Madness in Maine

Mitt Romney defeated Ron Paul by 194 votes last Saturday in the Maine Caucus. This victory still appears in doubt because Washington County cancelled its caucus due to weather and several counties who scheduled their caucuses for after February 12 have not had their vote totals included. Even worse, some counties that did caucus did not have their totals listed in the final count.

Now, a full recount is unlikely because these caucuses are run by the Republican party within the state of Maine, rather then the national Republican party. Maine is largely a beauty contest where results are non-binding in terms of selecting delegates--that’s a second state run process.

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2012/0215/Should-Ron-Paul-demand-a-new-vote-count-in-Maine.

If I was a Republican, I would be embarrassed. This is the second caucus state officials may have screwed up. This makes the party look incompetent on some level. This is the party that wants to unseat President Obama, but yet screws up their nominating process in at least one, if not two states.

This has serious repercussions for voters, why should anyone go to a caucus or primary, if the state party apparatus can make such a mess of things? Voters want to know that their vote matters and the results are tallied accurately.

Without this, the party opens itself to conspiracy theorists, who would claim some pro-Romney agenda. I am not touching that one.

Would Ron Paul Make Iowa Irrelevant?

Would the selection of Ron Paul or another of the so called “second tier” candidate in Tuesday’s Iowa Caucus render Iowa irrelevant? The moment we attack anyone else’s opinion is the exact moment that our opinion becomes worthless.

Just because they pick a candidate that isn’t favored by polls or perhaps even the national party does not make the choice itself any less legitimate.

Fifty states will have the opportunity to cast a vote in a primary or caucus. Every state should be allowed to make that choice without feeling pressured into making the “right choice” based on whatever the media or pollsters are saying.

Often finances and delegate mathematics make this an impossibility. Voters in Iowa always have this chance however, and should not worry about whether or not their choice meets with the approval of pundits or party elitists.

Why Not Ron Paul?

Four words that I never thought I’d utter. Ron Paul has been treated more as a third candidate sideshow behind Mitt Romney and whomever is occupying the favorite candidate of the month position. However, it is exactly because of the unsettled, chaotic nature of the race that Ron Paul may pull off an Iowa surprise.

 He has strong organizational system and a youthful and excited base of supporters who carry their signs and just might be willing to turn out and vote on caucus day. And in a race where every vote matters: turnout is the kingmaker.

Iowa hasn’t exactly shied away from the unconventional candidate choices before. While Ron Paul may not be a winning candidate ultimately, I believe he has the goods to compete in Iowa, particularly among the young and disaffected voter who see him as a man of different ideas than the status quo.

 In a race where it pays not to be Mitt Romney someone is going to have delegates at the convention that allow them to speak loudly. Maybe Ron Paul gets an eleventh hour surge and defeats Mitt Romney in Iowa and can then ride a domino wave in New Hampshire. Similar things have happened before, everyone remember John Kerry in 2004, he won Iowa and then swept most everything else to win the Democratic nomination.

In electoral politics a big guy named Mo plays kingmaker.