Posted on 03/03/2012 12:50:29 PM PST by Samizdat
50+ precincts were represented and it looks like Ron Paul, then Santorum. then Gingrich and Romney comes in last. A reporter came to our precinct table saying he had gone around the room of about 400 people and could not find anyone for Romney. Said he had plenty for Paul and Santorum. Didn't mention Gingrich. Mostly 20 somethings for Paul. I voted for Santorum. But my district is notoriously left of center.
I just returned from my caucus. The community center was standing room only. More than double the turnout 4 years ago. All delegates selected except one were Santorum supporters and one undecided. I was selected as a delegate and am a Santorum supporter. It was very encouraging. The alternate delegates selected were a mixture of Paul and Romney supporters.
Turn out seemed heavy, but my first time, so no historical comparison.
Incredibly, until last night I was wondering why my mail-in ballot had not arrived.
I'm really well informed, so that is ultra-embarassing.
I know we have a GOP State Convention, and I know our local delegates are not bound to follow our votes, so I look at this as more of a straw poll than a caucus.
I voted for Romney - I know, that places me in the despised 5% in this neighborhood.
I just feel that Santorum, Paul, and Gingrich have absolutely no chance to win in November.
I also feel - and have posted for almost a year now - that Obama will be easily reelected, no matter who we nominate.
Four reasons:
(1) Conservatives have not had a national leader since Gingrich imploded in 1998.
(2) Unemployment is slowly going down, the economy is showing modest growth, and the stock market is up.
(3) White males are the only major population group in America that consistently vote Conservative - In fact, I have frequently posted, with documentation, that I believe European-style Socialist voters now have a small majority in America.
(4) And, perhaps most important, after 40 years of relentless Hard Left MSM assaults on the Republican Party, the GOP, and its national candidates, still have no serious coordinated strategy to counter these assaults.
Ditto. When hubby and I decided we would attend the caucus, I had to actually sit down and think about who I would be voting for. If I want to be very inspired about being an American, well, Gingrich is an inspiring speaker. However, he has not run a good campaign and it is evident that he can be knocked off his "game" very easily. I like Santorum; but, look at what the press has already done to him. Imagine what it would be like in the general. My sole focus is getting BO out of the oval office. I feel sad that I have to cross off the list someone who I like because of the media; but, that is the world we live in and I have to take that into account. The media is a wholly owned subidiary of the Democratic party. Ron Paul is simply a no go for me. I believe (after listening to him) that he is a 9/11 truther, and his foreign policy -- yikes.
So, Romney it is. I voted for him in our primary in 2008 (I had already sent my ballot in before he dropped out), and he is the one I picked today.
As for the caucus itself, I'm in Federal Way and the caucus was held in a Jr. High School Cafeteria. The fire marshall told the group that they could not have any more than 280 people in the cafeteria and there were tons more than that waiting in line. Hubby and I got in with the first group, but, the line was just as long after we got in the building as when we first arrived. They really needed a bigger place. I ended up being an alternate, so we will see if I end up going on to the next step. The precinct guy said that his wife wasn't too happy about him going, so I may actually get a phone call.
Heavy turn out in my district. I live in Spokane Valley, Fourth District. The large parking lot was packed. There were 49 people present in my precinct alone. For the record, my district has a large Mormon and also an evangelical Christian population. Of our 49 precinct votes, close to two thirds favored Romney and the rest went to Santorum with the exception of maybe four for Paul and two for Gingrich. My husband and I were the two Newt supporters. I found this so frustrating! Newt is the only candidate who has a stellar record of change and that change was so dramatic and unprecedented, that the GOP-E railroaded him out of his position as Speaker of the House. The GOP-E is afraid of Newt, as are the dims. They fear the change that Newt promises and will most definitely deliver. He is a proven change agent unlike the other three candidates. If we want to save this country, Newt is the only logical choice.
There were some passionate speeches about Paul never changing a position or vote in 40 years, Santorum being the most zealous Christian and Newt being able to slap down Obama on national TV. But, the most astute comments came from business people supporting Romney, Military vets who talked of not losing the war for the sake one good debate battle, and an analytical engineer who said his profiles matched up with Santorum first, Gingrich second and Romney third, but he had to engage a 'what if' scenario and think about how our country will fare if Santorum or Gingrich are not able to generate enough votes in the middle to take Obama out.
People spoke of Romneycare, Newt on the couch with Nancy (a sore spot for me), Santorum's tendency to put his foot in his mouth (wanting to vomit at Kennedy) and Ron Paul saying we brought 9/11 on ourselves. All in all the sentiment was that Romney can use what happened in the health care process to his advantage.
The Newt backers said he still hasn't said what motivated him to sit with Nancy and relented that he may be to inclined to opportunism.
Some people said they just didn't see Santorum beating Obama while his supporters said, "he can if we get to know him".
Ron Paul people were a little similar to Obama supporters when people asked about his foreign policy and newsletter problems they said, "I don't care". One comment was that his newsletter allegations about racism would be the ultimate fuel for Obama.
That brought the conversation around to a pragmatic discussion of who can raise the most money to fight Obama and his media. One man quoted a Ronald Reagan speech that said, "A perfect candidate does not exist. Give me an honest man that I can agree with 80% of the time and he'll get my vote." Some folks switched to Romney at that point.
In the end the unanimous vote from the total attendance was to work as hard a possible for the ticket, no matter who wins.
I here ya. I once said “a McCain yard sign would never cast its shadow on my lawn.” He picks palin as his VP, and right away I’m reaching for my check book to donate to the campaign And I’m desperatly trying to locate McCain/Palin yard signs.
Be it Mitt, Santorum, or Newt, I hope they remember that when it is their turn to pick.
very good informative post, thanks!
Well, that was my point in not picking Santorum; the media isn't going to let you "get to know him". I know that he has been talking about jobs and manufacturing; but, most Americans believe that all he talks about is abortion and contraception. And, that tactic, by the media, would only intensify during the general election.
BTT
6.9% reporting
Mitt Romney 1,272 30.9%
Ron Paul 1,116 27.1%
Rick Santorum 991 24.1%
Newt Gingrich 556 13.5%
Others 177 4.3%
Now 12% reporting
Mitt Romney 1,272 30.9%
Ron Paul 1,116 27.1%
Rick Santorum 991 24.1%
Newt Gingrich 556 13.5%
Others 177 4.3%
Note that they added 5%, but none of the counts changed.
I just noticed that after you pointed it out. I am just doing
copy and paste from the web site. So have no explanation.
On another note, the populated areas around Seattle & Olympia have not reported yet.
Populated areas usually favor Mittens, don’t they? I can’t imagine Mittens not running away with a state as liberal as WA and bordering ID too, where there are many Mormons.
There is only 12 Republicans in those cities anyway so it won't matter much.
;-)
TS
Thank you for that post...I really needed a hearty laugh!!
LOL Really needed that humor. Two nights with little sleep because of the winds...Had to read it twice before it sunk in.
Indeed... this begs the question, "What's up with those 7 who voted Romney?"
Get your facts straight. Washington state is very evenly divided. We have had some of the closest elections in recent years:
Gordon vs Cantwell, Rossi vs Gregoire.
Soon we will have our 10th congressional district and they will likely split 5-5.
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