RON PAUL WILL WAKE YOU UP IF YOU LISTEN

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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.

Missouri Caucus Anecdotes: Arguments, Arrests, and a Good Day for Ron Paul

At University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Missouri caucuses may have marked Ron Paul’s most successful day of the 2012 campaign, as anecdotes from across the state indicate a strong showing.
To varying degrees, proceedings grew contentious between Paul supporters and local GOP officials. The gist of the disputes: GOP organizers said the Paul backers were boisterous and obstructive. Paul backers wanted to be heard.

While speculation has been noted on a national level that Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are somehow colluding in the 2012 race, anecdotal evidence from Missouri suggests some cooperation: In counties where Paul supporters showed well, Romney supporters and Paul supporters appeared together on mixed delegate slates. Local GOP officials said they couldn’t say, one way or another, whether Paul and Romney backers seemed to be cooperating in any organized way at individual caucus sites.

In St. Charles County, organizers and police shut down the caucus amid a bitter dispute between Ron Paul supporters and the caucus chairman. Two Ron Paul supporters were arrested, then released. A police helicopter showed up. The caucus was held in a high school gym, and about 2,500 people attended. “It’s like the Hatfields and the McCoys around here,” former St. Charles GOP chairman Tom Kipers said of the ongoing dispute between county GOP leaders and Paul supporters.

The Kansas City Star reports that things got contentious in Clay County, too: ”In Clay County, arguments between Paul supporters and others became so intense that the caucus chairman threatened to have voters removed by force. … [Paul supporter:] ‘We raised a number of points of order, points of information, points of parliamentary inquiry, many of which have been ignored.’” http://bit.ly/zV6XxR

Boone County, which encompasses Columbia and the University of Missouri, elected a slate of Ron Paul-backing delegates, after Paul supporters succeeded in electing their own caucus chair. (That’s a normal part of caucus procedure: the first vote taken is on who will chair the meeting.) One GOP member described the Paul supporters as “loud, boisterous,” and “obnoxious” at the meeting — although the local GOP chairman said things were civil and that GOP officials get along fine with the Paul people there. The caucus elected 48 Ron Paul delegates and 5 Mitt Romney delegates, according to a local GOP official.

Greene County (a large GOP county in Southwest Missouri, encompassing Springfield) elected a mixed slate of 65 Ron Paul delegates, 40 Mitt Romney delegates, and six Rick Santorum delegates. “A few [caucus attendees] got a little loud,” said Danette Proctor, the county GOP chair who presided over the caucus. “But I just said, ‘Be quiet.’”

In keeping with what seems to be a trend, a Ron Paul supporter in Lincoln County alleged that GOP officials violated caucus rules in an attempt to silence Paul supporters. Quote from a Ron Paul supporter, as posted on a blog: “They practically ignored the State GOP guidelines and rules. The severely butchered Robert’s Rules of Order.” Note: GOP caucuses (in Missouri, as well as in Iowa) are governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, although Missouri counties can use their own rules … and then adopt new rules after electing a caucus chairman.

In Christian County, south of Springfield, a local GOP official said Rick Santorum supporters came out as winners, electing a mixed slate of mostly Santorum backers and some Romney backers.

Rick Santorum spoke at the Chesterfield, Mo., caucus site in St. Louis County this morning — but his supporters only narrowly won out. A slate of Santorum-backing delegates narrowly defeated a mixed slate of Paul and Romney supporters, according to a Chesterfield GOP official.

Photo of Santorum drinking a Guinness: https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelBiundo/status/181063517514907648/photo/1
The state GOP acknowledged that it had heard of a few disagreements at caucuses around the state, but nothing else on par with what happened in St. Charles.