Ron Paul backers tangle with state GOP over caucus reports
Debbie Hopper, national field director for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas (and who is continuing his campaign for president), called Thursday to recount a contentious encounter that she had just had with Missouri Republican Party executive director Jared Craighead.
Hopper said that she had gone to the state party’s headquarters in Jefferson City on Thursday to look at the reports turned in by the various sites’ chairmen from last Saturday’s caucuses.
Craighead refused to allow Hopper to look at the reports. Hopper noted that next Tuesday is the deadline for challenging the reports’ content, or the proposed delegates approved at the caucuses and then OKed by the state party.
Hopper said she’s concerned that the state Republican Party is out to disenfranchise the Paul delegates selected at those caucuses, or that some of the caucus chairmen.
To briefly recap:
The Republican caucuses were held last Saturday around the state to select state delegates for the state GOP congressional caucuses in April and the state convention in May. (The state delegates help select the presidential delegates, and help shape the state party’s issues platform,)
As readers may be aware, Paul’s supporters came out in force. In sites where they were in the majority, the Paul contingents controlled the caucuses and elected their slates of delegates.
Hopper reaffirmed her side’s belief that the Paul supporters snagged about a third of the state delegates.
Click here to read the Post-Dispatch’s account, published Tuesday.
Friday morning, Craighead made the following reply. “Accusations of anything underhanded going on are ludicrous,” he said. “We have not received all of the information from the local caucuses. We’re in the process of cataloguing and compiling the information. We’re not in a position to share it with anyone.”
Will the state party have the information available before Tuesday?
“It is unclear,” Craighead said. He cited various roadblocks (including the Easter weekend). But among them: “It depends how fast the caucuses turn in their stuff.”
It’s time to recognize there are now two types of repubs - Hamiltonians, who actually like big central govt telling them what to do, who don’t understand monetary policy and who like to pass out goodies to big businesses, and old guard Republicans, who like small govt, minimal intrusion, and a strong currency.
The Ron Paulites are at war with the Hamiltonians just as much as with the Dems. They’ll lose, because understanding sound monetary policy requires reading Austrian economics, Bastiat and the like, and most GOP’ers are lazy “America First” nonthinkers.
Not so fast. Our County was delayed in sending in our reports because we had problems finding the Ron Paul delegates to get the necessary information to submit the paperwork.
i would bet anything that jared jarhead is anti ron paul and is doing the slimy thing that the gop is doing al over the country - whatever he can to block ron paul delegates all their due delegate status.
unfortunately, he is probably misinformed and underestimates ron paul supporters.
I can not reveal too much , but this has just begun . The March 15th caucus was just a test . And we have proven that we can win .
Now we let the games begin , goodbye old GOP . Goodbye Craighead .
Never underestimate the power of conviction to OUR America .
Welcome to the New World Order folks! Egghead Craighead is just following orders.
Yes, Jarhead is against Ron Paul. McCain received a plurality of the vote in Missouri’s primary, and were it held today, with only the candidates who remain in the race, he’d receive a strong majority. Obviously, the MRP is going to support McCain - and they should. This does NOT, however, give them the right to break the rules.
As far as the responses which Paul supporters have suggested here:
1. Filing lawsuits costs money. Be prepared to spend several thousand dollars just to get in the door. Yes, you can do it pro se, and then it justs costs you the filing fee. But then, be prepared to lose. If you are right on the facts, but don’t get the court procedures and terminology right, they will toss you right out the door.
2. Paul supporters did not win a majority of delegates to the state convention. And even if you did, the executive director and staff of the MRP are all against you, so you will lose a fight with the party.
3. Scott, the “29 signatures” isn’t just any 29 Republicans, it is 29 members of the MRSC - that stands for the Missouri Republican State Committee. So snagging 29 Ron Paul supporters from your caucus and sending in a letter isn’t going to cut it.
4. All the gleeful talk about hurting the GOP in November just shows you for what you are: Supporters of a man, but NOT supporters of the party. Which is precisely the problem. If you support Ron Paul, but only support the Republican party so long as it supports Ron Paul, you aren’t a Republican, you’re a Paulist, or Paulite, or whatever …
You guys can bang your heads against a wall from now until the state convention, it won’t do you any good. I suggest you come down to Branson, enjoy the party, get together a crew of conservatives, and start working toward the 2012 election. An effort to reshape the party in the image of somebody who only got 5% of the Republican vote isn’t going anywhere.
To Nick Kasoff. We, the supporters of Ron Paul, intend on restoring the party back to it’s original principles before it was hijacked by the Neocon thugs. We may be too young to remember the party’s principles but let me give you a taste of what is in store.
1. You will find that are pockets are deep from the grassroots supporters, and we will fight corruption and the political inbreeding that has developed within our Grand Old Party. Our supporters are gaining momentum every day that goes by, as they despise McCain and all of the liberal platforms that he has supported over the years.
2. The State of Alaska GOP delegates (State convention) is strickly made up of Ron Paul supporters. Expect to see them in Minnesota.
3. George Bush and his policies have been an unmitigated disaster for this country and it’s citizens. We need to get back to real Conservatism, not this NeoCon crap. The energy President has performed his job well. Corporate energy concerns have reaped record profits year after year on the back of American consumers. I am sure that McCain will follow in his footsteps.
Is Bush the worst U.S. president ever?
http://www.thestar.com/Canada/Columnist/article/349621
4. How can we as conservative Republicans expect to back a Republican candidate who has not only recieved the endorsement of Joe Lieberman, a leading Democrat, but may potentially be John McCain’s runnig mate; as in VP.
Lieberman Backs McCain For President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuCy3wULAy0&NR=1
McCain ruminates about running mates
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-mccain13mar13,1,7860071.story
5. You seem somewhat provencial in your thinking. You may want to read up on what’s going on around you in your world. You may like it.
Alaska Belongs To Ron Paul
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=18469
Signed, A Reagan Republican who is ready for change for the positive.
Concerned Citizen - Ron Paul does not have all the delegates from Alaska. We have 5 delegates and 5 alternates.
We should have had 14 to McCain’s 12, but as with the problems we’re encountering here in Missouri, the GOP of Alaska ignores it’s own rules if it doesn’t like the outcome.
No doubt, there are bad things going on at the state party level here in Missouri. But is the Paul campaign going to fund legal challenges? If not, they probably won’t happen. Concerned Citizen is wrong when he says that “pockets are deep from the grassroots” - generally, pockets are pretty shallow, but extremely wide, which means there is plenty of money to be raised, but an organization has to exist to do it. Very few, if any, are going to personally toss ten grand into a legal challenge on a delegate slate, and even if they were, they’d have a hard time finding a lawyer with the knowledge to handle the case. This is something which has to come from the campaign itself, or it won’t happen at all.
Personally, as an active Republican of many years, I’m ashamed at the conduct of Jarhead and his associates at the MRP. Had they graciously accepted the outcome, they would still control the convention, but would also have won the support and loyalty of the Paul supporters, which would be a powerful force in elections to come. Instead, they have created hostility and disloyalty. Dumb move. But hey, at least there should be some excitement in Branson.
Hi, Nick. It’s been a long time. Hope you are doing well. If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, I’d like to talk to you. Please email me at dhopper@ronpaul2008.com with your phone number.