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Newt Gingrich Is Right (NYT Ed on Fla)
NYT ^ | 12-3-12 | Rosenthal

Posted on 02/03/2012 11:37:06 AM PST by VinL

You did not misread the headline; and it’s not just a truism about Mr. Gingrich’s political orientation, I mean he’s correct—that Florida’s winner-take-all primary system isn’t fair.

According to Republican National Committee guidelines, all contests held prior to April 1 must allocate delegates proportionally. But Florida, not wishing to change procedures or fall behind other states, decided to flout the RNC rule, which means that Mitt Romney will get all 50 of its delegates. Mr. Gingrich—who came in second—will get none. Under a proportional system, Mr. Romney would receive 23 and Mr. Gingrich 16.

Not only that, NPR has calculated that Mr. Gingrich would currently be leading his rival 39 to 32 overall (New Hampshire plus South Carolina plus Florida), if delegates were allotted proportionally.

Mr. Gingrich’s campaign, which has surely done the same math as NPR, has complained to the Florida G.O.P., and consequently left me in a rather unfamiliar position. For perhaps the first time in my life, I completely agree with the former House speaker and future moon colonist.

Mr. Gingrich might have raised this issue before the Florida primary, when some polls suggested he could eke out enough of a plurality to benefit from the winner-take-all system. I doubt he would care about the RNC guidelines if he’d managed to win, and I doubt Florida’s delegates will be instrumental in determining whether Mr. Romney or Mr. Gingrich earns the G.O.P. nomination.

But the point is that a candidate in a two-person, winner-take-all primary could get 49.9 percent of the votes, and receive no delegates, and that’s not right. As our editorial board has said many times, both parties’ rules should be rewritten to guarantee that the number of delegates a candidate receives accurately reflects his percentage of the popular vote. (snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at loyalopposition.blogs.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: delegates; elections; fl2012; florida; gingrich; newt; nytimes; winnertakeall
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"NPR has calculated that Mr. Gingrich would currently be leading his rival 39 to 32 overall (New Hampshire plus South Carolina plus Florida), if delegates were allotted proportionally."
1 posted on 02/03/2012 11:37:15 AM PST by VinL
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To: VinL
Too bad and too late.
The primaries are over and Mitt won and even Rush Limbaugh believes we need to get behind the nominee and focus our energies on going after Obama.
2 posted on 02/03/2012 11:42:46 AM PST by Riodacat (And when all is said and done, there'll be a hell of a lot more said than done......)
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To: VinL

Oh man. The RNC had better get this fixed AND FAST.


3 posted on 02/03/2012 11:43:46 AM PST by GVnana (Newt 2012 - He Speaks for Us)
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To: VinL

It matters not whether he would have said something had he won FL, that would have been up to Mittens or the voters or the delegates. Maybe Mittens is just not that smart.

I just hope Mittens spent 25 million on proportional delegates.

And there is still the Robert Rules of Order. Yes they did penalize them by taking away 49 delegates but primary was indeed held before April 1st. OR give them the full 99 proportionately and penalize them with the seating and hotels in Tampa in August. Not fair to the 54% of voters who voted NOT-Mitt.


4 posted on 02/03/2012 11:44:03 AM PST by Qwackertoo (Gingrich/West 2012)
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To: VinL
You sure this was in the NYT....You've earned this t shirt...If y

Why is Bishop Willard Mitt Romney not using his title? What is he trying to hide? Do we want the elder of any faith to serve as President? Would we want a Catholic, Anglican, Methodist Bishop serving as president? Is it even constitutional? We need to have this conversation now!


Click to Donate to Newt Gingrich
ou don't wear pink, send it on...
5 posted on 02/03/2012 11:45:36 AM PST by hoosiermama (Stand with God: Newt, and Sarah will be right next to you.)
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To: VinL

The RNC will do nothing. They NEED mittwit to win the nomination.


6 posted on 02/03/2012 11:51:07 AM PST by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like it)
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To: Riodacat

“The primaries are over ...”
Not yet. That’s the meme the MSM, the RNC and the beltway pundits want us to buy, but there are plenty of primaries left to go.

The problem with our betters deciding that Romney will be the annointed one is that a significant portion of the base will, indeed, stay home rather than vote for him. It’s pointless to whine that such intransigence is self defeating and not really “truely conservative”. It is not for the electorate to conform itself to the RNC’s preference: it’s the RNC’s job to recruit and support candidates that can speak to the base, carry their standard.

Mittens can’t, or won’t do that.


7 posted on 02/03/2012 11:53:25 AM PST by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.)
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To: VinL

Rules only matter in the Virginia primary.


8 posted on 02/03/2012 11:54:39 AM PST by Sybeck1 (Mitt Romney, a piss poor choice)
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To: freeangel

Exactly. The elites want Newt gone, pronto, so why should they do anything. They will just say Newt is a sore loser and had he won, he wouldn’t be saying a word about proportionality. And they’re right.


9 posted on 02/03/2012 11:56:49 AM PST by bigbob
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To: Riodacat

“we need to get behind the nominee”

Yes we do. Please let me know when one of the candidates has 1144 delegates, or there are no other candidates left besides him in the race. Then I’ll get behind our nominee.


10 posted on 02/03/2012 11:58:24 AM PST by green iguana
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To: VinL
Does anybody have that "HELL" sign covered in ice?

11 posted on 02/03/2012 11:59:08 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (Kill the terrorists, Protect all the borders, Laugh @ the (remaining) Liberals :^)
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To: freeangel

Between the stunt they played in Virginia and this breaking of their own rules in Florida, the GOP-e are indistinguishable from the democrat crooks.

The whole thing of “electability” I think may have as much to do with the GOP-e’s cannibalism and people knowing they want Romney.

The whole thing makes me sick. I hate politics. I absolutely hate politics.


12 posted on 02/03/2012 11:59:44 AM PST by butterdezillion
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To: GVnana
The RNC had better get this fixed AND FAST.

They wont. It will just be another nail in the RNC coffin. The RNC is dead to me.

13 posted on 02/03/2012 12:00:01 PM PST by suijuris
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To: VinL
Why doesn't the RNC just throw out all the rules and declare that you only need to win 50 delegates to clinch the nomination instead of 1,144?

Why bother with the rules at all, if they can be changed on a whim when it suits the establishment?

Is this even legal if the RNC is a chartered organization, with bylaws and a governing body, and is registered with the FEC?

Shouldn't there be some modicum of fealty to the rules if they are supposed to be a legitimate outfit?

-PJ

14 posted on 02/03/2012 12:02:39 PM PST by Political Junkie Too (If you can vote for President, then your children can run for President.)
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To: Riodacat
Rush Limbaugh doesn't tell me what to do. He had his chance to knock off some of his rantings against Newt (so sorry) I am not selling out my core beliefs for the RNC nor for Rush.
15 posted on 02/03/2012 12:02:55 PM PST by Christie at the beach
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To: GVnana

I agree. We need to put pressure on the RNC to treat all of the primary candidates in a just and equal manner. They have no business playing favorites, disenfranchising the base, at this stage of the game! Contributions to the GOP are way down, and they are going to slide further if they don’t get their act cleaned up.


16 posted on 02/03/2012 12:06:32 PM PST by erkelly (Never underestimate the stupidity of the stupid party!)
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To: Riodacat

The primaries are over and Mitt won and even Rush Limbaugh believes we need to get behind the nominee and focus our energies on going after Obama.
************
The primaries were over for Limbaugh on the day Romney declared. You see, Rush worships at the altar of money— Romney made multi-multi millions- that’s a Limbaugh hero, no matter how the money was made.

To Limbaugh, Newt’s a peasant.


17 posted on 02/03/2012 12:08:01 PM PST by VinL (It is better to suffer every wrong, than to consent to wrong.)
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To: Riodacat
The primaries are over and Mitt won and even Rush Limbaugh believes we need to get behind the nominee and focus our energies on going after Obama.

I'd accuse you of having smoked something wacky but Mittbots aren't known for doing that.

18 posted on 02/03/2012 12:10:40 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: Qwackertoo

It was the Florida state AG that caught this..not Newt. It warrants a challenge and last I heard the rules will be bent in Mitts favor. UNLESS Newt becomes the front runner..ironic isn’t it because Newt would have been the front runner according to their own rules.


19 posted on 02/03/2012 12:13:14 PM PST by katiedidit1 ("This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever." the Irish)
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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