RNC
may block Nevada delegation if it seats too many pro-Paul delegates
3
May, 2012
The
Republican National Committee has sent a stern letter to the Nevada
Republican Party warning the state not to draw too heavily from
supporters of Texas Congressman Ron Paul (R) for its delegates,
reports DC insider blog “The Hill.” If the delegation fails to
feature the 20 out of 28 supporters it needs for former Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney (R), the national committee has warned that it
will refuse to seat them at the Republican National Convention this
summer.
Rachel
Maddow has reported that at this juncture, no delegates have been
awarded to any of the candidates from Michigan, Iowa and other states
including Nevada. Paul and his supporters have been using their own
strategy, including some of the more obscure rules of delegate
selection, to pack state committees with their own delegates.
Paul
enjoys strong support in Nevada. National officials are becoming
worried that the congressman’s popularity could throw a wrench into
the works of an otherwise smooth nomination process for Romney.
RNC
chief counsel John R. Phillippe Jr. wrote to Nevada GOP chair Michael
McDonald, “I believe it is highly likely that any committee with
jurisdiction over the matter would find improper any change to the
election, selection, allocation, or binding of delegates, thus
jeopardizing the seating of Nevada’s entire delegation to the
National Convention.”
Typically,
delegate distribution is meant to reflect the state’s caucus vote,
which took place on February 4, with Romney winning more than 50
percent of the votes cast. National Republicans are concerned that
Paul-friendly delegates will use their power in Nevada to game the
state convention in Sparks, Nevada this weekend, thus opening the
possibility that they will send a delegation to Tampa this summer
that will flout party rules and support their candidate over the
party’s nominee.
Las
Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston wrote that Nevada’s GOP chair
McDonald is “close to some of the Paul folks. He adds that he
doesn’t think Paul’s supporters “respect authority too much,”
which creates the distinct possibility of havoc this weekend, a
prospect that Ralston finds “too delicious.”
Paul
himself expressed optimism in an interview with Bloomberg TV on
Monday.
“Just
look at this last week,” he said, “The news is very favorable to
us. We could even end up winning Iowa, ironically enough. In
Minnesota, we’re doing well, and Maine, Nevada and Missouri. We’re
doing very, very well. Some of the states we could very well win or
come up very much because the delegate process is completely
different than these straw votes. We’re pleased … It’s another
month or so until they count all the delegates and we find out where
we stand.”
Initial
vote counts said that Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucus, which was one
of the earliest primary votes, held on January 3. Recounts have since
then shown that the majority of votes in the state were actually won
by Paul.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.