HuffPo: Ron Paul Racks Up Delegates, Putting GOP Establishment On Edge

[Tyler_Durden]

Great Article from HuffPo!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/ron-paul-delegates_n_1473035.html?ref=elections-2012

And some Republicans said he has already succeeded in pushing the Republican Party so far to the right on fiscal and budgetary matters that it has paid tangible dividends at the legislative level.

"There are a lot of establishment Republicans who need to thank Ron Paul for injecting a certain amount of courage to do what people always said needed to be done but where they also said, 'How do we do that?'" Iowa state Rep. Erik Helland said.

Helland said that in 2011, the legislature "deappropriated" $500 million over three years from programs such as state-mandated pre-school, government employee benefits and other programs that usually cause an outcry. Helland, who is the majority whip, said that on the Monday after they announced the spending cuts, he got back to Des Moines and "braced" himself for news of outrage from other state representatives who had spent the weekend meeting with constituents.

"They came back and said, 'We talked to our voters, they want to cut more,'" Helland said. "It was paradigm shifting. The voters started actually saying, 'cut.'"

Helland said he gives credit to Paul, who has spent a lot of time in Iowa over the past several years, for changing the political culture.

"Paul staked out such an aggressive dialogue on cutting government that some of the steps we've taken in the legislature and at the federal level are possible because Ron Paul talked about it to the extent that it became politically palatable," Helland said.

"Ron Paul is the most successful presidential candidate in the last couple decades, even though he hasn't won the election," he continued. "He has shaped the dialogue."

 

[No Free Beer]

Huffington Post: Ron Paul Racks Up Delegates

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/ron-paul-delegates_n_1473035.html?ref=politics

WASHINGTON -- A prominent Iowa Republican, and a major supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, did not hesitate to answer when asked recently how many of the Hawkeye State's 28 delegates he expects Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to have heading into the national convention in Tampa this August.

"Twenty," he said.

My personal favorite line: Paul is costing the state a lot of credibility," said Bob Haus, a GOP consultant who most recently headed up Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign in the state.


to read on, click the link.

 

[PatriotOne]

That's quite a compliment coming from Helland. He was the State director for Pawlenty's campaign. We are breaking through the glass ceiling bit by bit.

 

[KingNothing]

Paul is costing the state a lot of credibility? Says a guy who worked for the man who's embarassing ignorance, and blatant homophobia, did almost irreperable damage to the Republican Party in the minds of all independents who were paying attention.

 

[kill the banks]

yeah

 

[No Free Beer]

Paul is costing the state a lot of credibility? Says a guy who worked for the man who's embarassing ignorance, and blatant homophobia, did almost irreperable damage to the Republican Party in the minds of all independents who were paying attention.

that's what is so funny

 

[EaSy]

Beginning of the article is full of quotes from biased GOP leaders, but the end about Iowa is very possitive.

 

[georgiaboy]

sweet

 

[Occam's Banana]

"Paul is costing the state a lot of credibility," said Bob Haus, a GOP consultant who most recently headed up Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign in the state.

Bwaaaaaaaaaa-haaaa-haaaaaaaaa! Hhhaaa-haaahaaahaaaaaaaaaa ... *hurk* *hurk* *hurk* ... Aaaaahhhh-haaaaahaaaahaaaaa ..........

(I gotta get me one of them GOP consultant gigs - the bar seems pretty low ...)

 

[azxd]

Ron Paul Racks Up Delegates, Putting GOP Establishment On Edge

Ron Paul Racks Up Delegates, Putting GOP Establishment On Edge
05/ 3/2012

WASHINGTON -- A prominent Iowa Republican, and a major supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, did not hesitate to answer when asked recently how many of the Hawkeye State's 28 delegates he expects Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to have heading into the national convention in Tampa this August.

"Twenty," he said.

Conversations with numerous Iowa Republicans confirms the same thing: The state party establishment is dreading a Paul rout on June 15 and 16 at the two-day congressional district/state convention in Des Moines.

"Paul is costing the state a lot of credibility," said Bob Haus, a GOP consultant who most recently headed up Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign in the state.

Another Republican operative who works for a statewide official sounded an even more despondent note.
"It does not sound encouraging. The Paul people are in a position to control the delegates, and the result would be chaotic for the Republican Party of Iowa and bring it to a screeching halt, rendering it completely irrelevant to our efforts here," the Republican aide told The Huffington Post. "Nobody would rely on [the state party] for anything."

After the fiasco earlier this year involving the caucus results, Iowans are nervous that if Paul gets a majority of the delegates, it will endanger their first-in-the-nation primary status. On Jan. 3, Romney was reported the winner, only to have the state GOP announce two weeks later that the result was inconclusive, then to reverse again and say that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the victor. The party chairman, Matt Strawn, resigned as a result of the confusion.

SNIP

It's not just Iowa Republicans or other state parties that are starting to worry. The national Republican Party is perking up and starting to take notice. The Republican National Committee's chief counsel, John R. Phillippe Jr., on Wednesday sent a letter to the Nevada GOP chairman, Michael McDonald, essentially warning him that the state party should prevent Paul supporters from taking over this weekend's state convention.

SNIP

It sounds like someone is more worried about their credibility, than they are about who will win the election.

Oh well,
I like the honesty of those being asked.

And ... Wish I didn't have to work this weekend ... A drive to Nevada would be nice

 

[ohgodno]

The old GOP are grasping at straws — sure they and the media can turn people out to push a button on a machine, but they inspire such little passion they cannot get people to the conventions, to be come activists.

Threats, warnings, fear … the same old tricks they use to coax people into loving war, having total disregard for civil liberties etc… are being used again. Will this work to turn out their people? Who knows…

All I can say is: keep up the awesome work delegates.

What's clear to me is the RNC has contacted the press to let them know to begin reporting that the race is not totally locked up… just look at the number of articles covering the campaign today… the cat is outta the bag — we'll have to work harder from here.

 

[sailingaway]

What's clear to me is the RNC has contacted the press to let them know to begin reporting that the race is not totally locked up… just look at the number of articles covering the campaign today… the cat is outta the bag — we'll have to work harder from here.

They always do that. After calling Ron a non factor, the day before Maine they started saying he might win Maine, similar for Iowa etc. They just will NOT give him coverage in advance to build momentum. But they figure they can stay credible by mentioning it five minutes before everyone would have figured it out on their own.

 

[azxd]

I sure hope that falls on the wicked witch of the House

 

[sailingaway]

It sounds like someone is more worried about their credibility, than they are about who will win the election.

Oh well,
I like the honesty of those being asked.

And ... Wish I didn't have to work this weekend ... A drive to Nevada would be nice

No they are trying to get Iowans on their side by pretending it had anything to do with credibility. These are the rules they drew up. NOT following them would damage their credibility much more.

 

[Jordan Liberty]

All these articles are great but they keep mentioning that Romney has all but locked up the nomination and that these efforts are for a set up for Rand Paul in 2016. Of course that means Obama for 4 more years since Romney will lose to him easily. But why settle for Rand for, at the most, 8 years? I think all of our ideal dream scenario will be Ron Paul for 8 years, then Rand Paul the next 8 years. That's 16 years staight of a Unites States with a liberty-minded president! Better yet, how about a Paul/Napolitano ticket, then after 8 years of Ron, we get 8 years of Judge Napolitano, then 8 years of Rand Paul, then 8 years of Rand's VP, who you have to believe would be in line with a libertarian philosophy. Obviously you see where I'm going here. And since the good Doctor has so many children and grandchildren, maybe another Paul will have ambitions to become president one day. A female Paul President, anyone?

 

[azxd]

No they are trying to get Iowans on their side by pretending it had anything to do with credibility. These are the rules they drew up. NOT following them would damage their credibility much more.

Yea, I know ... The credibility thing is diversionary, but it will appeal to some.

An emotional appeal to stop Paul, by creating a knee-jerk reaction to a few words.

Like you said ... Their Rules.

Question,
At this stage in the game,
Could public outcry to change the rules, have any effect, or are the rules solidly in place until after this election ?

 

[sailingaway]

All these articles are great but they keep mentioning that Romney has all but locked up the nomination and that these efforts are for a set up for Rand Paul in 2016. Of course that means Obama for 4 more years since Romney will lose to him easily. But why settle for Rand for, at the most, 8 years? I think all of our ideal dream scenario will be Ron Paul for 8 years, then Rand Paul the next 8 years. That's 16 years staight of a Unites States with a liberty-minded president! Better yet, how about a Paul/Napolitano ticket, then after 8 years of Ron, we get 8 years of Judge Napolitano, then 8 years of Rand Paul, then 8 years of Rand's VP, who you have to believe would be in line with a libertarian philosophy. Obviously you see where I'm going here. And since the good Doctor has so many children and grandchildren, maybe another Paul will have ambitions to become president one day. A female Paul President, anyone?

they are only mentioning this hoping it will wake up 'Romney partisans' and send them to the conventions. but there are no such things as 'Romney partisans' they are simply the party establishment, and they were going to show up, anyhow. They absolutely will still push the meme that Ron is a lost cause and we should play nice for 'future prospects' whether phrased in terms of Rand or otherwise. But there is no reason to believe they will treat Rand any better unless he sells out, in which case he would be useless (and no, I don't think at all that he will.)

 

[devil21]

The old GOP are grasping at straws — sure they and the media can turn people out to push a button on a machine, but they inspire such little passion they cannot get people to the conventions, to be come activists.

Threats, warnings, fear … the same old tricks they use to coax people into loving war, having total disregard for civil liberties etc… are being used again. Will this work to turn out their people? Who knows…

It's already way past time for the establishment voters to become delegates and try to turn the process back toward themselves. The media and the GOP caught on way too late to the delegate strategy to muster their troops for an offensive. We control it and all they can do is try to convince current delegates to spend money to show up to support Romney. No one really wants to do that! That or just break their own rules and risk damaging the party permanently.

All I can say is: keep up the awesome work delegates.

What's clear to me is the RNC has contacted the press to let them know to begin reporting that the race is not totally locked up… just look at the number of articles covering the campaign today… the cat is outta the bag — we'll have to work harder from here.

I still get very, very few Yahoo News alerts about Ron Paul. The media is still mostly blacking him (and us) out. The funny thing is that their black out plan is actually backfiring because we're taking over from the inside and no one knows about it except other insiders. By the time the cat's really out of the bag, it'll be way too late for them to do anything about it. We just have to keep doing everything we can to turn out our delegates to every convention.

 

[jbauer]

Good, I say F'em....thats what they've been saying to us for quite some time. Time for them to taste their own medicine

 

[jbauer]

Thats the plan, take them over from within. Take our country back!!!!!!!!!!

I still get very, very few Yahoo News alerts about Ron Paul. The media is still mostly blacking him (and us) out. The funny thing is that their black out plan is actually backfiring because we're taking over from the inside and no one knows about it except other insiders. By the time the cat's really out of the bag, it'll be way too late for them to do anything about it. We just have to keep doing everything we can to turn out our delegates to every convention.