Young Republicans Defend Their Straw Poll

Young Republican convention organizer Brian Graham defended the straw poll against the accuastions it was rigged for Mitt Romney.

Graham, a Romney supporter, sent key Young Republican officials this e-mail, which this column has obtained.

Some folks have gone on to some blogs to try to make our convention look bad. They are complaining about non-YRs voting in the Straw Poll. You will see the issues addressed below. I ask that none of you speak with the Media, instead send them to Jon Woodard to handle.

1. All attendees who purchased meal tickets were allowed to vote in the Straw Poll. 2. The dinner event alone included YR delegates to the convention, YR alternates to the convention, YR guests of the convention, numerous Florida and Broward County YRs, members of the YR Alumni Network, members of the local senior Republican Party, and whomever purchased meal tickets online via the YRNC 2007 website. 3. At the highest point in the convention, there were a total of 600 attendees. 4. There were a total of 366 votes cast in the Straw Poll. 5. The Broward County Supervisor of Elections conducted the Straw Poll. 6. YRNC 2007 never claimed the Straw Poll was open only for delegates/alternates to the convention. It was always made clear that anyone who was registered or purchased meal tickets could vote in the straw poll. 7. All presidential campaigns were aware of the Straw Poll policy prior to the convention and none had voiced opposition to the policy. 8. The convention committee has members who support various Presidential campaigns. 9. The convention was sponsored by several Presidential candidates including Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, and Rudy Giuliani.

And finally:

10. Straw Polls are intended to be fun, not to be scientific.

Comments

As to point 1: This is true and learned by actual YR delegates on Saturday morning. After asking a female member of the YRNC Planning Committee specifically who had assisted with registration about this issue, she initially confirmed that she thought only Delegates, Alts. and registered guests for the Convention could vote. She later changed her mind to confirm that anyone could vote who paid to attend the dinner.

As to point 2: Yes, great Americans from 1 to 81+ years of age attended the dinner.

As to point 3: True, the Romney dinner probably had at least 600 paid guests, in large part to Romney. Your point?

As to point 4: Yes, your point?

As to point 5: Yes, your point?

As to point 6: This was not made clear until Saturday and more importantly, he fails to address the point that there was no voter list, no credential checking of any kind and YR Delegate membership in large part was wholly unaware of lack of any standard. In short, even his own standard was not enforced. There was no mechanism to limit revotes or to confirm voters even attended the dinner. Hence, the audible booing and hissing by YR Delegates as the Straw Poll results were announced at the closing YRNC2007 Sunday meeting.

As to point 7: That may be true, but unlike paid staffers flown in for Romney or who represent Romney as Chairmen, YR Delegates and Alts had no idea about this lack of standard until Saturday.

Points 8 and 9: Again, your point?

Posted by Witness to It All | July 9, 2007 12:13 PM

Shouldn't it be noted from the post you link to:

Confronted angrily by the YRNC 2007 Chairman (a BIG Romney supporter) and another Conference Organizer (who was professional but also a BIG Romney supporter), they pressured me to drop the motion because: (1) it would never work because the YRNF and YRNC2007 were separate entities and so even if my motion passed, there was absolutely nothing the YRNF could do and (2) the second gentlemen said this will be controversial, people supporting my guy will rethink their support, you will make everyone look bad, for purposes of YR comity and professionalism don't do this. Well, I thought about it, especially not appreciating the YRNC Chair's unprofessional attitude, I turned the other cheek and withdrew the motion. Big MISTAKE! Lesson learned, when strong-armed tactics are applied, there is a reason for that...

Posted by me | July 9, 2007 12:21 PM

1) I attended the convention. I am a RNC Charter Member who joined the YRs 2 months ago so I could attend the convention and observe what the YR organization does, with the plan on reporting back what I observed, and making recommendations for improvement for the 2008 elections.

2) The way the Straw Poll was handled was unprofessional. Children obviously under the age of 18 voting, people voting multiple times, no verification if the person was part of the YRs or had purchased a dinner, are just a few things. I stood by and observed things for 30 minutes prior to seeing enough and looking for one of the Convention organizers. The first one I found was Mr. Todd Goberville, who is the Florida YR Chair. Mr. Goberville and I had a good discussion. I suspect the young man was frustrated and to his credit he handled himself well.

3) Mr. Graham asking people to not contact the media raises some questions in my mind about his motives here. And referring people to Mr. Woodward also raises another red flag and question: Is Mr. Woodward a county chair for the Romney campaign?

4) The bottom line is, in all places with the electoral history of Broward County, FL, this kind of straw poll needed to be conducted completely by the book. Mr. Graham says that straw polls should be fun, and I agree. When it appears however that fun means someone winning in way that leads to a * being placed next to the results, it eerily reminds me of the debate on steroids and the home run record.

Individuals with no formal ties to any candidate should have been running this convention. If people running the convention were indeed on the payrolls of any candidate, that does not speak highly of their individual ethics. The phrase "Conflict of Interest" comes to mind.

As someone who sits on 2 Boards of Directors I strongly encourage the new YRNF Chairman to show some leadership and at a minimum, make certain that this does not happen again.

Stephen R. Guendert

Posted by Steve Guendert | July 9, 2007 12:24 PM

Why are the Fredheads whining so much about this? Of course, straw polls are a test of organizational strength - of which Mitt Romney has an abundance and Fred has none. Fred had the exact same opportunity to get his folks to the diner, but he didn't. So why all the complaining from the Fred people? You'd think there were Al Gore circa 2000.

Posted by Jeff | July 9, 2007 4:41 PM

Well stated Jeff. Thompson's whining just furthers the point that Romney continues to out think and out organize the other Republican contenders. Thompson could have done the same thing, but was a step slow, and now is whining about it.

Posted by Mark | July 9, 2007 11:40 PM

Regarding Hillary and her race to be president: Hillary talks "change", and what she means is a change away from the great founding documents of this country. She is a socialist with no plan but to take power through deception and misinformation, both tactics of the communists of the world. Beware of this person who intends to dismantle this great country, but who had no plan to build it up into anything better. Power is her comfort, and she seeks it ravenously.

Posted by William | July 10, 2007 1:01 PM