So who the heck did win Louisiana?

[Mavtek3100]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit...1/paul-alleges-bo.html

Huh, what does this mean, who came out on top? Who is going to win those 44 delegates. I bet a guy I know from Texas which will put in 3rd in Delegates

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf: Not too many people paid too much attention to the Louisiana Caucus on Wednesday. John McCain won and Ron Paul logged his second second place finish of the primarycaucus season after his showing at the Nevada caucus last Saturday.

For Paul, R-Tex., Louisiana is really more of a third place finish since finishing ahead of the winner, John McCain, was "uncommitted pro-life."

But the Paul campaign says they got second place and maybe should have gotten first.

In a statement this afternoon, they allege that Paul supporters were forced to file provisional ballots even when they were pre-registered as delegates for Paul and they accuse the Louisiana Republican party of changing the rules at the last minute.

Paul campaign statement:

The failure of the Louisiana GOP to properly determine who was and wasn't eligible to vote threw this entire process into disarray," said Ron Paul campaign manager Lew Moore. "The party needs to correct this mistake by counting all the votes immediately, and releasing the results."

Due to mistakes by the Louisiana GOP, hundreds of voters were forced to file provisional ballots, including nearly 500 that could change the outcome of the election. According to party officials, caucus locations relied on a voter list from November 1, 2007 despite the fact that under caucus rules, voters must have registered Republican by November 30, 2007.

In multiple instances, state-certified Ron Paul delegates that were on the ballot were forced to file a provisional ballot despite the fact they were pre-approved as delegates.

The Louisiana State GOP also changed the rules at the last minute to allow other candidates to file more delegates. At the time of the original January 10 deadline, Ron Paul had the largest number of delegates pledged to him. The party then changed the rules to give other candidates until January 12 to file more delegates.

It's a confusing process in Louisiana and a trip to the Louisiana Republican Party does not clear things up. They don't even assign numerical totals to show how big the gap between places one and two and three were. In fact, at the website, a statement from party chairman Roger Villere Jr. only says Paul "appear to have captured the next highest number of delegate positions."

But Villere did praise Paul's supporters for having dash.

"I applaud the supporters of Congressman Paul for their enthusiasm and superior organizational ability. Our Party needs the infusion of new activists who have both political skill and a passion for protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution," he said. "I left the caucus with a renewed commitment to promote our core Republican principles of limited government and individual freedom, thanks to the zeal displayed by Congressman Paul's Louisiana supporters," Villere says on the website.

According to the website, more than 10,000 Louisana Republicans met yesterday to elect delegates to their state convention. Those delegates, led by those currently lobbying for uncommitted, will ultimately award delegates to candidates for the Republican National Convention.

ABC News tried to speak to an official representative of the Louisiana Republican party, but the phone number listed on the website http://www.lagop.com rings busy.

 

[techs]

Pay attention its complicated:

Uncommitted, a Winner at Last
By Juliet Eilperin
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) declared victory last night in Tuesday's Louisiana Caucus. But the real winner was "uncommitted," a stand-in for an anti-abortion slate. Yes, after making strong showing in Michigan, it appears Uncommitted has finally won a gold medal in the presidential race.

Explaining -- let alone understanding -- what happened this week in Louisiana presents a serious challenge for even the most devoted of political junkies. Consider this: Louisiana has 47 delegates total, 20 of which will be determined during a separate state primary on Feb. 9. Tuesday's caucus elected 105 delegates to attend the Feb. 16 state convention, who in turn will elect 21 delegates. (The remaining six are split between the state chair, national committeeman and national committeewoman and the three bonus delegates the state received in the wake of Gov. Bobby Jindal's election.)

Of those 105 delegates chosen Tuesday, McCain received roughly 30, more than any other named candidate. But "uncommitted pro-life" received twice that, about 70 delegates. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) each received a few delegates as well, but state officials are still calculating the exact number each candidate received because so many provisional ballots were cast. Caucusgoers had to register as Republicans by Nov. 30 in order to participate in the process but a number of voters -- many of whom were Paul supporters -- showed up and cast provisional ballots since questions remained over whether they had met this requirement.

Still, some of the delegates elected to the "uncommitted pro-life" slate now say they will support McCain. The upshot: Wednesday night the Louisiana GOP announced that the senator had won the state's caucus. According to a statement by the McCain campaign, "victory in Louisiana is another indication of John McCain's growing momentum and of the fact that John McCain is the consistent conservative choice capable of winning the GOP stronghold of the South this November."

And don't just take the campaign's word for it: former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer, McCain's state chair, issued his own (albeit eerily similar) statement on the caucus Wednesday night.

"Last night's results go to show that John McCain is the best hope of conservatives here in Louisiana and across the country," Roemer said. "The people of Louisiana know that actions speak louder than words, and that's why they chose John McCain over Mitt Romney. He is the only candidate with a long-held and consistent record of defending life, of protecting our national security, and of promoting pro-growth economic principles that benefit hard-working American families. John McCain is quickly emerging as the consensus candidate in the Republican race and the only conservative who can win this November."

Alas, Uncommitted could not be reached for comment on the matter

 

[Mavtek3100]

Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

 

[palehorse]

LOL... caucuses are so damn funny...

the real question:

Why do some states have caucuses, and others have primaries?! wtf is up with that to begin with?!

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: Mavtek3100
Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

The primary system is a sham.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: BlinderBomber

Originally posted by: Mavtek3100
Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

The primary system is a sham.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If the primary system is a mere sham, the caucus system is a complete fraud.

Actually our primary system is less than 100 years old. And was introduced to get the voice of the people into the way candidates were selected for public office. Before the primary system,
the big party bosses just huddled into " a smoke filled room", and then emerged to announce whom the party choose to run for the various offices. It proved to be a very corruptible process and the primary system with all its warts and flaws is the reform that emerged.

 

[compuwiz1]

Originally posted by: Mavtek3100
Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

So, you just a little bit pissed, Paulboy? :shocked:

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: Lemon law

Originally posted by: BlinderBomber

Originally posted by: Mavtek3100
Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

The primary system is a sham.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If the primary system is a mere sham, the caucus system is a complete fraud.

Actually our primary system is less than 100 years old. And was introduced to get the voice of the people into the way candidates were selected for public office. Before the primary system,
the big party bosses just huddled into " a smoke filled room", and then emerged to announce whom the party choose to run for the various offices. It proved to be a very corruptible process and the primary system with all its warts and flaws is the reform that emerged.

I meant both systems are terrible and, while they tried to improve on the old system all they've led to is spending orgies that are questionably more democratic.

 

[jonks]

1st Place = None of the above

Pretty much sums up the republican primary race. No one has been able to get much momentum, probably because each candidate has serious problems with different base constituencies.

Romney - Mormon, pro-choice until 2006ish, flipflopper, tortures dogs
McCain - alien amnesty, antibush tax cuts, Stallone endorsement
Huckabee - too religious, tax happy, Chuck Norris endorsement
Giuliani - NY social liberal in 9/11 clothing, 3 marriages (the one to his cousin helps him in the south)

OTOH the Dem fight between BO and HC is more about their personality difference rather than some large discrepancy in their positions.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: Mavtek3100
Pay attention: It's called "Bullshit", democracy my ass.

That wasn't a dig at you, it was a dig at the very complex system.