Posted on 03/03/2012 4:09:17 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
In a potentially ominous Super Tuesday setback for Rick Santorum, a campaign filing mishap in Ohio could leave him ineligible to be awarded 18 Buckeye State district delegates -- more than a quarter of the total at stake there, ABC News reported Friday.
Ohio has 66 delegates total, with 63 at stake on Tuesday. Santorum failed to qualify for any district delegates in three Ohio congressional districts representing nine delegates because he didn't turn in names there.
ABC News reported that in six other congressional districts, the former Pennsylvania senator's campaign submitted fewer names than required to be eligible for all three delegates up for grabs in each district. That would put another nine delegates in jeopardy.
Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley responded to the report by issuing a statement that sought to depict the issue as a continuation of a controversy in Michigan. Santorum contends he and Mitt Romney should have split the delegates evenly in that state, but party officials there awarded Romney 16 and Santorum 14 in a move that the latter has decried as dirty politics and is contesting.
"The attempt by the establishment to to deceive the voters of Ohio and further their hand-picked candidate will be met with resistance on Tuesday," Gidley said. "I want to be clear -- Rick Santorum's name will appear on every ballot in the state of Ohio, and every vote cast will go towards his at-large delegate allocation.
"As it relates to individual congressional districts, it's clear we aren't the establishment hand-picked candidate, and back in December we were a small effort focused on Iowa. Now that we've won several states, obviously much has changed, and we feel confident that we will do well in both the delegate and popular vote count on Tuesday."
But a Romney spokesman seized on the report as further evidence that Santorum is a vastly inferior candidate.
"Rick Santorum has failed to get on the ballot in Virginia, has failed to file full delegate slates in Tennessee, New Hampshire and Illinois, and has failed to submit enough delegates in several Ohio congressional districts," said the spokesman, Ryan Williams, alluding to other Santorum logistical pitfalls. "The fact that he cannot execute the simple tasks that are required to win the Republican nomination proves that Rick Santorum is incapable of taking on President Obama's formidable political machine."
If he wins in a district where he failed to allocate a full slate of three delegates, Santorum would be eligible to take only the delegates he has already allocated in that district. But the unallocated delegates would not be awarded to anyone else.
"On Super Tuesday, if Sen. Santorum were to carry a district where he has not seated a full delegate slate, he will be awarded delegates where he has submitted delegate names," Ohio Republican Party spokesman Chris Maloney told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. "And the additional delegates in that district will be unallocated."
Such a situation, The Plain Dealer said, sets up challenges -- if not from Santorum, then from political rivals such as Romney or Newt Gingrich.
The Ohio state party told the newspaper it has not faced this situation before, but it has been reviewing its bylaws and is prepared, if there is a challenge, to convene what it calls a "committee on contests."
“Looks like Ricky was just a little slow on the uptake of getting his act together to get on
the ballot where other candidates were able to make the deadline.”
The GOP Establishment is corrupt and has been for a long time. This chicanery, and the chicanery they pulled in Michigan, helps two people...Mitt Romney (whom they hope to nominate) and Barack Obama (who will defeat Romney). It doesn’t help Newt Gingrich.
The “Little Ricky” barbs are getting old. Santorum is a conservative, as Rush, Levin and a host of other true conservatives have recognized. I saw the same thing done to Sarah Palin and it was disgusting then, as this is now.
Running Santorum down does not build up Gingrich. It helps Romney. Newt will rise or fall on his won merits. Although I think Santorum is more electable than Gingrich, and a stronger conservative on social issues and on the individual mandate, most Santorum supporters refuse to run Gingrich down, even though there is plenty of ammunition to support such an effort.
Why? Because it helps Willard and Obama, not Santorum.
The GOP-E is going to rue the day they excluded everyone but Romney and his sock puppet, Rue Paul, from Virginia; tinkered with the delegate in Michigan; and are being hyper-technical to try to damage Santorum in Ohio.
Ballot access rules should be very easy in order to encourage candidates and voters, not just hose with a tone of money (like the four you mentioned) not to rig the process. Or do you think these byzantine and difficult rules (which have given Romney Virginia) are a good thing?
Neither Santorum or Newt made the Virginia ballot. Back then I flamed them both. Neither did Perry or Bachmann. They didn’t make it either.
Sorry, I no longer believe it was incompetence or just a fluke that they “didn’t make it”.
It was sold to the public that it was all their fault, but I don’t believe that anymore.
Newt did get cheated out of his portion of Florida delegates. The rules changed after Mitt won.
Ok. So let’s be sure and promote this so Santorum voters will become discouraged. Newt will rise a few more points ( but not enough to even come close to winning Ohio) - ASSURING that Mitt Romney will win Ohio and -ALL- the delegates in Ohio - defeating us conservatives once and for all.
We are so smart the way we campaign against our interests.
I see the strategy.
We can expect to see this repeatedly. It is obvious that this is part of a plan to give Romney the nomination, and prevent a Brokered Convention.
Over the past week, I have been moving towards a 3rd party effort, with Newt at the helm and Sarah Palin the VP. It would allow Sarah to hone her skills under a true master Statesman/Economist like Newt, and set a serious Palin 2 term future, which would also save, as well as preserve our Constitutional Republic.
You don't see much of anything, which is why you went full bore for an unstable candidate like Santorum. Once the result of this move, by so many like you, has become painfully evident, we are all being forced to live with the result.
There is no way Santorum would even have a prayer of winning against Obama. It's a well known fact that most every hard core Democrat out there, is salivating over the remote possibility that Santorum will win the nomination.
There's no doubt the above statement is true.
Well we have a conundrum then.
I thought the purpose of the primaries were to support the candidate that you most believe in, and then we all support the nominee in the general. (In theory. I realize many will never support Mitt)
But as it is now, Newt supporters will not just cave and become a Santorum supporter, and vice verse.
Both sides claim that by not having the other guy end his candidacy, it assures a split vote and Romney.
So what is the answer and the plan of attack?
Meanwhile their candidate had worse problems.
Shows the power of media propaganda...still.
He’s only been running for 5 years I would think all of our candidates
would be prepared with that kind of time under their belts. NO ROMNEY
NO WAY!!!!!!!
Yes Newt missed the VA primary. However Newt will be in the Missouri caucus on Mar 17.
VA is the only state I have heard that Newt had problems with. Him and Rick perry had a couple thousands votes rejected.
Santorum is hoping to use Rick Perry Delegates in Tenn. Also in one Tenn. CD3 Santorum may have to borrow Newt Delegate if Newt does not win that CD.
http://tennesseeticket.com/2012/02/27/how-to-pick-delegates-for-santorum-in-tennessee/
Yup.
IIRC, back in December Newt was beating Mitt in many states. Santorum was no where to be found.
Then the Romney and media propaganda started against Newt.
Then many, like lemmings, switched over to Santorum who IMO is as equally flawed if not worse than Newt.
All to the benefit of Romney and Obama.
Some of us have know about Santorum's ineligibility problems for a while.
It's just a matter of what gets reported and the media apparently didn't want to report this until now.
Obama is Ineligible for all 5,555 Democrat Delegate Votes.
(just saying....)
Don't they advise the candidates on the proper procedures??????????
Who the hell is running this party??????????
In all fairness, everyone but Romney and Paul had these problems in different states. And they are still having problems if they threaten Mitt.
I used to be a MittBot, but he’s disappointed me too many times. But one area he has not failed in is his ability to bring the fight to the opponents. Newt and Rick are good guys, both of whom had me rooting for them at one point, and the smear machine still brought back the race for Mitt. He’s going to take apart Obama in a systematic, brutal, ruthless way that I think will shock everyone.
Rick will say this is just another conspiracy to deny him the nomination but hey, I read something 2 or 3 months ago about Santorum possibly not qualifying in Ohio so it’s not some anti-Rick plan that was cooked up overnight by the established Ohio Republican party.
There are winners and there are whiners. Who are you backing?
I'm with Newt.
One more thing about the VA qualification. Needed: 10,000 signatures (only VA citizens allowed to collect them) -- 100 minimum from each U.S. House District. BUT if you collect 15,000, those signatures do not need to be reviewed or deemed from legit sources. Romney and Paul both got the 15,000 needed to be waved on. Perry and Gingrich got over 10,000 but less than 15,000 AND this year for the FIRST time the VA GOP decided to review them (GOP volunteers found some ineligible and/or collected by out-of-state canvassers). Bachmann and Santorum did not attempt to qualify. Outcome? Romney and Paul the only names on the VA GOP Primary ballot (Oh, and no write-ins allowed as a defaced ballot will render it fit for the trash-can).
Gov. Perry sued, others joined his suit -- outcome after being ruled and appealed: You have a good point but you filed too late.
Other way around. Romney is a bunch of hot air.
Santorum never believed he'd come this far...that's for certain...so he was more than foolish not covering his bases just in case. Just shows he wasn't serious about the run for President...though I'm certain he saw running as advantageous to his career asperations.
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