Ron Paul supporters have their day in court, er, armory
Here’s the scene: About 45 Ron Paul supporters, most of them from Republican hotbeds Greene County or St. Charles, are gathering in the gymnasium of the Jefferson City armory awaiting their fate as challenged delegates to the Republican state convention.
There’s an 80-year-old man who made the jaunt on a Monday at 10 a.m. There is Curtis Abbott, one of the Greene County ringleaders. There’s a group holding a prayer circle as the first delegate is led upstairs.
And over on the floor playing with his 3-and-a-half-year-old son Andy is Brent Stafford of St. Charles. Stafford was chairman of the St. Charles County Conference, which elected 137 delegates to the state convention, nearly all of them supporters of the failed presidential candidate, Paul.
Stafford and others believe the state party is ignoring it’s “open door” platform by challenging delegates without a reason. All of the challenged delegates in the Armory received a letter from Richard C. Peerson, the chairman of the Republican convention credentials committee. The letter did not state any reasons for the challenge.
“At least they’re giving us the illusion of due process,” Stafford said. He was referring to the 2nd Congressional District convention in which all the St. Charles delegates were unceremoniously tossed out.
The first to be called before the credentials committee today was Barry Pulley of St. Peters. Pully tried to bring Peggy Young with him. Young is an expert in parliamentary procedure who agreed to represent the challenged delegates in their secret meetings, but she was not allowed to join Pulley.
“Effectively, they were saying I was there because the entire group (of Paul delegates) was challenged,” Pulley said. He stated his case and the meeting ended. He said he still plans to attend the state convention.
Republican Party Executive Director Jared Craighead could not be reached for comment. He was in the closed-door meetings upstairs at the Armory, according to one of the Republican Party officials running the meeting.
Nick,
Everything you said above Obama would do, McCain would do. Especially the raising of taxes, attacks on private industry and attacks on free speech (especially conservative talk radio - which he hates) and you also failed to mention that McCain will bring on Universal Health Care in a bipartisan measure. Even though he’s a vertean he does not support the troops. Not once did he speak out in support of our soldiers who were accused of murder. He voted against better veterans benefits this year. Nor did he support the pardoning of the border gaurds. He a liberal and hes in the wrong party. This general election will be democratic primary.
A vote for McCain makes you a sellout in my book! Vote Republican Vote for Ron Paul.
Write in Ron Paul on the ballot? You might as well save your time and stay home. After all, if you think the election process is a sham, why lend it credibility by participating?
PS - Being an ex-Democrat isn’t always a bad thing … Zell Miller is a former Democrat, and he is more conservative than a lot of what passes for Republican these days.
As much as I would like to, it will be pointless to write-in Ron Paul. It will just be seen as a spoiled ballot and not even counted to his credit. The alternative is to vote for the Libertarian candidate. The Libertarian party has full ballot access and some very credible candidates.
There are large numbers of people hoping to persuade Ron Paul to run as a Libertarian. Most of the L candidates have been waiting quietly in the wings, waiting to see how Ron Paul’s campaign would fare. They are now stepping up to the plate.
Vote Bob Barr if Ron Paul isn’t a choice. He thinks the same as Paul.
Watch ‘ Money Masters’. Very educational.
This is nonsense , every 4 years the people are told to get out and participate in our electoral process . So we do and this is what we get . I also am one of the challenged delegates .
We got out our votes and voices to support , of all things , The sinking ship Called the Republican Party . The masses have already went out and voted in the primaries and are jumping ship to the democrats , for good reason . But that is because the flocks of sheep have been herded that way by the liars in Washington .
Because why ? ? ? Because if you vote for McCain you are voting for 4 more years of this Bush shit .;…. Leaving you with only one “sensible” option to vote democrat to supposedly stop this mayhem .
My Friends … Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the same coin and there is no real hope in either of them currently …. So for love of country and our fellow men … We stood up and wanted to make a difference …. And they are trying to shut us out ..
This is to any non-believer of the evils in our government …. This is your proof here with the actions that took place today .
It’s only a matter of time before the house of cards comes tumbling down and the men behind the curtain are revealed .
To those RP supporters who are ready to quit the Republican party in disgust, I would recommend that you stick around instead. Ronald Reagan got the same treatment from the country-club Republicans, and he didn’t get the nomination the first time he ran, either. The Republican party can be returned to the principles it’s supposed to stand for, but ONLY if you stay in the party and vote. 99% of success is showing up, and RP’s supports have been showing up in droves.
-jcr
Ronulans!
HEAR ME!
Your guy lost… get it? While we in the party loved, really loved some of the points he raised, he, Ron Paul is a 24ct flake. Continuing to back this looser is crazy on your part, and will change NOTHING!
Want to change the world!?! Fine, great wonderful… find some local guy (or girl) running for the state house, county council, school board, whatever… someone that thinks as you do, and put all this passion and time and effort into their campaign. Build the party and the government in the image you want to see.
Or you can sit here and whine… it’s up to you
Nick Kasoff - It is hardly reasonable to expect loyalty from people you treat so shoddily. I doubt many Ron Paul Republicans will vote for Obama but they may well vote for the Constitution Party’s candidate, Chuck Baldwin, whoever the Libertarian party nominates, or just stay home at least in part as a consequence of how they are being treated by the party many of them have belonged to their entire adult lives. Would a president Obama be worse than a president McCain? It is arguable. Which is more liberal? Republicans who run as conservatives but rule as liberals are becoming passe. McCain is not even pretending to be conservative. He can’t. His record won’t allow it.
I have no idea who Simon Jester is but he certainly not only speaks for himself, but is possibly trying to make Ron Paul supporters look bad. Of the hundreds of Ron Paul supporters I have met I don’t know of anyone that shares his view.
tsquare!
Hear me!
Apparently the only people who think that Ron Paul still has a chance are the GOP party apparatchiks who are breaking every rule to keep his supporters from having a place at the table. Maybe paranoia or psychotic delusions are their defining characteristics.