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On Louisiana's Caucuses Tonight

22 Jan 2008 04:40 pm

Louisiana was thought to be a battle between Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney.

Romney has the support of two congressmen and announced teams in every district. It is winner take all by congressional district and majority receives at-large delegates.

It's the only Southern caucus, so conservative conservatives will probablt turn out.

This is Romney's to lose...

Another gold medal... albeit in the state equivalent of Olympic curling, but still...

Comments (22)

As in Nevada, the only other one organizing is Paul. Anyway, you've oversimplified a little in your summary. The process is:
Jan 22 - delegates to the state convention are elected.
Feb 9 - primary is held, but unless some candidate get a majority this is strictly a beauty contest. If someone does get 51% on Feb 9, *then* they automatically get 20 of the state's delegates to the national convention; if no one gets 51% then those delegates are uncommitted. This is different than other winner-take-all states where mere plurality will get you the delegates.
Feb 16 - state convention is held and delegates to the national convention are elected.

So as far as I can tell we won't know for certain who won Louisiana until Feb 16, though I imagine they have a straw poll at the caucuses today which will give some indication of support for different candidates.

If Thompson is so ready to endorse McCain, why didn't he just stay in another day on the off chance that he could embarrass Romney in Louisiana? Seems like it would have been helpful to McCain to deny Romney another win.

Maybe the Thompson-McCain endorsement isn't such a done deal.

You're comparing Louisiana politics to curling? I don't get it.

* Not much ice in Louisiana

* Not much corruption in curling

Hello, Marc, commenters-

Obviously, these caucuses are of no consequence, although undoubtedly Mitt will use the opportunity, as Marc aptly put it, to claim another gold...

As to whether Fred should have stayed in another day to help McCain - I doubt that whether Mitt took a gold or silver medal in LA, would have made any difference...

Obviously, these caucuses are of no consequence

Says the McCain guy in service of someone who couldn't get their s**t together well enough to contest these caucuses. Actually, the caucuses are as consequential as any other contest that serves up 40some delegates to the winner - neither more nor less. In this case I suppose they are slightly less important because of the potential impact of the later primary, but unless you think Huckabee is going to drop before Feb 9 I don't think any candidate has a great chance of pulling 51%.

On the Ron Paul forums I see the following post:

'Me and my kiddos just got back....wooohooo!!! College kids galore..middle agers..vets...Ron Paul EVERYWHERE!

The Mitt folks looked like deer in headlights!!

District 7 coordinators...you guyz rocked it!!

The best part was when we were leaving my 2 yr old started chanting "Ron Paul..Ron Paul...Ron Paull....." and the folks outside started clapping, hollering etc..

I am so freakin pumped...I wanna jump on a horse with a gun and run through town yelling "the neo cons are coming....the neocons are coming"""" down with the Neocons!

my estimate at least 2:1 Ron Paul over any other...maybe even 3:1'

Paul might well have won some delegates in Wyoming, too, if a simple plurality were enough to win in the district caucuses there; but they do runoffs until someone has a majority, so Paul's 35-45% support in some areas there was not enough to win anything for him.

Those mittens have holes in the fingers. Those are insincere mittens, and not worth buyin...'

I've heard from people who went there that Ron Paul was a big winner. You elect delegates, and the Ron Paul people made sure everyone knew who to vote for, and Paul also won many alternates because they ran unopposed. The top 15 vote getters are sent on to the state convention, where they will most likely select where the delegates go.

I suspect Ron Paul will get every single delegate if this turns out to be the case.

Nathan,

Why aren't the results on the Ron Paul 2008 website? Whose delegates won in LA tonight? Is it a secret?

The Paulites tried to claim the same thing in Nevada. They were up on the radio saying that they had all the delegates but it was quickly proven that they were lying. They are all hat no cattle. I think that the same 1000 people travel around the country making noise but having no real impact. They campaigned hardest in Nevada with Paul on radio for months and TV for weeks and still were only able to get 14%. Quit wasting everyones time and go back to the trailer parks and compounds that you all come from.

well regardless of his Paul-ist tendencies, I have to at least thank bbartlog for the explanation.

when i saw ambers write that the LA caucus was tonight i was really surprised...i even have a primary/caucus calendar at my desk, but didn't see anything scheduled tonight. very confusing ambers!

can we confirm bbartlog's summary of LA process is correct?

"Quit wasting everyones time and go back to the trailer parks and compounds that you all come from."

In our area the Paulites were small business owners (OMG-HOME owners!) who also experienced life post-K with NO civil liberties, curfews, gun-toting military roaming the streets, bungling FEMA keeping volunteers out so they couldn't help us, and who saw ourselves how government controlled media showed MEGA-propaganda about the whole story of what happened here to the world. What we want is for the Federal government to LEAVE US ALONE and let us keep the money we earn!!!

Why don't you quit wasting everyone's time and read some histoy, economics, and WAKE UP?

Word now is that Paul had a big turnout, but did not win. The local GOP ran a slate of delegates advertised as 'pro-life/pro-family', who are apparently an amalgamation of Huckabee, Thompson, and Giuliani supporters. This ticket got enough of the vote that none of Paul's delegates are likely to be seated, though the Paul slate did get something like 30-40% of the vote. In some ways this is reminiscent of the outcome in Wyoming, although the mechanism by which Paul's plurality of voters was defeated is a little different (pre-caucus alliance versus the runoff-until-majority that we had in Wyoming).
I'm not sure how Romney or McCain fare in all this. It seems that the personal preferences of the elected delegates will play a big role after all, so we may not know even on Feb 16 who is actually getting the support.

I agree with Karen, that "go back to the trailer park" comment was out of line. I identify with Ron Paul more than I do with most of the candidates.

But he's not going to win the nomination.

I also agree with Karen that we all need to read some history and economics and wake up. In fact my majors in college were Economics and History. However, based on what I learned and the way I see the real world, Romney is now the far and away best choice for President.

Ron Paul would be better than possibly anyone else left in the race besides Romney, but he is far less appealing than Romney. This is not because of ideals.... Ron's ideals are great. This is about pragmatism and feasibility.

Ron has no actual PLAN to get things done, just an idea of how things should be. Romney on the other hand has both the will and the way to get things done. He agrees with Ron Paul on a lot of things, but knows that eliminating every government agency tomorrow is not a)possible nor b)a good idea.

Ron Paul people... come over to Romney. Even if you don't like him quite as much, you have to admit he's by far the best candidate who has a real chance at the presidency.

Karen - In our area the Paulites were small business owners (OMG-HOME owners!) who also experienced life post-K with NO civil liberties, curfews, gun-toting military roaming the streets, bungling FEMA keeping volunteers out so they couldn't help us, and who saw ourselves how government controlled media showed MEGA-propaganda about the whole story of what happened here to the world. What we want is for the Federal government to LEAVE US ALONE and let us keep the money we earn!!!

Just as it is a dream of many that the pushy people of NYC and morally superior people of San Francisco and the scumhole folks of Camden, NJ leave us alone & disappear tomorrow.... Many wish that in return for the Federal Gov't LEAVING THOSE IN NOLA ALONE, they leave us alone with their endless graft, parasitism, and demands for more money to shore up their decaying city and leveees as the ocean gets ready to submerge them again.

Sadly, people in Northern Louisiana and in Cajun country also feel the same about NOLA. A third of NOLA people should be locked in Angola penitentary system with the key tossed, another 3rd sterilized for everyone's benefit including the kids that would never be born, and a 3rd left to do the tourist and shipping biz in NOLA or move to an uncorrupt city.

It would be nice to have a Libertarian approach to NOLA, though. It would have been interesting to see how many of the people sitting on rooftops because they lacked the initiative to fend for themselves would have survived, if left to fend for themselves, with the State and Federal teats pulled from their mouths.

Red Fred -

You are just nearly crazy. Absolutely I will NOT come over to the Romney side.

Ron Paul all the way and YES, it can and will happen.

If all of you who state that he won't win the nomination just change your negative thought patterns...

Ahh forget it - just stay your negative Nelly self, if you must.

Peace and freedom! Restore the Constitution and vote for Dr. Ron Paul!

Ron Paul,

What scares me about the people in this nation of ours. Is they do not seem to understand that if we vote for anyone else except paul. We are going to keep getting the same crap. IF WE ALL JUST VOTE FOR PAUL WE COULD CHANGE THINGS. YOU KNOW ONE NATION. IT SEEMS THAT PEOPLE DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE ISSUES. ONLY THE PERSONALITY AND THEIR PERSONAL VOTING TRADITIONS. THIS WHAT WILL TEAR THE COUNTRY A PART. VOTE FOR PAUL AND WE GOT HOPE. ANYTHING ELSE AND YOU BEST GET PREPARED TO SPEAK SPANISH AND BE BROKE. PLEASE PEOPLE WAKE-UP...

WE SUPPORT RON PAUL! FREEDOM! LIBERTY, INDEPENDENCE,FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE! SAVE OUR COUNTRY! VOTE FOR RON PAUL! I have shaken the man's hand and looked in straight in the eye. I said "You are a good man!"...he looked happy and surprised. There was not the slightest glimmer of the car salesman "I got ya!" in that man's eyes. I was raised around cons and gamblers from the time I was 3...I know a con artist when I meet them! Ron Paul may be the most "real" candidate I have I ever seen. He does in fact have a "plan", so please do not falsify the facts...just look them up before you speak...please. Thank you for your time. Peace be with you all.

If any one wants to know more info. about Ron Paul...please feel free to e-mail me at
dr.ronpaul@yahoo.com

FREEDOM!

I have read that Romney has a feasible plan for the economy...would anyone be willing to show me this plan? The one that I read offers up a $233 BILLION plan that does not have any cuts in the government spending agenda. A plan is not necessarily good just because someone lays their plan out on paper. Ron Paul Has been the only candidate to say solid and rational things about our foreign policy and our monetary issues. Please do some research before you cast your all important vote!

Ron Paul has never voted:

to raise taxes
for an unbalanced budget
to raise congressional pay
for a federal restriction on gun ownership
to increase the power of the executive branch

He has voted:

against the Iraq war
against the Patriot Act
against regulating the internet
against every bill contrary to or prohibited by the U.S. Constitution

In addition:

he has never taken a government-paid junket
he is not accepting a government pension
he returns a portion of office budget every year
he introduces more useful legislation every year
he is Washington's leading advocate for freedom
he was voted the Taxpayers Best Friend
he is pro-life,pro-family,and pro-liberty
he has a plan for immigration reform
he is a proven, dependable conservative who is for smaller government,less spending,less taxes, and more freedom and privacy for the individual.

source: RonPaul2008.com ( a "flyer" from)

Romney has proved himself as another flip-flopper. Just youtube Romney flip-flopping, one day he is pro-choice, then the next he is pro-life. Come on people, wake up and look at the canidate's records. Romney and all the other neo-cons will tell you what ever you want hear. Ron Paul tells you the truth, like it or not. Straight up, Constitution style. We are a rule of Law. The founders made us that way to protect us from the government they created. We have greatly strayed from the Constitution and we have become a Tryanny.
Remember what Thomas Jefferson said "When the Government fears the people there is Liberty, when the people fear the Government there is Tyranny." Study History or you will be doomed to repeat it.


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