions, amendments and screams of “point of order!” They have every intention of voting as many Ron Paul supporters into delegate positions as they can...



“Luap Nor will do anything to win the Presidency, even if it means strong-arming conventions to do so. He’s not some “kooky Uncle” that I once joked about. In my opinion, he’s dangerous.”




Hillbuzz.org - Ron Paul’s Devious Plan to Steal the Presidency - Mar 11, 2012


Massachusetts

On March 6th, 72% of well over 300,000 voters selected Mitt Romney for president in Massachusetts. At the Saturday, April 28th caucuses selecting 27 of 41 delegates, far less than 1% of those voters selected the delegates. Ron Paul supporters got most of those delegates, but they are required, or bound to vote for Mitt Romney:


“Today well over 2000 Republicans chose delegates to the Republican National Convention...


“As it stands now the self styled Ronald Reagan Unity Slate, the libertarian wing, won 17 of the 27 delegates selected at the nine caucuses today. By party rules 11 more delegates will be selected by the Republican State Committee. Many of these delegates are long standing liberty minded activists, some are new to this process. All 27 have pledged their support to our next president Mitt Romney.”


RedMassGroup.com - Apr 28, 2012

Many of these Ron Paul supporters were bussed in:


“5th Congressional [district] has a bus that is leaving from the parking lot of St. Agnes School in Arlington at 9am.”




RedMassGroup.com - Apr 28, 2012


“When Massachusetts Republicans went to their caucuses on Saturday, many didn’t vote for Mitt Romney’s picks. Less than half of Romney’s 27 chosen delegates won, and the losers included some notable Massachusetts Republicans - including former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr.”


Boston.com - Apr 30, 2012





Washington State

“Despite Mitt Romney winning Washington state's straw poll at the precinct caucuses in early March, the fight for the state's 43 delegates is still brewing...


“The showdown should be evident this weekend when nine counties -- including Snohomish and Clark -- hold conventions to elect delegates to the state GOP convention, where the national delegates will be picked in June...


“State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur said he's growing concerned about scheming leading to a disruptive fight at the state convention.”


OregonLive.com - Mar 31, 2012


“Two supporters of Rick Santorum Ron Paul (posing as Santorum supporters) were barred from having a table and passing out Santorum literature at the Whatcom County Convention on Saturday, April 21, and they’re angry.



“Luanne Van Werven, chairwoman of the Whatcom Republicans and a former Santorum supporter herself, said she didn’t allow Tamara Olhava and Mark Buse to set up because there is no Santorum campaign anymore. He’s no longer in the race, she said, and having them there would have only served to confuse delegates.



“At the convention, about 90 percent of the total 48 delegates who were elected supported Mitt Romney. About 8 percent of them support Newt Gingrich for the nomination, and the remaining 2 percent support Ron Paul. The delegates will attend the state convention, to be held in Tacoma May 30-June 2...



“Olhava, of Lynnwood, said Santorum suspended his campaign but the presidential candidate didn’t quit, and he hasn’t endorsed any other candidates. He wanted his supporters to attend the state and national conventions, she said. Santorum wanted them to do what they could to deny delegates for Romney by aligning with Paul...



“A slate of candidates was presented at the convention (Olhava called it the ‘Unity Slate’ but Van Werven said it was officially called the ‘GOP Majority Slate’) that included delegates for Romney. In the end, all of those candidates were elected. Olhava said the slate organizers indicated that Santorum’s campaign, as well as Gingrich’s and Romney’s, all supported the slate. She disputed that Santorum’s campaign supported it, saying it was following a deny-Romney-delegates strategy.



“Lori Spink, the county chair for the Santorum campaign, sent an email to supporters calling Olhava a Paul supporter in disguise. Santorum told them to vote their conscience, whether that’s Romney or Gingrich, Spink wrote to supporters. She warned them not to be tricked by what she called the desperate Paul supporters’ attempts to get people to deny support for Romney.”




BellinghamHerald.com - Apr 23, 2012



“SILVERDALE — Kitsap County Republicans might not have anywhere near full representation at the state party convention in Tacoma...



“The county GOP convention ended Saturday at Klahowya Secondary School with only 14 delegates elected to represent the county at the state convention on May 31 and June 1. The county was allotted 64 delegates.



“Jack Hamilton, county party chairman, said the party anticipated the higher than normal attendance at Saturday's convention and that there was enough time to get delegates finished by 4 p.m., but some delegates worked to delay the process. "The delegates did not complete (the voting) in the time available," he said.



“ "There was a small group there to exercise their will," Hamilton said of some at the gathering who challenged convention and party rules. When asked if those were supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, Hamilton responded, "I will not tell you that, but I'm not going to deny it."



“Paul backers who were upset... were likely the most organized bunch in the group. "These guys are the ones who probably could have made this work and were offering solutions and they just got shot down," Weston said...



“In earlier conventions, Republicans in Chelan and Clark counties also broke before completing delegate slates, Wilbur said. In Chelan County, 12 of 20 were picked; in Clark County, Republicans picked 75 of 94 delegates.”




Kitsapsun.com - Apr 24, 2012


Oklahoma

Paul voters continue their regular routine of disruptions and cheating but are thwarted.


After taking 4th in the Oklahoma primary, they make up 40% of state convention but after hundreds more vote than are certified and allowed, a much closer vote occurs but they still lose. They boo the governor, get into fights, and continue to accuse everyone else of causing the problems and cheating. (When a balding, stocky Ron Paul supporter is escorted out of the convention by police for assaulting an elderly man, it is almost hilarious to hear him claim he was the one who was assaulted.)


“OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma's State Republican Party convention turned raucous with supporters of Texas congressman Ron Paul taking the convention outside the Norman hotel where it was held after the convention adjourned and following a physical confrontation between a Paul supporter and a supporter of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.


“ "There was one confrontation" state Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell said. "The sergeant-of-arms and a deputy broke it up."


“Paul supporter Lukus Collins attributed the altercation to the passion of the supporters...


OnlineAthens.com - May 13, 2012

“This Ron Paul supporter says he was hit in the head by a 70 year old”



TheDC.com - May 13, 2012

“Backers of GOP presidential contender Ron Paul came up short Saturday in their attempt to elect their slate of delegates to the national convention during a raucous state convention — hindered by fights over rules and a physical altercation between opposing delegates.


“Backers of Paul, a Texas congressman, booed Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a onetime 2012 GOP presidential contender, when both encouraged the approximately 1,400 delegates to support the presumed Republican Party presidential nominee Mitt Romney...


“Paul supporters, who numbered about 600 and made up about 40 percent of the convention, used various parliamentary procedures to contest rules...


“Earlier, a Paul supporter complained he had been hit in the back of the head by a Romney backer; Paul supporters got upset when convention officials tried to remove the Paul backer.


“Order was restored quickly when a sheriff's deputy arrived. [and removed the disruptive Paul activist]


“The convention was slogged down mostly by difficulties in determining the credentials of the delegates.


“When delegates cast their votes, 256 more voted than were listed as approved delegates.


“The mess wasn't cleared up until about 3 p.m.; a lunch featuring Pawlenty had to be canceled...


“The Paul supporters submitted their own slate of delegates and alternates, but they failed to get enough votes to amend convention rules to let delegates vote on both slates.


“Instead, the convention delegates selected a slate of delegates and alternates to the national convention that was put together by the party's executive committee from about 200 applicants, state Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell said...


“Oklahoma will send a contingent of 43 delegates to the Republican National convention... In addition to the 25 delegates selected Saturday, 15 others were elected in congressional elections... The other three delegates are Pinnell and the state's national committeeman and national committeewoman.


“Lukus Collins, a Paul volunteer, said Paul supporters won nine of the 15 congressional district national delegate slots. It appears three are committed to Romney... one of the 25 delegates selected Saturday is a Paul backer, Collins said.


“Santorum and Gingrich each have endorsed Romney and it's expected they will encourage their delegates to vote for Romney...


“Delegates elected a new national committeeman.


“Steve Fair, of Duncan, won 52 percent of the delegate votes while Richard Engel, who lives between Mustang and Tuttle, and had the support of the Paul backers, won 48 percent.”



NewsOK.com - May 13, 2012

“Collins says party rules were violated by the holding of voice - rather than roll-call - votes for delegates to the GOP national convention. Pinnell says the voice vote was to meet the agenda's predetermined 5 p.m. adjournment.”



News9.com - May 13, 2012

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