make of this what you will. sounds like shady dealings in LA...
p.s. - if Ron Paul supporters showed up and were not properly registered Republicans, then they are dumbasses.
from
www.ballot-access.org/2008/01/23/louisiana-republican-caucus/Although Louisiana holds a presidential primary on February 9, the Republican Party chooses its delegates to the national convention with a two-step caucus/convention system. The first round was held on January 22, when approximately 10,000 Louisiana Republicans turned out to vote in eleven different cities for delegate to the state convention. Each U.S. House district chose 15 delegates.
It appears that Ron Paul supporters outnumbered the supporters of any of his opponents. But since this was predicted, the supporters of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, cooperated to set up a “fusion” slate of unpledged candidates for Delegate. The “fusion” slate, labeled the “Pro-Life/Pro-Family” slate, beat the Ron Paul slate in each of the 7 U.S. House districts. Formally, the “fusion” slate billed itself as an “uncommitted” slate, and no one really knows how many supporters of each presidential candidate are on the fusion slate, except the campaigns themselves.
from
corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDllODg3MmU3MzgyYmMzYmI5YzBjMGEyZmFlZGY1N2M=Last night, something like 20,000 Republicans in Louisiana (correction: the state party is saying it was 10,000, although the 20,000 number was being tossed around last night) picked the delegates to their state convention, who will select half of the state's delegates to the national convention (or, as Jim correctly points out, they may select nearly all of them).
The official results are not in yet, but I'm told (by a campaign source who confirm's Jim's post) that McCain beat all of the other candidates. The conservative "uncommitted" effort — designed to influence the party platform — might have come out ahead of everyone. There will be a lot of horse-trading at the state convention for the support of the uncommitted delegates, but many of them cut deals with McCain. Can John McCain win in the South, with Thompson gone? It's not a terribly representative "election," but last night was at least an indication that he can.
Ron Paul finished second. His supporters reportedly mobbed the 11 polling places, but many of them could not participate because they were not registered Republicans. They were required to cast provisional ballots, many of which will not count. (The provisional ballots are part of the reason for the delay in tallying the results.)
Romney came in third, despite what appears to have been more than a token effort. Huckabee's failure to participate is baffling — he could have easily won this one, and it would have been a nice bounce for him after his loss in South Carolina.
from
lagop.com/Republican Party of Louisiana Chairman Roger F. Villere, Jr. today announced the preliminary results of delegate elections held at GOP caucuses across the state on Tuesday evening.
More than 10,000 Republican voters met at 11 locations around Louisiana to choose delegates to the 2008 Louisiana Republican Convention, which will elect nearly all of Louisiana’s delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Preliminary results show that a majority of the 105 state convention delegates who have been elected ran on a statewide pro-life uncommitted slate," Villere said. "I congratulate the candidates and supporters of this group on their victory and look forward to working with them to keep our Party platform pro-life at the state and national conventions," he said.
Delegate candidates endorsed by US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) appear to have won more state convention delegate positions than any other presidential slate at the Louisiana Caucuses.
"I offer my congratulations Senator John McCain on his success in the Louisiana caucuses,"" Villere said. "Senator McCain is an American hero and this is further evidence that he enjoys strong support in Louisiana and throughout the South," he said.
Supporters of Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) appear to have captured the next highest number of delegate positions.
"I applaud the supporters of Congressman Paul for their enthusiasm and superior organizational ability," Villere said. "Our Party needs the infusion of new activists who have both political skill and a passion for protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution," he said. "I left the caucus with a renewed commitment to promote our core Republican principles of limited government and individual freedom, thanks to the zeal displayed by Congressman Paul’s Louisiana supporters," Villere said.
In addition to the uncommitted delegates and McCain and Paul supporters, Governor Mitt Romney appears to have won a handful of state convention delegates.
"Governor Romney and his team have worked hard for over a year in Louisiana to build a strong organization," Villere said. "The Governor has been to Louisiana more than any other GOP candidate, including one trip specifically to appear at a state party fundraising dinner," he said. "Governor Romney has shown a commitment to Louisiana that is second to none and the strong support he has here is an indication that Louisiana Republicans are excited about his candidacy," Villere said.
Results from Louisiana's Republican caucuses and the informal designation of a "winning slate" are preliminary for two reasons. First, about 500 individuals who attended the event were not shown to be registered Republicans on voter rolls. These individuals were allowed to cast "provisional ballots," which are not included in the current candidate tallies on the Party's website,
www.lagop.com. State Party staffers are currently working with Registrars of Voters across the state to confirm with certainty the eligibility of each candidate. Party rules allow anyone registered as Republican as of November 30, 2007 to have voted last evening. The ballots of those who are found eligible will be added to totals and the outcomes of some races in Districts 1,2,4,5 and 6 could possibly be affected.
Second, candidates for delegate in Louisiana historically have run on one or another slate, but not on multiple slates. This year, however, many candidates ran on more than one slate. There was significant overlap, for example, between the McCain and Pro-Life slates. So determination of which slate won is not as clear-cut. But it certainly appears that the order was: Uncommitted Pro-Life, McCain, Paul, Romney, others.
Identification of candidates with the various slates is not an official Party function and such analysis is provided solely as a courtesy to members of the press and as a response to the numerous inquiries received by the Party regarding this topic.
Results of provisional ballot analysis will be updated regularly on the Party's website until a final count is reached.
Chairman Villere wishes to thank everyone who participated in the 2008 Louisiana Caucuses.
