Ron Paul Supporters Cause County Convention Chaos

By Jason M. Volack

After 25 state election contests, Ron Paul remains without a single win. But the Texas congressman isn’t giving up hope of capturing the Republican nomination.
Aides say Paul is banking on his organization to help him pick up a plurality or even a majority of delegates in several state conventions, including Maine, Washington State, Alaska, Nevada, North Dakota and Iowa.

And as the campaigning continues, there are signs that Paul supporters are willing to make the nominating process messy.

They’re accused of muddying county conventions in Colorado and Iowa last weekend.

In Iowa, a half dozen counties reported disruptions during conventions. The most egregious example occurred in Polk County, where Paul supporters illegally tried to become delegates.

“They were abrasive, offensive, and self-centered,” said Kevin McLaughlin, GOP chairman in Polk County.

In Colorado, Ron Paul supporters shouted down Denver County GOP Chairman Danny Stroud, demanding rule changes in favor of their candidate.
“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,” Stroud said in a statement to the Denver Post.

Colorado GOP Executive Director Chuck Poplstein says he “not totally surprised” by the action of the Ron Paul supporters who, because of previous elections, are naturally inclined to be suspect of the system. But, he added, the supporters did eventually behave themselves.

Paul Campaign Chair Jesse Benton calls the allegations against his supporters “silly,” claiming that those who are complaining are frustrated with being out-organized.

“These silly complaints are all spin and whining from supporters of other candidates who are frustrated that Dr. Paul’s supporters have out-organized and out-hustled them,” said Benton in an email.

However, Iowa’s McLaughlin said Paul supporters were attempting to become delegates illegally.

State law clearly defines the manner in which delegates are elected, at precinct caucuses, yet some Paul supporters argued for a rule change that would allow them to be seated.

They were eventually voted down, but not before some protesters were thrown out because of repeated disruptions, including sneaking around backstage. Some were caught rifling through delegate packets trying to find precincts where people did not show up so they could claim those seats.

“They wanted to be seated even though they were not elected,” said McLaughlin.

The Iowa Republican newspaper reports that much of this behavior was inspired and encouraged by Ron Paul’s Iowa campaign itself, led by his state co-chair’s Drew Ivers and David Fischer who in an email told supporters the key is “to get elected” and “to be aggressive.”

“Remember, to get elected, the first key is to be aggressive so make sure you jump up as soon as nominations are open. If there are any votes, make sure you vote ONLY for Ron Paul supporters. A vote for anyone who is not a Ron Paul supporter could cost us seats at the District and State Conventions.”
Benton, asked about the Iowa campaign’s tactics as defined in this email, responded to ABC News via email.

“David and Drew are deeply respected men of unimpeachable integrity and are spearheading a convention operation second to none,” he wrote.
McLaughlin said that it’s difficult to pin all the disruptions on Ron Paul supporters, admitting that some could have been Occupy Wall Street protesters. But, he says, the Paul supporters were the most vocal and have given their candidate a bad name in the county.

The disruptions slowed down the convention by at least a couple of hours.

“In my experience it was all very unusual,” said McLaughlin, a veteran GOP member who has served through many conventions.

In Iowa, the drama is expected to continue at the district conventions in April, but McLaughlin says the strategy of aggressive disruptions so far has not produced any extra delegates for the Texas congressman in his state.

“That’s just not going to happen,” McLaughlin said.

Eight Reasons Why Romney Won't Receive Nomination

There’s a good a chance Mitt Romney will win the primaries in Arizona and Michigan tonight, drawing that much closer to the Republican nomination. But the media’s portrayal of him has been anything but that of a champion—it has been downright withering. Take last week’s economic speech, billed as a major address by his campaign. The coverage was scornful, all but ignoring the news (his proposing a 20 percent income tax cut) and focusing mainly on the empty stadium where the event took place and his latest rich-guy gaffe, when Romney bragged toward the end of his speech about owning four cars, including two Cadillacs—his “fleet of personal vehicles,” as the New York Times drily put it. Romney’s advisers are furious. What’s going on? Here are eight reasons why he’s getting pasted—and why his struggles will likely continue:

1) He’s Hiding: Romney views the press with aspersion, engaging with reporters much less often than Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. That was a viable strategy back when his winning the nomination seemed a lock, but Romney’s ahead by an inch, not a mile, and he’s getting punished for pretending otherwise. Denied access or real news, reporters will write about optics and gaffes—and do so with relish.

2) He’s Trying to Run Out the Clock: Romney’s stump speech is a collection of platitudes and the strange ritual recitation of the lyrics to America the Beautiful. As one of his fundraisers put it to John Heilemann of New York magazine: “I have never seen anything more ridiculous or belittling.” This creates the impression that Romney has nothing to say—or worse, has chosen not to say anything substantive—and is trying to coast to the nomination. Reporters feel duty-bound to push back.

3) He’ll Say Anything: Romney has a reputation as someone who will say anything to get ahead. Lately, he’s been struggling, and now—presto!—he has rolled out a new tax cut. Romney isn’t granted the benefit of the doubt, so the assumption is that this is a political ploy, not a bold policy choice.

4) He Wants to Have It Both Ways: Romney’s advisers fault the media for focusing on trivialities, such as the empty stadium, rather than the size of his proposed cut. A big reason why his tax cut wasn’t treated more seriously is that he won’t say how he’ll pay for it—he wants to take credit for the tax cut but avoid the responsibility of funding it.

5) He’s Awkward: It’s hard to recall a likely major-party nominee who was less of a natural politician than Romney. The constant references to his wealth—the $10,000 bet with Rick Perry, the Cadillacs, his quip yesterday about not being an “ardent” Nascar fan but being friends with several team owners—have become a bizarre-but-captivating spectacle, what James Fallows has aptly dubbed “Romney’s gaffe-Tourette’s.”

6) He’s Underperforming: Turnout and enthusiasm in GOP primaries and caucuses are both way down this year. That’s certainly not Romney’s fault alone. But his candidacy in particular is based on the idea that he’s an electable alternative to Barack Obama—yet his own party has obvious qualms about him.

7) He Has Forfeited His Right to Complain: Last November the Romney campaign rolled out its first ad, an attack on President Obama built around a quote taken entirely out of context. In the ad, Obama is heard to say, “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” But Obama was quoting a Republican, John McCain. Oddly, the Romney campaign bragged about having done this “intentionally.” This cost them a large measure of credibility with the press, which became much less receptive to the campaign’s subsequent complaints.

8) He’s a Mystery: Romney has been running for President for six years. He’s highly accomplished in business and government. He has money, good looks, a beautiful family—yet most political insiders feel they don’t understand what makes him tick. That doesn’t appear likely to change, because Romney is so guarded and press averse, yet at the same time he apparently is incapable on his own of making a strong case for his candidacy. Still, Romney supporters can take solace in this fact: Practically nobody believes he won’t wind up as the nominee.

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