Republicans chose Paul

2008 Presidential Race, Local, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

According to this report, Ron Paul was the winner of a straw poll at this weekend’s Virginia Republican Advance.

The Texas congressman got 182 of the 479 ballots cast, or 38 percent. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson finished second with 112 votes, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee third with 51.

[…]

Mitt Romney got 43 votes, Sen. John McCain got 23, California congressman Duncan Hunter got 19 and Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo finished with four votes.

The Paul supporters packed the gathering. So, I guess we can throw those votes out. But – where are the votes for Rudy Guiliani? Surely at least one person voted for him.

UPDATE: Rick Sincere reports slightly different numbers (Romney with 45, Guiliani with 43). I trust Rick’s 😉

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30 thoughts on “Republicans chose Paul”

  1. I was at the Advance with my BF and to say that the Ron Paul supporters “packed” the event is not accurate. The Ron Paul National website has advertised the Advance since back in August, so naturally plenty of Paul supporters attended the whole three day event. These Paulistinians may have been the reason that Chairman John Hager was able to announce that the 2007 Advance attendance set a new record. The rules of the straw poll also allowed, straw poll only, participation, so many NOVA “Paulistinians” registered for the straw poll only option.

    Perhaps one of the most impassioned speeches that I have heard in many years was given on behalf of Ron Paul by D.C. Attorney, Chris Kachouroff. Look for Chris to run for something in the near future…

    The Ron Paul campaign is not a fluke, nor are its repeated victories due to “hackers” or other gamesmanship. The Ron Paul campaign is simply based on the premise that if government would just obey the Constitution, then both Democrats and Republicans could live good lives, and we would have no more undeclared wars. As Dr. Paul says, “Liberty is a very attractive message.”

    The great challenge for the RPVA will be to harness the enthusiasm of the Paulistinians, so that after the Primary, these new political activists will join their local Committees and become Republican Party members in earnest.

    The great fear of the National Republicans is that the Paulistinians will bolt the GOP and run Dr. Paul as another Ross Perot, but Dr. Paul has repeatedly said that he will only run as a Republican and sees that running as a third party candidate is just too difficult (to get on ballots in all states) for him to consider trying that again. (He ran as a Libertarian in 1988).

    Old Fred Thompson (backed by George “Macaca” Allen and Bob “Lock ’em up and throw away the key” McDonnell) and Ron Paul (backed by his internet grown army of Paulistinians) both made a good effort to get their supporters to attend the Advance.

    Romney and Huckleberry both did surprisingly well considering what retards they both are and the fact that neither campaign lifted a finger to encourage their supporters to attend the event.

    The closest we got to hearing an actual candidate was when Huckleberry’s wife spoke as a surrogate for her hubby. The weird award had to be for Bay Buchanan (Pat Buchanan’s rather gruff sounding sister) who spoke on behalf of Tancredo, and who only convinced four people to vote for him.

    Strange citing: Jim Gilmore walking around trying to smile and actually trying to be nice to people. Here is a normal smile 🙂 Here is a Gilmore smile 😐 Grrrr! What ? I am smiling!!

    If the Senate election swings on charisma, then “MarknotJohn” will join “Born Freightening” Jim Webb in our newly Blue Senate.

  2. I see you have moved on to a different blog to preach, Clairese.

    I am sorry to burst your bubble Clairese. Ron Paul has no shot of winning. While bits and pieces, and i mean only bits and pieces, of his message are reasonable, 87.78% of it is of fringe quality. Why is he running? Because he wants to get his message heard. Which is fine but that always has its problems because he gets crazies like you riled up and talking about negative stereotypes. No, i did not forget about that.

    If you and your Ron ” ain’t got a chance in hell to get elected” Paul wanna do some real good to thwart the republican trampling of the constitution, vote and support democrat. Thats your best shot. Or at least convince him to pander to the conservatives so he could siphon some of the votes in a general election.

    Aww hell, you got me sounding as crazy as you are, Clairese

  3. Viv, RP supporters “packed” the event, because they are excited to vote for the man. I hope you’re not suggesting that the campaign organized people to “pack” the event. The Paul campaign is truly grass-roots. We RP supporters don’t wait for orders from the campaign. We just pay attention and step up on our own initiative, the way liberty minded individualists do. I don’t understand why you think the results should be discounted, just because RP supporters showed up, while Rudy McRomney supporters did not. Try to remember that at this point in the 1992 primaries, Saturday Night Bill Clinton was unknown nationally and sitting at 2% in the polls.

  4. I say “packed” purely because of RP’s polling numbers. This is no reflection on the RP supporters at all; to the contrary, it’s good that his supporters are enthusiastic about his campaign.

    Are they representative of Virginia Republicans, though? My guess would be no. And that’s why I said they should be discounted. If Kucinich won a Democratic straw poll in Virginia, I’d say the same thing.

  5. “Crazy” is the now standard label used by the small minded against any perceived threat.

    Ian, you are the one who wants to preach to others all of the time with your party-line dogma and accompanied with the usual dose of lectures on political correctness.

    You and I are very different, but because I am a Southern woman who has lived in many Northern states, I am used to dealing with your brand of bigotry towards anything that is unfamiliar to you. There are many issues upon which we will disagree and our disagreement will last through eternity on some subjects.

    However, successful politics is about building coalitions and politics does indeed make strange bedfellows, sometimes. For example, some of the Ron Paul ideas are truly innovative and are widely supported across the two traditional parties. His mantra to get government back to within Constitutional limits and to have no more undeclared wars, is popular with Democrats and Republicans. With Ron Paul in the race, many issues that could be ignored by both parties are brought into the public forum. This is a very good thing for our country. It is hardly a crazy thing to force a discussion on the many ways that the Bush and prior Administrations have usurped our Constitution.

    Ian, I do not expect a young person like you to recognize anything beyond your few dogmatic reference points, but I am sure that as you gain more experience, that you will have more opportunities to form coalitions with many others who differ with you on few or multiple points. It is not selling out, to form alliances with others when the outcome is better governance and enhancements to our liberty.

    Here in Virginia, political leaders like Mark Warner, John Miller, and Jim Webb have all achieved success because they eagerly worked with traditional Virginia voters, many of whom are sincerely proud of their Confederate heritage and who, like me, hold strong views about just how limited the role of government should be. Virginians have repeatedly supported Democrats when the candidate showed tolerance and respect for our traditions and culture. Successful Democrats here in Virginia know the value of building alliances where there is common ground and where there is none, to leave open the opportunity to build bridges on those issues in the future.

    Since I moved back to Virginia, I have helped to elect Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, John Miller and a host of local Board officials. Each of these folks may sometimes vote in ways I don’t like, but in the larger scope, I know that each is very well informed and they love Virginia and will strive to do what is best.

    In Virginia, most of us try to be civil to one another and to work for the common good whenever possible. I know that paid political hacks see this as crazy, but we Virginians like our blended politics.

  7. Screw political correctness. Crazy is when you fervently fight against your own interests, which is what your doing by investing in RP. I’m saying to support him is fine, but for your issues you want to make a point with, it is crazy to stay on a ship that is not leaving dock.

    Funny how a southern anything can lecture ME on bigotry. I am not a bigot because you or RP is unfamiliar, in fact i know well what RP wants to do. But of course attack me because i tell you the truth. Where in the world does bigotry come into play any who, Clairese?

    Coalitions are fine. RP ideas are hardly innovative; many people across the WHOLE political spectrum decry bush’s anti-constitutionalism. Hows that for a coalition? I am baffled at how you jump from irrelevant topic to irrelevant topic. And confederate heritage is nothing to be proud of. The vast majority of “Traditional” Virginia voters have nothing and want nothing to do with confederate anything.

    I agree that is PART of their political success. But let me refocus my argument. I only had an issue with Ron Paul and his myopic supporters. These other tangents you went on concern me not. Civil government is good. Consensus government is good. I am happy to hear you have at least at one time supported candidates who can and have gotten things done, not futile candidates who impede the process.

  9. Ron Paul is responsible for perpetrating a fraud on the American people. He is a Libertarian masquerading as a Republican. He could not get anywhere near the exposure and raise the funds to do it as a Libertarian so here is is in the Republican campaign espousing his polices, isues and projects.
    He is taking up valuable space in debates and media from candidates who the public need to hear from because they are the ones from which the nominee will be picked, not Ron Paul.
    Some od his ideas are good, maybe great but thoise are overshadowed by the wacky ones.

    RWD

  12. Ian Jordan: Gerald Ford said in March 1980 that Ronald Reagan was “unelectable.” He eventually changed his mind. Only four delegates at the 1976 Republican convention went for Ronald Reagan over Ford (one of them happened to be a Texas doctor by the name of Ron Paul). At one time, it was thought that Reagan was too conservative to lead this country. I will not listen to what you think the “average” Republican voter in Virginia thinks or says, because the average Republican voter is pro-life and more than not these days, is more likely to want a pullout of Iraq than an escalation. That leaves them with one Republican candidate to vote for, Ron Paul. In addition, many independent voters can register Republican to vote for Ron Paul.

    The only person who is not electable is someone whose name doesn’t appear on the ballot. Rightwingdog– which of Ron Paul’s ideas are wacky? I hear wackier ideas coming from Huckabee (national smoking ban) and Tancredo (no immigration at all, even legal) and Thompson (lobby for abortion, then say you’re pro-life) and Romney (talk to lawyers before invading a country, not Congress) than I do Ron Paul. Give examples or your statements just don’t wash.

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