Thread: Ron Paul on the Issues

Victory for Liberty in OK-5

Submitted by Steve Dickson on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 07:56
Blog


A remarkable event has occurred. On Saturday, March 31st the 5th Congressional District Republican Convention was held at the Reed Center, in Midwest City, Oklahoma. More than 360 District Delegates were to decide who would represent them in Tampa, Florida at the GOP National Convention. First, some background information:

Oklahoma has five Congressional Districts. Per RNC Rules, each District is allocated 3 Delegates and 3 Alternates. Additionally, an Elector and Alternate Elector are chosen. OK-5 comprises most of Oklahoma County (which means Oklahoma City) and parts of Pottawatomie and Seminole Counties. Oklahoma County is allocated 320 delegate votes, Seminole 11, and Pottawatomie 37.

Initially, Oklahoma County stated 180 people in attendance, Seminole 11, and Pottawatomie 17. All counties had an "Open" delegation status, meaning each person in attendance could have a fraction of a vote, up to a maximum of 2 votes. Due to this (and after it was pointed out to the Chair via Point of Order), Pottawatomie County had their actual delegate vote total reduced to 34 votes (17 x 2).

The prior history of "issues" with Oklahoma County is something I have written about before (Oklahoma County GOP Convention Recap). In spite of prior issues, a decision was made by grassroots Liberty activists (Ron Paul grassroots supporters) to fight only one fight:

Delegates.

We accepted the credentials report with no debate.

We accepted the rules with no debate.

We did not complain about the room choice - one that blocked all cell phone signals.

We immediately pulled stickers off when told "no electioneering".

We followed the rules as we were given them, with no input in their creation.

We did not object when, after the first votes had been cast, it was determined that Oklahoma County actually had 196 people, not 180.

We amended the already passed Credentials Report via voice vote.

We did not object when the first vote was thrown out and re-done with the new total for Oklahoma County.

May I present the winners:

All three delegates, all three alternates, and the elector are open Ron Paul supporters. From left to right, with who they have supported listed, Alternate Elector Chad Smith (Santorum), Elector Duane Crumbacher (Ron Paul), Alternate Delegate Porter Davis (Ron Paul), Alternate Delegate Diane Engel Thomas (Ron Paul), Alternate Delegate Tina Lou (Ron Paul), Delegate Steve Dickson (Ron Paul), Delegate Lukus Collins (Ron Paul), Delegate John Bates (Ron Paul). I base the determination on Mr. Smith on his speech and Facebook profile picture, which is with Senator Santorum. The others are known Ron Paul supporters (there were stickers advocating each candidate at the Ron Paul grassroots table).

To be clear, each of these Delegates is bound to vote for someone other than Ron Paul. For the OK GOP Rules on this, go here. For the state law on this, go here. Although Section 104H is in the Rules, Section 104G and Section 105 are on the Affidavit binding all Delegates. There are some points to consider, however:

If Santorum drops out or endorses another, Ron Paul will pick up a Delegate.

If Gingrich drops out or endorses another, Ron Paul will pick up a Delegate.

If Romney drops out or endorses another, Ron Paul will pick up a Delegate.

All other votes at the National Convention are NOT governed by anything other than the conscience of the Delegates.

The vote was close - but only one candidate was forced into a runoff (and it was me).

After 47 delegates were added due to rules from the Oklahoma County Convention, as well as 13 elected officials, we still won. It was an amazing day.

The Liberty Movement is alive and well in central Oklahoma.

Victory for Liberty in OK-5 | Peace . Gold . Liberty | Ron Paul 2012

Texas Straight Talk 4/2/2012: The Supreme Court and Obamacare


by Ron Paul | Texas Straight Talk

April 2, 2012

Last week the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of the Obamacare law, focusing on the mandate requiring every American to buy health insurance or pay fines enforced by the IRS. Hopefully the Court will strike down this abomination, but we must recognize that the federal judiciary has an abysmal record when it comes to protecting liberty. It’s doubtful the entire law will be struck down. Regardless, the political left will continue its drive toward a single-payer, government run health care system.

Doug Wead: Ron Paul Is Untouchable and Pure, He Would Never Sell Out to Mitt Romney

Everyone Keep Your Heads UP! We are WINNING!
Elections 2012 | April 2, 2012
Ron Paul winning delegates

Jeffrey Phelps

Denver Examiner

Ron Paul's army of younger voters are amassing delegates in the caucus states in numbers that has GOP 'officials' scrambling Credits: T.J. Kirkpatrick / Getty Images

As the 2012 Race for the Republican Nomination turns toward this week’s primaries in D.C., Maryland, Mississippi and Wisconsin all eyes are on so-called “front-runners” like Romney who the media says is running away with the Delegates and is the “most likely” nominee.

If you turn on the television today you have a very good chance of seeing the media’s general estimated delegate count for the four remaining “Republicans” that are vying for the 2012 nod.
Although the numbers vary slightly depending on which mainstream source used, currently, the establishment’s media is displaying the approx. totals as Romney leading with around 550 delegates, Santorum with around 240, Gingrich around 130, and Ron Paul trailing the pack with usually less than 50.

Are these numbers accurate? Let’s find out.
The first problem we see when studying delegate counts comes from the very first caucus held in Iowa back in January.

Although the media says they “estimate” the delegate count as proportionate to the percentages of votes won in each caucus, of Iowa’s 25 available delegate seats, even as Santorum, Romney and Paul basically split the votes there relatively evenly, somehow the media's estimated delegate count shows Santorum as winning 13 delegates and Romney winning the other 12….as if Paul received no votes whatsoever.

With that being said, if taking percentages of caucus votes into account to determine the estimated final delegate totals, the media’s general delegate estimate is already faulty after just the first caucus.

However, as we dig even deeper into the situation those estimated delegate counts are actually much further flawed than even the Iowa example shows.

Even though you haven't heard much about it in the media, in all the caucus states around the country Ron Paul’s delegate strategy is actually paying off as county after county and district after district are sending more Ron Paul Delegates to State Conventions than any other candidate.

How is that possible?


First and foremost, in the caucus states the original caucus that takes place is actually only a straw poll and truly only serves to inform the voters of each precinct as to where their perspective precinct’s voters generally stand.

The real elections don’t actually take place until immediately thereafter when those who wish to become delegates stay behind after everyone else goes home. This is where the process begins to narrow down the hundreds or thousands from each caucus state that want to become a delegate.

Individuals from each precinct that want to become a delegate pitch each other as to why they each deserve to represent their precinct at their County’s Convention. They then hold another election to decide who will fill those available seats and vote those individuals to those County Conventions, which typically takes place a couple weeks later, and many already have.

The process basically repeats itself at the County level as all those who were voted to County Conventions then vote to see who of those will represent their county at the district level, narrowing the field down even further.
From there, District Delegates will then vote a week or two later to see who will ultimately be selected to State Conventions, from there to the National Convention, where in Iowa’s case only 25 National Delegate seats are available.

Only then will the American people finally get to know the exact amount of delegates each candidate receives from the caucus states because it is there at the National Convention that those delegates finally make the official vote for the candidate of their choice.

Additionally, as these County and District Conventions continue to unfold, it is becoming widely evident that Ron Paul’s supporters have been the most educated on this process and also seem to be the most dedicated thus far.
Thousands of Paul Delegate hopefuls have been overrunning County and District Conventions all over the country. In turn, it has been mostly Paul Delegates that continue to move on to the next successive convention to this point, unless GOP Party ‘officials’ from those precinct, County or District Conventions purposely tried to illegally force Paul’s supporters from participating.

Unfortunately, that is something that has happened in quite a few locations around the country.

Being that as it is, in the caucus states that have actually held their straw poll and Precinct, County and District Conventions already, with so many Paul Delegates taking over the majority of the districts thus far, it is almost a done deal that Ron Paul will likely win much of the available delegate seats from many of the caucus states.


Even in some of the “primary” states like Virginia and Oklahoma there are portions of delegate seats available that are not bound to the original election and are open to any candidate that made the original ballot. These delegate seats will be apportioned in separate elections much like the caucus states.

Under these circumstances, if the establishment’s media continues to merely report an estimate proportionately based on the initial caucus straw poll in each caucus state, the American people will continue to be misled about what the actual count may be.

It will also be very interesting to see how the media handles the real numbers as they start to emerge from the National Convention. Ron Paul may actually currently be, by some estimates, in 3rd or even 2nd place overall behind Romney and truly seems to be gaining steam as the process continues to unfold.

Some in the GOP have shuttered at the fact that young Ron Paul supporters have done their homework and decided to go out in mass to attempt forcing their candidate into the Republican nomination and have tried to do everything they can to stop them from doing so.

The problem with that is Ron Paul’s delegate hopefuls have truly done their homework, know the GOP’s election laws and are following them by the book, something the other candidate’s supporters aren’t doing. This forces anyone trying to stop them to break the rules to do so.

The problem the establishment is having with even that scenario is that so many legal Paul Delegate hopefuls have decided to participate this time that the establishment doesn’t have the organization in place to cover the incredible amount of locations being overrun by Paul supporters, and in turn Paul’s Delegates are winning the majority of the Caucus State Delegates in many of those states anyway.

Stay tuned as this remarkable story continues to unfold.

Subscribe to Jeff's updates

Supporting Medium:

Establishment media's Inaccurate Delegate Count:

CBS News Politics: Estimated Republican Delegate Scorecard

WSJ: GOP Delegate Tracker

CNN: Republican Delegate Calculator

Truth:

RT: The Ronulans are among us: How Ron Paul’s delegate strategy is actually working

New American: Can Ron Paul’s Delegate Strategy Confound Conventional Wisdom?

US News: There is Still Hope for Ron Paul

Reality:

Iowa

HuffPost: Rick Santorum, Ron Paul On Track To Get Most Of Iowa's Delegates

(YouTube): Ron Paul Has Won a Lot of Delegates.....Oh Dear. – MSNBC

Nevada

Daily Paul: Breaking! Las Vegas, Nevada. Ron Paul Delegates SWEEP The Clark County Convention!

EGFC: Ron Paul Nevada Team Continues Winning Streak in GOP County Conventions

(YouTube): Ron Paul Supporters Swarm Clark County GOP Convention (3-25-12)

(YouTube): Ron Paul Sweeps All Delegates Out of Nye County, Nevada!

Maine

(YouTube): Ron Paul Is Second in Delegates and Can Beat Obama! (Post-Debate Interview with John King)

Missouri

Opposing Views: Ron Paul: My Campaign is "Doing Quite Well"

PolicyMic: Ron Paul Upsets Santorum In Missouri Caucuses Buoyed By Huge Youth Turnout

Facebook Notes: Upset by high Paul supporter turnout and victories, people resort to calling it “cheating”

(YouTube): Boone County Missouri Caucus #1 (03/17/12) RON PAUL WON 48/53 DELEGATES

(YouTube): Reality Check - GOP attempts to manipulate Ron Paul delegates in Missouri -HOW TO FIGHT BACK !!!

Colorado

Daily Paul: Boulder County Republican Convention

(YouTube): Ron Paul Wins Delegates despite voter fraud!

(YouTube): Ron Paul & the DELEGATE LIE!

Minnesota

RonPaulForums: Is Ron Paul #WINNING Minnesota?

(YouTube): Ron Paul Is Secretly Winning...

Washington

Sound Politics: Ron Paul Sweeps the 36th and 46th District Caucuses

(YouTube): RON PAUL DELEGATE WASHINGTON STATE DOMINATION!!! MIRRORED!

(YouTube): Ron Paul with Bret Baier after Washington Caucus (3/3/12) ITS ALL ABOUT DELEGATES

Alaska

DailyPaul: Alaska District Convention news. More good news!

Oklahoma

Examiner: Victory for Liberty in OK-5

(Youtube): Ron Paul Supporters in Oklahoma Fight Back and WIN Against Fraud and Corruption

Wyoming

DailyPaul: Ron Paul wins Hot Springs County Wyoming!

(YouTube): Reality Check: The Real Republican Delegate Numbers

Kansas

(YouTube): Ron Paul (Kansas) we will Win the majority of delegates in several States

Official GOP Election Rules:

"Robert's Rules of Order"








Ron Paul's army of younger voters are amassing delegates in the caucus states in numbers that has GOP 'officials' scrambling Credits:
T.J. Kirkpatrick / Getty Images




Related topics:

• Elections 2012
• Ron Paul delegates
• Ron Paul 2012
• Ron Paul
• GOP
• 2012 Republican Nomination

Suggested by the author:

• WA GOP on hidden camera excluding Ron Paul Delegates
• Santorum campaign caught trying to foil county convention re-do
• Ron Paul endorsed by Korn front-man, Jonathan Davis
• Americans Elect disqualifying Ron Paul Delegates?
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Ron Paul winning delegates - Denver Libertarian | Examiner.com

To the Youth of the Ron Paul movement! This NEEDS to go viral! Get it out please!

The Importance of the Young « NewAgora

Will Ron Paul-ers Vote For Romney?

Updated: Another Large Crowd-LIVE from Chico-Where to follow

Submitted by John P. Slevin on Tue, 04/03/2012 - 18:42
Ron Paul 2012
California

Headcount from Twitter-1 hour before speech, more than 1,000 already!

Photo: Really Packed!





Photo: One hour before he speaks. It's getting PACKED!




Photo: None of the others draw these crowds!

Ron Paul's Chico speech begins at 7:00pm PST.



Twitter pic/Paul supporters arriving early



More Early Paul supporters



Twitter Photo of stage 2 hours before speech.

I'll keep this post updated as I find more sources.
So far, the following will Tweet LIVE from Chico
you can get updates here or by following them:
Rachel Coulson @racheyco
fatal @iNDfAtAl
Annie Paige @lilredcholeric

Updated: Another Large Crowd-LIVE from Chico-Where to follow | Peace . Gold . Liberty | Ron Paul 2012

Video: Sign Waving and Bullhorning New York with the Ameros!

Ron Paul Campaign Sweeps Coveted Contest Recognizing Best Ads of 2012 Election Cycle

Wins best series of ads award and accolades for individual spots like ‘Big Dog’ that keep Ron Paul in top-tier among better-funded candidates

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul’s campaign recently swept a contest held to recognize innovative political advertising, affirming his organization’s creativity and the aggressive posture it takes when promoting Dr. Paul’s platform of constitutionally-limited government, a return to economic and civil liberties, and an unfailing respect for the sanctity of life.

The Pollie Awards are conferred by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), an association of communications professionals whose talents craft the messaging and tactics that make political campaigns effective and memorable.

AAPC judges recognized the Paul campaign and its ad consultant Jon Downs of FP1 Strategies for Paul’s overall ad strategy, awarding them the 2012 Gold Award for TV/Radio Campaign – Republican. Particular honors bestowed the Paul campaign are the Bronze Award for Best Use of Negative Contrast – Republican; an Honorable Mention for Radio in a Presidential Primary for its ad ‘Life’; the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Award for Television in a Presidential Primary for the ads ‘Big Dog,’ ‘Serial Hypocrisy,’ and ‘Conviction,’ respectively; and the Gold Award for Best Use of Humor – Republican for ‘Big Dog.’

“Our team is very proud of the recognition Ron Paul and we have received in what is a truly collaborative advertising process. We will continue our work with Jon Downs and FP1 Strategies, the best ad guy in the business,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton. “Our ads cut through the noise and clutter of better-funded campaign and multimillion-dollar Super PACS

Ron Paul Campaign Sweeps Coveted Contest Recognizing Best Ads of 2012 Election Cycle*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign CommitteeRon Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

2012 rEVOLution Dwarfs 2008

Brian Doherty has a great cover story in the latest issue of Reason, including this observation:

Ron Paul does not have just voters; he has activists. Many observers have underestimated Paul’s electoral ceiling precisely because of this energetically loyal base, arguing that the folks on street corners waving homemade Paul signs or flooding every online poll that includes the name Paul constitute all his potential voters.

But the 83,000 people who voted for Paul in Iowa and New Hampshire (30,000 more than voted for the third-place candidate, former Sen. Rick Santorum) would not exactly all fit in Mom’s basement.

The movement now dwarfs the already impressive Ron Paul rEVOLution of 2008. America hasn’t seen such a youthful, driven, hopeful, radical youth cadre driving a political campaign since, well, Barack Obama in 2008.

2012 rEVOLution Dwarfs 2008*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign CommitteeRon Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee