Thread: Romney captures Wyoming Republican caucuses

Romney captures Wyoming Republican caucuses
Associated Press

January 5, 2008 at 4:29 PM EST

CASPER, Wyo. — Mitt Romney's attention to Wyoming paid off as he won most of the 12 presidential delegates at stake in the state's Republican county conventions today.

The former Massachusetts governor gained the first four delegates and six of the first eight to be selected today. Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter, who both also visited Wyoming, won the other two that had been decided, meaning no other candidate could beat Mr. Romney.

Coming two days after the Iowa caucuses and three days before the New Hampshire primary, the early date of the Wyoming Republican county conventions was intended to draw candidates' attention to the state, but has had only modest results.

Mr. Romney, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Thompson and Ron Paul all stopped by the state — visits they probably wouldn't have made except for this year's early conventions — and candidates have sent Wyoming's Republican voters a flood of campaign mail.

However, the traditional leadoff nomination contests in Iowa and New Hampshire have dominated the attention of both candidates and the national media in recent months, and no candidates have visited Wyoming in the four weeks leading up to the caucuses.

Mr. Hunter was the last to visit the state on Dec. 4.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ional/home

Romney Wins! ... The Wyoming Caucus
By Eric Kleefeld - January 5, 2008, 4:39PM

Mitt Romney now has a victory under his belt after his previous loss in Iowa, winning today's Wyoming Republican caucus. With 12 delegates up for grabs, Romney has won 7, Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter took 1 each, and the rest are still undecided.

The Wyoming GOP chose to hold their caucuses ahead of New Hampshire, potentially endangering the integrity of the primary calendar by stepping on NH's turf. However, the caucus itself did not attract huge headlines, and only Romney, Thompson, Hunter and Ron Paul even campaigned there — Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani never even showed up.

It remains to be seen whether Romney's big win in the land of Cheney will be noticed and help him get momentum with GOP voters, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2008/01/r ... caucus.php

Wyoming is the west..and that vote will influence the surrounding States. It is as important as Iowa..
Fred Thompson was third in Iowa, second in Wyoming..He can take the South and he may be gaining popularity in the West..

Hooray for Romney, Thompson and Hunter!!
Praise the citizens of Wyoming for their good sense!

Anybody find a good source to entire breakdown of the vote?

Knowing the relative proportions for the others would be useful as well...

THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS!

January 5, 2008
Romney wins Wyoming caucuses
By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press Writer

Mitt Romney captured his first win of the Republican presidential race on Saturday, prevailing in Wyoming caucuses for a much-needed boost to his candidacy three days before the New Hampshire primary.

"This is just the beginning," he declared.

The former Massachusetts governor won eight delegates, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson got two and California Rep. Duncan Hunter won one, meaning no other candidate could beat Romney. Caucuses were still being held to decide all 12 delegates at stake.

"The people of Wyoming took the first step towards bringing true conservative change to Washington," Romney said in a statement. "I am honored to have won many of the first delegates awarded this primary season. As the Republican nominee, I promise to fight to seat all of Wyoming's delegates at the national convention."

The victory was a welcome development for Romney, coming two days after his loss to Mike Huckabee in the Iowa caucuses and three days before the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire. Those two states have attracted most of the political attention. Wyoming had scheduled its GOP county conventions earlier to attract candidates to the state but had only modest results.

Romney visited Wyoming in August and November and three of his five sons campaigned in the state. One son, Josh Romney, owns a ranch in southwest Wyoming.

"Number one, he campaigned here," delegate Leigh Vosler of Cheyenne said of Romney. "I think that helped while some other candidates ignored us. But also he's the right person for the job."

Hunter, Thompson and Ron Paul all stopped by the state — visits they probably wouldn't have made except for this year's early conventions — and candidates have sent Wyoming's GOP voters a flood of campaign mail. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, did not visit Wyoming and drew little support. Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani also did not visit and received little support.

"I think we're encouraged that the voters in Wyoming value that my dad had spent time here," Josh Romney said.

The traditional leadoff nomination contests in Iowa and New Hampshire have dominated the attention of both candidates and the national media in recent months, and no candidates had visited Wyoming in the four weeks leading up to the caucuses. Hunter was the last to visit the state on Dec. 4.

Tom Sansonetti, the county convention organizer, maintained Saturday that moving the state's caucuses ahead was the right thing to do.

"The ultimate goal is not how many times we appear on Katie Couric," Sansonetti said. "The ultimate goal was to have attention paid to rank-and-file Republicans by national candidates."

In addition, he said more Wyoming Republicans have become involved in the process.

Wyoming Republicans also paid a price for jumping ahead. The Republican National Committee has slashed half of Wyoming's 28 national convention delegates. National party leaders similarly penalized Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire and South Carolina for moving up the dates of their nomination contests.

RNC rules require the punishment for states that hold their nominating contests earlier than Feb. 5. Iowa, which held caucuses on Thursday, will not be penalized because, technically, the caucuses are not binding on convention delegates. Nevada, which plans to hold its caucuses on Jan. 19, will not be penalized for the same reason.

Besides the 12 delegates chosen at Saturday's county conventions in Wyoming, two delegates to be chosen at a statewide convention in May will also be sent to the national convention in Minneapolis.

Associated Press Writers Ben Neary in Wyoming and Liz Sidoti in New Hampshire contributed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080105/ap_ ... g_caucuses

FOX is brain dead..I am not going to watch that channel..McCain over and over..and not a word about Wyoming

Romney wins Wyoming Republican caucus
Sat Jan 5, 2008 6:11pm EST
By Ruffin Prevost

CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Wyoming Republican presidential caucus on Saturday, taking seven of the state's 12 delegates with nearly all precincts reporting, according to a state party official.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee won two delegates and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California won one, said Amy Larimer, executive director of the Wyoming Republican Party.

Larimer said two delegates remained undecided while officials counted all the votes. A final tally was expected later in the day.

The victory gives Romney supporters something to tout as the focus of the U.S. presidential election shifts to Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Romney suffered a setback earlier this week in the Iowa caucuses where former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee soundly beat him.

In past election years, Wyoming has been largely ignored by many candidates because it has the lowest population of any U.S. state with roughly 520,000 residents, but this year state Republican leaders sought to attract attention by setting an early date for delegate voting.

Tom Sansonetti, a Republican organizer, said the move has paid off.

"Wyoming is getting a chance to elect the first delegates in the United States," he said, noting that Iowa actually chooses its national convention delegates in April, not with last week's caucuses.

Some candidates made brief appearances in Wyoming this past year, with Hunter being the last to visit in early December. Romney visited the state twice and opened a campaign office.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politics ... 9220080105

FOX NEWS
Finally..with a snide, rude aside..
Romney wins Wyoming..
Great..
Then the commentator makes this unnecessary, snide comment in a voice dripping with scorn...
"The last candidate to visit Wyoming was Duncan Hunter *remember him?*
Hunter took Third ..and not a word about Thompson..
Total Disrespect of our candidates
FOX..Fair and Balanced?