Results from today's Georgia State Convention

[Adam Smith]

Well, I'm back from Columbus, Georgia. No delegates for Ron Paul, but I'm very proud of us for standing up in a crowd of a thousand to call for a suspension of the rules. Rules, I might add that were passed yesterday without a quorum of delegates. Here's what the Atlanta Journal Constitution had to say.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/sh...linsider/entries/2008/05/17/and_its_over.html

And it’s over.
Saturday, May 17, 2008, 01:31 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Columbus, Ga. — The state GOP convention adjourned just a few minutes ago, after electing what Republicans officials were calling a “unity slate” of delegates to the national convention.

A good bit of fractiousness erupted on the floor during the adoption of resolutions, as some delegates — many of them Ron Paul supporters — questioned a ruling on a voice vote by convention chairman Randy Evans.

Several delegates began shouting from the floor. And a large shout erupted from the floor when one delegate announced from the mike that he would vote against a resolution in support of the Iraq war because, he said, the conflict had nothing to do with the internal security of the United States.

Things settled down after when the convention got down to the business of electing the delegates. Rebels on the floor wanted a delegate-by-delegate selection process. But once Evans called for insurgents to stand and show their numbers — perhaps 10 percent or more of the convention — things settled down.

 

[Adam Smith]

Did I mention our Chairman (woman) compared McCain to Christ? Oh yes she did!

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/05/17/gagop_0517.html

State GOP chair: McCain 'kind of like Jesus


By AARON GOULD SHEININ

Published on: 05/17/08

Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

Everhart was praising McCain for never denouncing the United States while he was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"I'm not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I'm looking at the pain that was there," she said.

 

[georgiaboy]

I Love the Smell of Patriotism in the Morning

Yep, back as well, and so proud of our Ron Paul supporters. I sat and watched, and voted with our block. To those of you who spoke to points of order, parliamentary inquiries, motions, and debating points, you were wonderful. You were respectful, classy, and calmly persistent.

I was especially proud of the fact that though John McCain was mentioned over 15 times in various speeches, and that we had to sit through an entire speech in support of John McCain where the phrase "Commander in Chief" was stated seemingly endlessly, we all held our tongues respectfully, and merely declined to applaud. I truly believe this was the epitome of class and respectfulness.

We didn't have the numbers to overturn the slate, but we were able to loudly vote 'no' to the resolution supporting John McCain. I think a lot of the other convention delegates beyond our numbers joined us in this.

We were also able to cheer for those speakers who stated the obvious to us -- that the GOP conservative base hasn't left the party, but the GOP elected officials have left the base and strayed from doing what they said they were going to do. The phrase "we've lost our way" came to mind. Where have we heard that before??!?

Finally, when one of the speakers mentioned, as several did, that "y'all know, John McCain wasn't my first, or even second, or even third choice" , he stated that he knew that we had voted for ... and then he listed ... Mitt Romney (silence), Mike Huckabee (silence), Fred Thompson (silence), Rudy Giuliani (silence), Duncan Hunter (silence), ...

Ron Paul --- SPONTANEOUS OUTBURST OF CHEERING AND APPLAUSE!!!!

That moment will stay with me and with all 1000+ in attendance for a long, long time.

We've done ourselves and the movement proud. Now on to getting all those elected delegates manifestos so they can wise up and do the right thing come September and beyond.

georgiaboy

 

[MozoVote]

Did they explain anything about the "unity" slate beforehand? (Probably not.) Was there any communication of how many Huckabee or Fred Thompson supporters had been included? (Probably not.)

Unity above all.

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

Good Job everyone!!! We are fighting a beast and doing so with class is heartening to hear. Lies may have won the day, but truth will win the war.

 

[georgiaboy]

Did I mention our Chairman (woman) compared McCain to Christ? Oh yes she did!

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/05/17/gagop_0517.html

State GOP chair: McCain 'kind of like Jesus


By AARON GOULD SHEININ

Published on: 05/17/08

Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

Everhart was praising McCain for never denouncing the United States while he was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"I'm not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I'm looking at the pain that was there," she said.

Oh, yeah, big, big, stumble on Sue's part. As she made the statement, you could see her realizing her faux pas and trying to work herself out of it, followed by quickly dropping it and moving on. She's a fine Christian woman I'm sure, but wow, you don't wanna go there. As a believer in Christ myself, comparison of humans in any way to One whom I consider deity, especially on such a platform in front of all us Bible-totin' Georgians, ... wow, just don't wanna go there.

 

[georgiaboy]

Did they explain anything about the "unity" slate beforehand? (Probably not.) Was there any communication of how many Huckabee or Fred Thompson supporters had been included? (Probably not.)

Unity above all.

"unity" slate was not used by the chairman to describe the slate - at least I don't remember him using that term. I think the blogger/reporter used that term. The names on the slate was read aloud, and what we've been told from regulars in the local party that party leaders, local elected officials, and those with long-term service to the party typically get nominated to the slate. Who one voted for in the primary doesn't appear to be a consideration, though I'm nearly certain that many on the slate did not vote for McCain in the primary. Huckabee won Georgia in the primary, and Romney picked up a district or two.

 

[IPSecure]

Did I mention our Chairman (woman) compared McCain to Christ? Oh yes she did!

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/05/17/gagop_0517.html

State GOP chair: McCain 'kind of like Jesus


By AARON GOULD SHEININ

Published on: 05/17/08

Columbus — Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

Everhart was praising McCain for never denouncing the United States while he was being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"I'm not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I'm looking at the pain that was there," she said.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross..."

 

[slacker921]

digg it..

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

dugg

 

[Cowlesy]

Proud of you guys!!

Always, always good to hear that Traditional Republicans are still taking the time to remind the rest of the party that we are still here, and we are not going away.

 

[pepperpete1]

I think a challenge of the results of the convention is in order.

I have posted this rule so many times:

(11) No delegates or alternate delegates shall be selected pursuant to any Republican Party rule of a state or state law which materially changes the manner of selecting delegates or alternate delegates or the date upon which such state party holds a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention if such changes were adopted or made effective after the first Tuesday in September of the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held. Where it is not possible for a state party to certify the manner and the date upon which it holds a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention in effect in that state on the date and in the manner provided in paragraph (e) of this rule, the process for holding the presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention shall be conducted in the same manner and held upon the same date as was used for the immediately preceding national convention. If it is not possible to hold a presidential primary, caucus, convention, or meeting for the purpose of voting for a presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates to the national convention upon the same date as was used for the immediately preceding national convention, then delegates or alternate delegates shall be selected by congressional district or state conventions pursuant to paragraph (d) of this rule.

 

[ikester8]

It was over before it had even begun.

When I arrived at the convention yesterday, I went to one of the seats in my county's section and picked up a copy of the Convention Rules. Rule 6 stated, in part: "Following the election of the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, the Nominating Committee shall present to the convention its National Convention Delegate and Alternate Nominating Committee Report. Following the report a motion to accept the report and elect the slate of nominees shall be in order." Rule 7 started with: "If the slate is not elected then there will be a call for nominations from the floor."

Obviously, they were going to screw us on floor nominations. What I and others did not realize was that the rules had already been adopted, prior to accepting the report from the Credentialing Committee the following morning. According to everything we know about parliamentary procedure, that was out of order.

The Convention had not formed when the Rules were approved, and the Rules were never put before the Convention for a vote to accept. The Convention therefore should have been conducted according to RONR.

You'll see a lot of handwaving about that from the Georgia GOP, I'm sure.

So, not knowing we were pretty well hosed, we strategized late into the evening, preparing motions to separate Rule 6 from the Convention Rules, amending Rule 6, and figuring out whether we had more than a third of the delegates to try to block acceptance. We also prepared and ranked our own slate of nominees that were willing to brave the lion's den.

The next morning, after the Credentialing Committee's report, almost all of our alternates moved into delegate seats, but even if all of our identified delegates and alternates had shown up, we wouldn't have had a third of the delegates. I would estimate 20-25% of the delegates were ours.

Speaking of which, the Georgia GOP rules state that anyone unable or unwilling to pay the registration fee could present a waiver to the Credentialing Committee and, if approved, would have the fee waived. (They removed the link to the form from their website, but we already had it by that time.) Several of our delegates applied for waivers, but whether they were in the unable or the unwilling camp, they were grilled as to their means. "Do you own a car? Do you own a house? How much does your job pay?" Finally, one of our good friends stepped forward and paid the fees.

There actually were some fireworks before the Nominating Committee's report. One lengthy resolution was authored by some goo-goo types, and almost failed to pass, owing to an eloquent denunciation of the resolution by one of our own. (My paraphrase: "If, as Reagan said, government is the problem, not the solution, then why would Republicans be interested in improved management of the problem? We should be looking for real solutions, such as less government!") I say almost failed to pass. It most certainly DID fail, but the chair, obviously taken aback by the level of resistance, said it passed and quickly moved on, ignoring the calls of "DIVISION!" from the floor. A couple of folks called for division from the floor microphones later but were ruled out of order.

The chair then announced that following the election of the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, the chair of the Nominating Committee would explain Rule 6. Several of us immediately went forward to start the process of separating the rule. After the unanimous elections of the prom king and queen, we made a point of information about rules having not been voted on by the assembly. Were were then told that they had been adopted on the floor the day before. Another point of information: was a quorum established? An interim report of the Credentialing Committee was accepted yesterday for this purpose, and there was no objection to the motion. I moved for a suspension of the rules. I should never have had to do that. We lost the vote to suspend, and then lost the vote to elect the slate, on which none of our folks appeared.

The Georgia GOP learned their lessons well from the other state conventions and was one step ahead of us. (Sue Everhart has my congratulations. I'm sure the state GOP chair is very proud of herself, and she has reason to be.) But we have learned as well, and we have to get this message out to any remaining conventions: your people must be registered, accepted and on the floor at the convention from the very beginning, and must be alert for any business conducted outside of the announced business hours.

 

[ikester8]

I think a challenge of the results of the convention is in order.

I will research this and see how we should go about challenging the results. Considering the state chair was complicit, I think we have our work cut out for us.

 

[MozoVote]

Reports from these conventions indicate that it's pretty common for the rules to be handed out and voted on with little time to read them... when challenged, the chairman will shrug it off and say "They're basically the same as last year's rules..."

It's pretty much a swipe at newcomers who are learning the ropes. Folks should hang onto copies of the rules for next year.

 

[Adam Smith]

Here's the latest from the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/05/17/republicans_0518.html?cxntlid=inform_artr

McCain gets slate as Paul's fans fume


By AARON GOULD SHEININ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 05/18/08

COLUMBUS — Ron Paul's supporters made a lively, but unsuccessful, effort Saturday to derail the state Republican Party convention in protest of being shut out of delegate spots to the national convention.

But the vocal Paul backers were outnumbered among the several hundred delegates on the floor of the Columbus Civic Center, and party leaders succeeded in electing a slate of delegates who are united behind the presumptive presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

the fireworks had ended. "Georgia is an example of a party that stands together."

But many of those who supported Paul, the renegade Texas congressman who continues his bid for the nomination, said the state party is run by insiders, for insiders.

"They're all party cronies," Nathan Adams, a Fulton County alternate to the state convention, said of the list of people headed to the Republican National Convention in September in Minneapolis.

Conventioneers on Saturday elected 30 delegates and 30 alternates to the national convention. Thirty-nine other delegates were determined by the results of the Feb. 5 presidential primary, which was won by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The state party chairwoman, the national committeeman and committeewoman are also delegates, giving Georgia a total of 72 spots.

A party nominating committee met Friday and Saturday to create the slate of delegate candidates for the consideration of the full convention.

The list that was presented Saturday included Republicans who originally supported candidates other than McCain, including Huckabee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee.

The list included supporters of "all the main, credible candidates," Fry said.

But the list did not include Paul supporters, even though the congressman from Texas finished fourth in the state primary, behind Huckabee, McCain and Romney, respectively. Paul received 3 percent of the vote, compared with 34 percent for Huckabee, 32 percent, McCain; and 30 percent, Romney.

Paul's 28,000 votes were more than those received by Giuliani or Thompson. And Paul's supporters tried to get their people on the list of delegates to Minneapolis. But party leaders presented the nominating committee's proposed list as an all-or-nothing proposition. The convention was to vote on the entire list as one, and not take individual votes on each of the 30 proposed delegates.

Paul's backers tried to block the vote, and failed. They tried to defeat the entire slate, and failed. Each time a voice vote was called, Paul's supporters made their voices heard. But their stentorian efforts belied their numbers. When convention Chairman Randy Evans declared the voice vote too close to decide, he called for a vote by standing or sitting. Paul's supporters were about 10 percent of the crowd.

Ultimately, Fry said, the party's focus must be on electing McCain president in November.

Paul has not abandoned his bid for the nomination, even though he cannot win, and he has refused to say whether he will endorse McCain. All this year's other Republican presidential candidates have announced their support of McCain.

And that's why their supporters were chosen to be delegates, Fry said.

"Those are the campaigns willing to come to the table and do what they can to elect John McCain," Fry said.

But the state convention should be about reflecting the will of the state, said Troy Casey of Stockbridge, a Paul supporter.

"They're going against the will of the people of Georgia," Casey said, because Huckabee won the state, not McCain. "They're deceiving the people of Georgia. This has been a travesty of the parliamentary process."

Before electing delegates, a steady stream of state Republican leaders spoke to the convention. Party Chairwoman Sue Everhart, who spoke first, was one of the few to mention the name of the current Republican president, George W. Bush.

Everhart, like almost all the others, praised McCain. She at one point likened McCain's years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam to Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said. "He never denounced God, either. I'm not trying to compare John McCain to Jesus Christ, I'm looking at the pain that was there."

Everhart and others, including Gov. Sonny Perdue, warned their fellow Republicans that the party has much work to do to prepare for November.

Perdue said he wasn't talking about anyone specific when he told the state Republican convention Saturday that voters can see through gimmicks.

Democrats, Perdue told the several hundred Republicans at the convention, lost power because voters "were smart enough" to see the GOP as the answer.

"They saw all the Democrats offered based on their positions of power," Perdue said.

But six years later, Perdue said, "the roles are reversed. It is our mission to ensure we do not fall into the same trap. The people of Georgia are still smart."

He warned Republicans to eschew "short-term gimmicks made with long-term expense."

That "will not fool the voters," Perdue said. "Slick mail pieces and commercials can't buy enough votes."

 

[Benicles]

Next year

will be very interesting.

We all need to be there again, and in the same numbers or more.

Take the party back!

 

[AJ Antimony]

Yeah if they failed to follow the rules, you guys better challenge the results. Keep the fight going because there is no guarantee for Dr. Paul to "win" 5 states...

Each and every state has to fight the bullshit or else you're just letting them win.

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

Many assume they can force their results. We might be new BUT not going to be bullied. Damn just imagine the work cut out for them in the next go around.

 

[acroso]

Someone should have asked the chairwoman if she was taking drugs when she said that.