Colorado state convention thread

[Thor]

I was about to confirm that. I never got a "grassroots" slate with 24 people on it. The goldenrod sheet that Kenny, et all, were handing out later in the assembly was an additional 13 names to the original, official Unity slate. So, in the end, I voted for those 23 + 1 other (a popular, very liberty minded candidate from HD13, I think - and tried to get everyone around me to vote for her for the 24th vote). This other grassroots slate that you mean, I never saw...

No, it did not have 24 people on it... It was 13 more (don't remember the exact number) to the official Unity (less the 2 Santorum). Same grassroots slate.

I really think this is a big to do about nothing.

 

[dwinblood]

We did do really well. I heard some issues about Colorado Springs with their slate versus Matt introducing a last minute slate that was different. But all and all, a good weekend.

Since the grassroots slate replicated all the delegates on the official Unity / RMGO / Pro-Life slates (less the 2 Santorum supporters) and then added some more people so we could fill more of the 24 spots, the main complaining is due to the use of the term "official slate"? I mean who cares if only the grassroots slate was mentioned in some 15 second speeches, the grassroots slate covered the other slates in entirety - less the 2 Santorum people. People were trying to make sure all the additional voting spots we could fill (24 total) were filled with our people and had 15 seconds to get a message out, so they wanted to make sure the grassroots slate word got out.

The grassroots slate "covered" the other ones with the same people. The only difference with someone just mentioning the grassroots slate versus saying grassroots and official Unity / RMGO was the 2 Santorum supporters were left out if the grassroots was only mentioned. BFD. Voting "both" basically just means "including the 2 Santorum people", as that was the difference in both with the core people. Is that really worth getting all worked up over? If you voted Grassroots only, you voted both / all (Unity / Pro-Life / RMGO), less 2 Santorum people. So again, is this about the 2 Santorum people?

If people are getting upset over misuse of the term "official slate", then get over it. The grassroots was a replication of the official slate (less 2 Santorums) plus more choice to get alternates. So it was the "official+ slate". Or "official enhanced". Or "official expanded". There are bigger things ahead and this is water under the bridge than what was really titled "official" and what wasn't. We got a good showing of delegates elected.

I thought there was a grassroots slate going around that had a whole different set of people, with no replication of people, based upon some of the posts here....

Actually, that makes it MUCH WORSE. The Grass Roots Slate did NOT replicate everyone on each slate. The Grass Roots Slate is what was written in on the top of the handwritten extra 10 (later 11) names added to be voted in conjunction with the Unity Slate. It didn't have ANY of the people from the Unity (Pro-Gun/Pro-Life) slate listed on it. That is the problem. It only had the 10 (11 if you got Daniel Trush at last moment like I did) on it.


EDIT: This is why calling it the official slate was bad. The Unity slate was the official slate with 13 names on it. Grass Roots Slate was the hand written slate with 10 more (11 if you were lucky enough to get Daniel Trush at the last minute). If people only voted the Unity slate then 10 more people from Grass Roots (11 possible) were missed. IF people only voted Grass Roots then 13 people on the Unity slate were missed.


EDIT 2: If there was a second Grass Roots Slate circulating with all the names from both the above slates on it I never saw it, and I don't know anyone else that did.

Since the grassroots slate replicated all the delegates on the official Unity / RMGO / Pro-Life slates (less the 2 Santorum supporters) and then added some more people so we could fill more of the 24 spots, the main complaining is due to the use of the term "official slate"? I mean who cares if only the grassroots slate was mentioned in some 15 second speeches, the grassroots slate covered the other slates in entirety - less the 2 Santorum people. People were trying to make sure all the additional voting spots we could fill (24 total) were filled with our people and had 15 seconds to get a message out, so they wanted to make sure the grassroots slate word got out.

is what I am responding to.


EDIT 3: I can understand your point about 15 seconds being an issue though. I agree with you there. So, from that perspective I can understand why some people had good reasons for only mentioning one. The confusion is with the people who seemed to think that was the official slate. Like I said if you have a version that has both slates merged (less the two Santorum people) then I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

[Thor]

EDIT 2: If there was a second Grass Roots Slate circulating with all the names from both the above slates on it I never saw it, and I don't know anyone else that did.

I got an email at the convention from "grassroots" with the grassroots slate. The email had the Unity / RMGO people (less Santorum), plus all the new ones added. I looked at the handwritten grassroots slate being handed out and I believe (and this might be where I am confused) that I saw the same names replicated from the Unity and the same new names as my email. If the grassroots ONLY had the new names and did not replicate the Unity, then yes, it is a problem. But my email showed the Unity plus new ones, and the grassroots handwritten I think I saw had them all as well, but that could be my misunderstanding, as I did not take a copy of the grassroots when verifying the names matched the email.

 

[cajuncocoa]

Cajuncocoa - I don't think you need to worry about this happening. The word during the after party was that Santorum had said "No more unity slates". As to the strategy. I don't see a VP position coming from it. I see it as a strategy to try to insure Romney doesn't have the magic number of delegates before nationals so, that a brokered convention happens. If the brokered convention does not happen then we already have no way for Ron Paul to be nominated. When Santorum people were on the slates they were largely out numbered by Ron Paul people and they are actually pretty easy to convert if you point them to good information. I told a few before the assembly to go to votesmart.org and check out Santorum's voting record and compare it to his claims. I told them to do it themselves and make their own decision. This swayed a few people. I even swayed a person running for Adams County Commissioner with this. She was a Santorum supporter but, she did what I asked and remembered who I was when we finally met in person. Her name is Donnia Howell. As far as I have been able to determine she is no longer a Santorum supporter and simply needed good information.

Thanks...and welcome to RPF!

 

[Maltheus]

Actually, that makes it MUCH WORSE. The Grass Roots Slate did NOT replicate everyone on each slate. The Grass Roots Slate is what was written in on the top of the handwritten extra 10 (later 11) names added to be voted in conjunction with the Unity Slate. It didn't have ANY of the people from the Unity (Pro-Gun/Pro-Life) slate listed on it. That is the problem. It only had the 10 (11 if you got Daniel Trush at last moment like I did) on it.


EDIT: This is why calling it the official slate was bad. The Unity slate was the official slate with 13 names on it. Grass Roots Slate was the hand written slate with 10 more (11 if you were lucky enough to get Daniel Trush at the last minute). If people only voted the Unity slate then 10 more people from Grass Roots (11 possible) were missed. IF people only voted Grass Roots then 13 people on the Unity slate were missed.


EDIT 2: If there was a second Grass Roots Slate circulating with all the names from both the above slates on it I never saw it, and I don't know anyone else that did.


is what I am responding to.


EDIT 3: I can understand your point about 15 seconds being an issue though. I agree with you there. So, from that perspective I can understand why some people had good reasons for only mentioning one. The confusion is with the people who seemed to think that was the official slate. Like I said if you have a version that has both slates merged (less the two Santorum people) then I'd be interested in seeing it.

There was no real confusion. Here's what happened, after the shenanigans at CD 5, CD 2 and CD 5 got together to put together their own last minute slate. But they decided to limited the number of people on it, so as not to compete with the official "Unity" slate, once they became comfortable with the fact that it did indeed have solid Ron Paulers on it. The grassroots slate was distributed in two ways. One was by e-mail, which was a comprehensive list of 23 names that included the "Unity" slate people. The flyer that went around the convention only had the grassroots names on it, but it was being handed out with the instructions that these were addidional names to vote for, solid Ron Paulers, so that people wouldn't scatter their additional votes. At no time, were people being told to vote for more people, than they had votes, unless you count the confusion of the Romney Unity slate. Cory Chenard even came out and supported it. And most of the speakers held up both flyers, making it quite clear what people were being asked to do. Vote for both! Not everyone mentioned both flyers, but that was only because we only had 15 seconds, and it was already clear to most people.

 

[dwinblood]

There was no real confusion. Here's what happened, after the shenanigans at CD 5, CD 2 and CD 5 got together to put together their own last minute slate. But they decided to limited the number of people on it, so as not to compete with the official "Unity" slate, once they became comfortable with the fact that it did indeed have solid Ron Paulers on it. The grassroots slate was distributed in two ways. One was by e-mail, which was a comprehensive list of 23 names that included the "Unity" slate people. The flyer that went around the convention only had the grassroots names on it, but it was being handed out with the instructions that these were addidional names to vote for, solid Ron Paulers, so that people wouldn't scatter their additional votes. At no time, were people being told to vote for more people, than they had votes, unless you count the confusion of the Romney Unity slate. Cory Chenard even came out and supported it. And most of the speakers held up both flyers, making it quite clear what people were being asked to do. Vote for both! Not everyone mentioned both flyers, but that was only because we only had 15 seconds, and it was already clear to most people.

Okay, the email is where the breakdown happened then. I know A LOT of other Ron Paul supporters outside of CD5 and I don't know anyone that had what you are describing in the email. If there had been a Grass Roots Slate with both slates merged available to everyone then I don't think it would be an issue. I have NEVER seen this slate and still do not have it to this day in my email. The only grass roots slate most of us (outside of CD5) got was the hand written one with 10 names we could add to the Unity Slate.

 

[Thor]

Okay, the email is where the breakdown happened then. I know A LOT of other Ron Paul supporters outside of CD5 and I don't know anyone that had what you are describing in the email. If there had been a Grass Roots Slate with both slates merged available to everyone then I don't think it would be an issue. I have NEVER seen this slate and still do not have it to this day in my email. The only grass roots slate most of us (outside of CD5) got was the hand written one with 10 names we could add to the Unity Slate.

OK, so then that is the confusion, as I went off my grassroots email which had them all (Unity plus new ones).

Did the grassroots handwritten one clearly say at the top, "in addition to the Unity slate" or not at all?

I guess I assumed the handwritten one replicated all the names. But if it didn't, and did not reference it, then that was bad.

 

[Maltheus]

OK, so then that is the confusion, as I went off my grassroots email which had them all (Unity plus new ones).

Did the grassroots handwritten one clearly say at the top, "in addition to the Unity slate" or not at all?

I guess I assumed the handwritten one replicated all the names. But if it didn't, and did not reference it, then that was bad.

I don't recall and I don't have it in front of me. But we listened to hundreds of people go up on stage and say to vote for both of them. It was crystal clear. Even the people I knew, who were most angry with Matt Holdridges' tactics, voted for the Unity slate on Saturday. We had 24 votes and 23 names to vote for. There was no problem at state other than the alternate promotion fiasco, that's still working itself out (and most likely will).

 

[dwinblood]

I don't recall and I don't have it in front of me. But we listened to hundreds of people go up on stage and say to vote for both of them. It was crystal clear. Even the people I knew, who were most angry with Matt Holdridges' tactics, voted for the Unity slate on Saturday. We had 24 votes and 23 names to vote for. There was no problem at state other than the alternate promotion fiasco, that's still working itself out (and most likely will).

Okay, I knew where a photo and it does have an asterisk and say to vote that other slate as well.

I received a note saying to add Daniel Trush to this as well.

 

[dwinblood]

I suppose this is self explanatory if people read the instructions at top. I actually did not have a copy of this. As I stated I'd received a text message of the names and already handwritten them onto my copy of the Unity Slate. So, we probably were OKAY with this... as long as people followed those instructions.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

I know a way to prevent fake opposition slates in the future: use weird-colored paper. Either distribute at the last minute or actually print at the last minute. The opposition can get on their laptops and copy your title, your formatting, everything... but they will not have neon green paper (or whatever) because they will not have thought to bring colored paper, and even if they did they cannot have a supply of every conceivable possible color. And it will be too late for them to run to Office Depot and buy some. Then if there are two "Conservative Unity" tickets, a real one and a Romney one, you just tell everyone to vote for the neon green ticket.

 

[Thor]

So that pretty well covers it all (even includes the 2 Santorums by directing to the Unity slate, which the email I got did not include - see below). I am not sure how someone only getting that would not have voted both. It might have been better to list all the names, but the reference was there.

Being upset over some people calling it "official" is nitpicking a little bit and not worth the energy.

Here was my email I got at 8:53 AM MST on Saturday:

SUBJECT: New RP slate additions for state, ok'd by the RP campaign

Grass Roots Liberty Slate: in addition to the Conservative Liberty Slate Please add these ten names only!

Athens-Barnekow, Marilou
Brehm, Keri Joy
Brown Dudley
Casetta Alexander
England, John James
Grantham, St. Sen. Kevin
Kuroiwa, Ted Charles
Nienburg, Charles Raymond
Ransom, Kim D.
Spady, Judith Diane
Woyte, Jospeph Christian
Arleen Schiffman
Joseph Breher
Jeremiah Patterson
Christine Collins
Randy Linnen
Quinn Harris
Robert Reginelli III
Chris Corcoran
Darrin Buttery
Mary Zesiewicz

We MUST vote together or we will hang separately

I know, it says "add these 10 names", but it has them all (less the 2 Santorum) in the message.

Less confusion would have prevailed in both cases (CD's and State) if the slates had enough names for all the votes we could cast, i.e. for Delegates AND Alternates. So 6 for the CD's and 24 for State, instead of just 3 for the CD's and 12 for State with last minute efforts to provide concentrated efforts for the remaining Alternate slots.

 

[sailingaway]

I know a way to prevent fake opposition slates in the future: use weird-colored paper. Either distribute at the last minute or actually print at the last minute. The opposition can get on their laptops and copy your title, your formatting, everything... but they will not have neon green paper (or whatever) because they will not have thought to bring colored paper, and even if they did they cannot have a supply of every conceivable possible color. And it will be too late for them to run to Office Depot and buy some. Then if there are two "Conservative Unity" tickets, a real one and a Romney one, you just tell everyone to vote for the neon green ticket.

I think that is a good idea, different colors and scramble them so the night before would have been a different color than the next day. A lot of places do that with tickets and entry bracelets, why not with slates, when fraud is occurring?

 

[libertythor]

How many delegates did Ron Paul get?

 

[Maltheus]

How many delegates did Ron Paul get?

It looks like 13 or 14 (of 36 total). Not sure about that St. Sen. Kevin Grantham guy. There was a rumor going around that he was a Romney mole, but then I heard that was a false rumor. The only thing I've found while googling him was that he was leaning Santorum back in February. If we assume that we have the full 14, then we need to convert 4 Santorum delegates to have 50%. That means getting Nancy McKiernanm, Sue Sharkey, Sean Conway, and Anil Mathai on our side, because we won't likely have any luck converting Robin Coran or Kent Lambert. If we can convert 3, with the others staying committed to Santorum through national (unlikely), then we will also have a plurality. I suspect that we'll be lucky if we can convert 2, with the rest flipping to Romney, once Santorum endorses.

If by some remote chance, this delegate promotion challenge, leads to an invalidation of the state results (leaving us with only our CD delegates 10/21), then we may only need to convert 1 to have a plurality (and I think we have one already), unless of course the other 5 flip to Romney.

 

[Monotaur]

....and in case anyone gets bored, someone uploaded the entire State Assembly to you tube (I haven't watched it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WiCAzSNftE&feature=youtu.be

 

[dwinblood]

Being upset over some people calling it "official" is nitpicking a little bit and not worth the energy.

I agree with that. If people followed the instructions at the top we'd be good. I did not have a copy of this. All of the names were texted to me about an hour before that started circulating. So, by the time I was offered one (I was offered it about 3 times so, we had good coverage) I already had the names.