Being born and raised in West Virginia, it's my pleasure to announce to all our blog readers that Mike Huckabee got all 18 delegates from my home state! Hopefully this win will help convince all those people who really support Mike, but are not wanting to "waste their vote" to think twice before voting for Romney.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Mike Huckabee won the first contest declared on Super Tuesday, picking up all 18 national delegates awarded at West Virginia's state GOP convention. Huckabee bested Mitt Romney, who entered the Mountain State event with the largest bloc of pledged convention-goers. Both men and Ron Paul made in-person appeals to the more than 1,100 convention delegates attending Tuesday's convention.
But the former Arkansas governor beat his Massachusetts counterpart after delegates for John McCain defected to his side.
The first round of voting at the state convention produced no winner, but eliminated Paul after his fourth-place finish.
The results are the first from the 21 states with GOP primaries or caucuses Tuesday...
EDIT: The Romney media's spin on all of this?? "Backroom Deal between McCain and Huck"
Let's take a second look at that:
Let's guess that half of the abstentions came from the McCain group and half came from the Paul group. That would mean that only 147 of McCain's and 102 of Paul's delegates voted the second time. Of those, 57 voted for Romney. So let's split them in half again, meaning 119 of McCain's supporters voted for Huckabee, and 73 of Paul's voters sided with Huckabee. If that's the case, Huckabee would not have won the WV caucus with the McCain support. He won because of Paul's support.
What am I trying to say? The media and the Romney camp are wanting to say that Huckabee's victory in WV was ONLY because of a backroom deal with McCain's delegates to throw their support behind Huckabee. The real picture is that while McCain's support helped, it was the Ron Paul supporters that ultimately gave Mike the victory. Thanks for your support Ron Paul delegates!!
Let's take a second look at that:
- First Vote: MH = 375; MR = 464; JM = 176; RP = 118 (Total of 1,133 votes)
- Second Vote: MH = 567; MR = 521; JM = 12 (Total of 1,100 votes - 33 abstentions)
- Therefore: MH +192; MR +57; JM -164; RP -118
Let's guess that half of the abstentions came from the McCain group and half came from the Paul group. That would mean that only 147 of McCain's and 102 of Paul's delegates voted the second time. Of those, 57 voted for Romney. So let's split them in half again, meaning 119 of McCain's supporters voted for Huckabee, and 73 of Paul's voters sided with Huckabee. If that's the case, Huckabee would not have won the WV caucus with the McCain support. He won because of Paul's support.
What am I trying to say? The media and the Romney camp are wanting to say that Huckabee's victory in WV was ONLY because of a backroom deal with McCain's delegates to throw their support behind Huckabee. The real picture is that while McCain's support helped, it was the Ron Paul supporters that ultimately gave Mike the victory. Thanks for your support Ron Paul delegates!!
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6 comments:
"Way to Go Huckabee!!" You better believe the race is far from over. I am appalled at those that think he should have dropped out of the race. WHY? He is a man that is standing for the values of Christians. I am so proud that you have been educating the people that have been brainwashed by the media. I will not be sorry that I voted for Huckabee. Even if he does not win, I have to live with my conscience. History is full of examples of people who beat the odds. I don't base my decision on what looks possible, but what I think is right. I am encouraged!!!!
The original story about McCain delegates switching to Huckabee was from AP. This is not Romney's campaign twisting the facts. These are the facts as reported by the press. In any case, Huckabee does not win this without the gutting of McCain's group of delegates.
The saddest part about the splitting of the conservative vote is that this may not be the last time it happens. I doubt very much if either Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee will be able to beat John McCain after tonight. I am so disappointed and disillusioned.
By "Romney media" I am referring to the AP, Fox, Rush, Sean, etc. who have been proclaiming that this is a 2 man race.
Seems like Romney is the one playing spoiler at this point, rather than Huckabee.
My dad was telling me that the news in WV was reporting that many delegates said that they liked Huckabee's speech, and would have voted for him, but they were afraid Huckabee couldn't win so they voted for Romney. I am simply trying to show the bigger picture that the media is not saying. The McCain delegates ALONE did not cause Huckabee to win WV (sure, they played a big role), but the Paul delegates played just as a big a role. The story that is not being reported is that there is a dislike for Romney among those who support every other candidate. Because of Romney's initial attacks at Huck and McCain, and even his snide remarks to Paul during the debates, he has alienated himself from gaining help from other campaigns.
Look. The fact is that the McCain delegates defected to Huckabee. This means that McCain is not concerned by Huckabee and wants extra insurance against a possible Romney surge. Any other explanation is unreasonable.
In any case, I am not impressed with the ethics of it all. And I am quite surprised you are so elated at a stolen victory.
Jeff,
We welcome your opinion and free exchange of ideas on our blog. Our hope is that we can express our thoughts without using "you," thus making it personal.
Obviously, as a Huckabee supporter, I am elated that he is doing well tonight. I do not see anything unethical in the WV win. The third place (and fourth) delegates have to put their votes somewhere, or there would never be a winner. Even though McCain's campaign urged his delegates to vote for Huckabee, some chose to continue voting for McCain, some did not vote, some voted for Romney, a lot did indeed vote for Huckabee. Obviously, McCain delegates knew he wasn't going to win WV. There were two options, vote for Romney or vote for Huckabee. Most delegates did what was best for their candidate. Nothing unethical about that, that I can see. The Paul voters (only 45 less supporters than McCain) also joined mostly with Huckabee. Again, I see nothing unethical about that. It was not stolen.
Gov. Huckabee said tonight that everyone's been saying it's a 2 person right ... they're right -- it's a 2 person race, and I'm in it!
The results of West Virginia are the results of a caucus and that is the way things work in a caucus. They take any number of votes until someone gets a majority. I didn't hear Romney's camp complaining when he won the Maine caucuses.
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