AUGUSTA, Maine — Mitt Romney was declared the winner of Maine’s Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday, based on the results of a nonbinding presidential preference poll.
His margin of victory over Ron Paul was 194 votes, according the Maine GOP officials, but not all communities had a chance to caucus prior to Saturday’s announcement.
Washington County Republicans postponed their “super-caucus” scheduled for Saturday because of the threat of inclement weather. Other communities had scheduled their caucuses for later this month.
Some Republicans across the state cried foul. Washington County GOP Chairman Chris Gardner, a Romney supporter, was particularly vocal over the weekend and expressed “complete and utter dismay” to party leaders that his county’s votes would not be counted.
But according to Maine GOP leaders, towns knew well ahead of time that the presidential poll results would be announced on Feb. 11, and had an opportunity to hold their caucuses before that date. Those rules were spelled out months ago, Maine Republican Party Chair Charlie Webster said.
Webster also said that even if Washington County’s votes were counted, they likely would not have swung the pendulum toward Paul. A total of 118 votes were cast in Washington County caucuses in 2008 and only eight of them went for Paul.
Still, Gardner and others are asking the party to reconsider.
“Refusal to reconsider under those circumstances would be extremely disheartening,” he told The Associated Press. “I trust that the party will make the right decision here.”
Kathy Birdsall, GOP town chair for Hancock, said she hopes the state party will consider updating the results. Her town was among several in Hancock County that scheduled caucuses for Feb. 18 and, thus, were not included.
She pointed out that Iowa’s caucus results initially went for Romney only to find out two weeks later that Rick Santorum actually won. That could happen in Maine, too, she said.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect they would include all votes. It would be a slap in the face to towns that weren’t able to caucus,” Birdsall said, adding that she’s not convinced communities were explicitly told that their votes would not be counted if they caucused after Feb. 11.
Hayes Gahagan, Aroostook County Republican chairman and a former state senator, also pushed for a recount once all caucuses have been held.
“Aroostook County went 59 percent in favor of Ron Paul,” he said in a statement Monday. “With the statewide straw poll race so close between Gov. Romney and Congressman Paul, the Maine Republican Party should allow the remaining 16 percent of the straw votes to be counted and reported.
“Regardless of who ultimately wins, we should be conducting free and fair straw polls without succumbing to media opportunism. This is not candidate or agenda-driven; it is matter of process integrity.”
Webster said Monday that he didn’t expect anything to change.
“First of all, the Ron Paul people did a great job,” he said. “‘If Romney hadn’t have come in the last weekend, he might not have won.
“I guess the [state GOP] can rethink this, but the worst thing that could happen is to keep this thing going.”
It’s not clear how much impact did Maine’s caucuses had on the GOP presidential narrative nationally.
Fewer than 6,000 out of more than 250,000 registered Republicans in Maine participated in caucuses statewide. The preference poll was not connected to the selection of caucus delegates, which is the final measure of state support for a candidate.
“If you get down at the most fundamental level, it was solely a media event,” said Mark Brewer, a University of Maine political scientist. “But just because something is staged largely for the media doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Perception is often just as important as reality. The fact that Romney was able to get a win mattered for him.”
National media outlets quickly reported a Maine win for Romney and some pundits said it represented a resurgence for the former front-runner who suffered a string of defeats early last week.
The confusion in Maine could renew calls to change the caucus structure.
Gahagan said this year’s caucuses make “the case for Maine to switch from a caucus state to a primary state.”
Webster said he’s not sure if the Maine GOP will make changes to its caucuses going forward but said he liked the flexibility of a “lazy caucus” spread out over several days.
Maine is not alone this year in facing criticism for its process. Iowa and Nevada were scrutinized for their caucuses as well.
Iowa, the first state to hold caucuses, declared Romney a narrow winner over Santorum on Jan. 3. About two weeks later, after other state contests had been held, the final tally showed Santorum actually edged Romney.
Some national Republicans have called for changes to the antiquated caucus system, Politico reported recently, especially since problems seemed to be magnified when races are close.
States that have held primaries — which mirror elections and don’t feature a lot of the confusing procedural minutiae that caucuses do — have not reported problems.
Brewer said there are stark differences between primaries and caucuses.
“It depends on what you’re after. If you want to get the most people involved and make it easy, you do a primary,” he said. “But if you want to build enthusiasm among base, your most committed partisans, then you choose a caucus.”
Because there were no other states caucusing over the weekend, Maine owned the national political news cycle. Webster said that was good for the state.
Brewer agreed but said some things were overlooked.
“One thing that didn’t get much attention is how well Santorum did here with almost no effort,” he said. Santorum received 18 percent of the vote in Maine, followed by Newt Gingrich with 6 percent.
Another interesting element was the town-by-town breakdown of votes in Maine GOP caucuses that showed a contrast between Romney and Paul supporters.
Affluent bedroom communities like Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth went heavily for Romney. Republicans in cities like Lewiston and Bangor favored Paul, as did those in rural Aroostook County.
The reaction of Gov. Paul LePage also received little attention. His statement on the caucus results included no reference to Romney or any other candidate. The governor has yet to endorse a candidate.
“Republicans from throughout Maine have made their choice known in the GOP presidential nominating contest. It is clear our most pressing problem is the continued need to grow our economy. I am proud that under my governorship the unemployment rate has dropped, but we must do more,” the governor said in a statement.
“Maine is interconnected with other states in our nation and we must tackle this problem at all levels of government. That is why I am confident, when this nominating contest is over and a nominee is chosen, that Maine Republicans will join independents in putting new policies in place in Washington that advance economic growth.”
Reject RINO Romney
Ron Paul needs to man-up about his supposed view on governmental land and openly state his clear opposition to the Obama supported Quimby National Park— seriously, he would get a lot more votes
There has been no support from the Obama administration for a national park.
Yeah, if you say so……
So Obama didn’t appoint Quimby to the National Parks Board, that Quimby didn’t deny…
So Obama didn’t send Ken Salazar to Millinocket with a group of secret service to safeguard his trip
So Quimby never donated to Obama’s election campaign
So Obama’s Staffers were not in Bangor September 2, 2010 at Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors Conference” in support of a National Park for Northern Maine
I am just glad you cleared that up because many here just thought she was a bitter old millionaire content on burning down family camps, calling us many names that really applied to her, lying and blackmailing area residents,,,,, and a few more well documented facts…!
And for all the stuff you hear about in the Millinockett area you never hear anything about what she has been up to in the Winter Harbor Area of Hancock County.
*Maybe she is just accepting the fact we will never give up…!
*Maybe she is looking at other areas to control
*Maybe the old girl just going senile and got lost
No,
She has been pulling her stunts down this way going back a decade at least.
Oh wow,,,, sorry about that, but we dont want her either,,, you can keep her
You don’t like all the talk about the GOP’s organizational skills,
or their attitudes towards even their own party’s voters
much do you, MeForest ?
“A Bitter Old Millionaire Content on (sic) Burning Down Family Camps, Calling Us Many Names”
By Stephen King.
Available now.
Read his books man, he’s 100% against the concept of expanding public ownership of land. Not that he would dismantle the system we have now, but he would definitively not support the expansion of the park system. There’s no need for him to “come out and say it” he’s said it hundreds of time for those who take the time to read and listen. For the most direct and recent example, see the chapter “Public Land” in Ron Paul’s latest book, “Liberty Defined”.
Sorry, but there “is” a real need for him to take that stand. All GOP candidates need to address this, not just because its as meaningful as other issues, but also because its a topic that has Obama’s fingerprints all over it.
No press release, No vote
This is the third caucus the GOP has screwed up (along with Iowa and Nevada) in a month. This is what happens when your party is run by hard ideology instead of professionals. The 2008 Democratic primary was hard fought and drew a lot of attention if I recall. No screwups like this.
You use the word primary in your post. A primary process is where each voter goes to the voting process to place a vote for the candidate they want. A caucus is more of a group discussion where the apparent majority of those present at the caucus give thier input and speak for the candidate they support. If you support Paul and yet the majority support Romney then your decision doesnt go any farther. If there was a Democrat challenger to Obama this year there would be Democratic Caucuses in Maine.
Sigh….there were a number of caucuses during the 2008 Democratic primary PROCESS that receved a lot of attention. None of the Democratic party leaders who organized the caucuses screwed the pooch like the GOP has done repeatedly this month. Better?
If one is capable of being impartial they would be able to say that the 2008 Democrat Caucus in Nebraska was extremely flawed. However we are discussing Maine. It appears to me the issue is that towns or districts were given a date to caucus by and a date in which results would be determined and a winner announced. Several towns/districts were not able to do this for some reason although they knew the dates and deadlines. They are now complaining that thier votes were not counted. I dont see how the complain.
Anyone who repeatedly uses Democrat, instead of Democratic to label the Democratic Party (as it has labeled itself since 1828) does not get to credibly label someone as not impartial. A competent party leader (not named C.Webster), would have figured out that his caucus dates were screwed up and would have fixed them ahead of time. He was too busy keeping college kids from voting I guess.
Just for the sake of Debate and Discussion-
If Webster informed his party members that all results of caucuses had to be in and a winner determined so that an announcement could be made on Feb 11 then how is it a town like Hancock would make a decision to have thier cuacus on the 18th of Febuary? Do they really have any leg to stand on when they make a complaint?
As far as Democratic Party versus Democrat Party I understand some people are sensitive about that. I think of it this way. The Democrats formed thier party and called themselves Democrats not the Democratics. Perhaps that is hair splitting.
Yes. It’s called leadership. “The buck stops here” and all that crap. Considering the GOP’s love for blaming Obama when the bus is late (even if George Bush slashed the tires), I would think that they would be just as ready to hold their own leaders accountable.
As for Democratic vs. Democrat, all good young Republican talking heads and future politicians are trained to use Democrat all the time, because some focus group bullcrap told them it sounds more jarring on the ears. They think it’s very clever. It’s not. I refer to members of the Republican Party as Republicans because that’s what they call themselves. I could call them Repubs, but that would be disrespectful.
Clicking “like” wasn’t enough. This one is a keeper. (Your second paragraph brings to mind Harry Truman’s observation about contests one should not get into.) Thanks, Bgirl.
Thank you, Seeker.
Why don’t we just call them, both sides, what they really are….TRAITORS
I am a democrat so this hasn’t impacted me. That said, I honestly do not know much about how caucus’s are run but I’ll tell you this. If my participation in the democratic system was handled as badly as the GOP handled this Maine caucus I’d be really angry. It is complete disenfranchisement for a great many American citizens. Perhaps the caucus system ought to be dropped in favor of the primary system.
I think a primary system should be used as well. Im failing to understand the claims of disenfranchisement however. This articles reports that all Republican Party members were to hold caucus and report the results to state party headquarters so that the votes could be counted and an announcement made this past Saturday. Then we have a woman who is the party head of her town saying she was planning to caucus on the 18th, a full week later. Im having trouble following the logic of it.
I’m not saying the disenfranchisement was endemic to the whole event. However a great many people did not have their choice counted. Of course you have a very legitimate point in the caucus date scheduled for a time after the Maine GOP was closing submission of caucus results. Call it semantics but I consider this late date issue another example of disenfranchisement.
I don’t think were informed of the “announcement date” until after they had planned their caucuses and alerted their communities so it would have been near impossible to then alert everyone again and get a new date. The “media announcement” date wasn’t in with their other caucus information when it was originally distributed.
They have a leg to stand on because their caucus was cancelled by the GOP not by their own choosing. Webster cancelled it “due to weather” and is now denying their vote because it is after the 11th.
It is the DemocratIC Party whether you and the cement-headed idiots like Rush Limpmind like it or not. Of course we could start calling the Republican Party the RepubliCON Party since they are just a band of CON artists, but we’ll be generous. As to Rush Limpmind, that is very well justified. This idol of your ilk is a college dropout multi marriaged druggie lying hypocrite with zero political credentials. In other words, a typical Republican hero. PS: Webster is the poster child of pure idiocy. You must be so proud.
Personal insults and name calling are not allowed on this site. Even if you dont agree with what is being posted and who posts it. I am contacting the BDN and reporting you for abuse.
Simple solution to the Democrat Party vs. Democratic Party question.
Go to the place where the parties have registered for state recognition and find out what name the party is registered under.
I’m thinking its the Maine Democratic Party.
— the difference between the “Democrat Party” and the “Democratic Party.” The proper name of the left of center political party in the United States is the Democratic Party. Some people, however, call the party the Democrat Party out of simple confusion. Others call it the Democrat Party for rhetorical reasons.The mascot or symbol of the Democrat Party, or more accurately the Democratic Party, in the US is the donkey. The symbol was not initially meant to be flattering. Though many credit political cartoonist Thomas Nast with its creation in the 1870s, actually, the Democratic Party had used the donkey before. During the 1828 presidential election, the opponents of Andrew Jackson
had insultingly called him a jackass, and Jackson decided to take up
the mantle of this insult and use it to his gain. Jackson used the
symbol is his campaign materials, agreeing at least in part with his opponents that he was “stubborn.”
I’m sure a lot of republics would agree with you.
Sal … They come across as friggin numskulls. They can’t even get it right in Maine and Iowa… What a pathetic lot.
“You use the word primary in your post. A primary process is where each voter goes to the voting process to place a vote for the candidate they want. A caucus is more of a group discussion where the apparent majority of those present at the caucus give thier input and speak for the candidate they support….”
You should be just as fussy towards the GOP screw ups.
BAIT MUCH.
I’m an equal opportunity sort.
Wikipedia explains that a caucus is more of a group discussion, however, in Maine we forgo the primary process and continue on with the older version of caucus. It’s much more than that.
In Maine, municipal caucus are held, if necessary, to pick delegates to the state convention. Each candidate, presumably, will receive delegates. These delegates will elect a chairman, and each county will convene to further elect a county chairman, treasurer and secretary. This does not affect the delegation selection.
We will take a small town like, oh say Abbot. The republican caucus would be allowed, we will say 4 delegates. of them 2 may be in favor of Romney, and 2 of them maybe in favor of Paul. These delegates will appear at the State convention in representation of their town and county. As well as their candidate.
The delegates can maintain their loyalty to their candidate until the end. My point is this: if this process was this close, without some caucuses, reporting. It’s not that far of a stretch for Ron Paul to win the nomination at the state convention, in spite of what Charlie Webster states. Delegates are allowed to change candidates at anytime during this process. Sal, this is not an informal little get together, that’s why candidates campaign here. It’s an important process, and Maine isn’t alone in refusing to becoming a primary stomping ground for presidential candidates.
At the state convention, delegates are chosen to represent Maine at the national convention. these people will do the same: some maybe for one candidate and some for another. There is no majority rule, if you were a chosen delegate from Maine and favored Ron Paul, and didn’t change your vote, Maine would report your vote towards his nomination.
During this whole process, the republicans choose a new state chairman, I certainly hope that they do this, for their sake.
Didn’t mean to ramble on, but it’s important to know that this is an important process on how our state party’s elect nominees. The reason why the candidates don’t spend as much time in Maine is because of this: it’s not a win or lose such as a primary.
There is ALWAYS a Democratic caucus (and I believe a Republican one too) even if you have an unopposed incumbent running. The caucus is still done because the incumbent must still be re-nominated, and the caucuses are also done in order to organize for the upcoming campaigns, allow down-ticket candidates to gather nomination signatures and clean elections checks, to sign up campaign volunteers,to elect officers for local party committees, to establish delegates for the state convention, etc. The caucuses are almost as much of a party organizing event as they are a presidential nominating process.
If these people can’t organize a “media event”,
if they can’t run a non-binding beauty contest
without kicking a hornet’s nest of controversy
should they be trusted to run a State or Nation ?
This isn’t an issue of dis-organization. It’s fraud.
dems never screw up, they just screw over
So there really IS voter fraud in Maine…now where is that pesky Secretary of State when you really need him…
“So there really IS voter fraud in Maine…now where is that pesky Secretary of State when you really need him…
He was busy this weekend organizing it.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!
Good one!
Ziiiiiiiiiing!
What about caucuses such as Waterville which happened the week before, why wasn’t that counted? Or at least it doesn’t seem to be on the list of results.
The sleezeballs who run the Republican crime syndicate are scared to death that Ron Paul will kick over their chamber pots. When push comes to shove, all this smaller, less intrusive, government crap is considered just so much packaging — disposable after they win the election (e.g. the Bush 43 administration). Their REAL interest is in the graft, patronage, and plunder. A candidate who promises to cut $1-trillion from the budget in the first year is a clear and present danger to their way of life.
Sounds like some criminal democrats would be scared of those types of cuts as well. IF Paul really could cut a trillion dollars a year of the budget then that would nearly wipe out deficit spending and have income and expenses nearly be even. Deficit spending has been a very real problem with Obama and Bush.
What part of the GOTea Party establishment saying that Ron Paul can’t ever win,
don’t you get ?
How could the Party machine be any more clear about their intentions ?
The ole engine needs a lube job………call Charlie Webster, he’s got a shiny new grease gun ready. Of course, he really……doesn’t know that much about engines, he’ll stick it where Paul tells him to.
We will triumph in the end.
To quote one of your cherished icons, Nikita Sergeyevich, “We shall bury you.”
His Party and yours have lot in common.
“Crazy” Charlie Webster spent a lot of time last spring portraying himself and the Maine Republican party as the defender of voting in the State of Maine. He even told us who was at fault like he did in this June 10, 2011 statement, “If you want to get really honest, this is about how the Democrats have managed to steal elections from Maine people”. But that wasn’t the end of “Crazy” Charlie Webster’s crusade for clean elections in The State of Maine. No siree, “Crazy” Charlie Webster went and held a news conference in which he waved around sheets of paper claiming that they contained the “evidence” of “voter fraud”. He accused over 200 students of fraudulently registering to vote and voting. Of course after investigation by “Lockstep” Charlie Summers, Maine’s Secretary of State and the Constitutional Officer charged with over seeing elections in this State it was determined that no illegalities took place. Almost daily we were treated to op-ed articles by Republican legislators telling of all the fraud that could take place at the ballot box. The Grand Wizard, the leader of the clan of highly paid political operatives, at the Maine Heritage Policy Center even got into the act and penned an op-ed piece warning of the horrors of “voter fraud”. As spring became summer and then summer became fall more and more articles appeared all written by Republicans all claiming to be the true protectors of voting in The State of Maine. Maine’s Republican Governor “Job Killer” Paul Richard LePage joined in the war against the supposed “voter fraud”. Rigged and dishonest elections are wrong. Of all of the Rights Americans and Mainers hold none is more sacred then the right to vote. Maine Republicans are in the process of holding caucuses around the State. At these caucuses people cast votes to indicate their choice of candidates, this time to chose the Republican Candidate for the Highest Office in the Land, that of President of the United States.
Because of a snowstorm the caucuses in Washington County and parts of Hancock County had to be postponed. Rather then do the right thing and wait for all of the caucuses to be held and all of the votes counted “Crazy” Charlie Webster and the leadership of Maine’s Republican Party took it upon themselves to disenfranchise party members in Washington and Hancock county and announced the “winner” before all the votes were cast and counted. Who was it you said was guilty of “stealing” elections “Crazy”?
we have to see the facts,
Our votes don’t matter,
the winner will be whoever the media and the powers-that-be want it to be.
voter fraud last election, voter fraud this election.
The media is pulling hard for their corporate favorite Romney.
My prediction: Romney will win, because he’s already been chosen.
Obviously Bought and Paid For.
If they were told the announcement was going to be made on 2/11 then why did communities schedule their caucuses after that date? And then complain about not being included? Be careful GOP…you’re sounding more and more Democratic…This makes more sense to me now though…I thought that Ron Paul would have a better showing in Maine…maybe he still will
“Fewer than 6,000 out of more than 250,000 registered Republicans in Maine participated in caucuses statewide.” Yikes! Isn’t Crazy Charlie Webster the “King of Voter Fraud” the guy who’s responsible for turning out the conservative vote and reporting it fairly? And this is what we’re given? That’s just plain sad. Time for the GOP/Teas to call upon a new leader who can inspire, has ethics, and can count past six thousand.
So Charlie Webster is saying that everyone knew that caucus results would be given out on Feb 11 and that if your votes wanted to be included you had to have your caucus before that time. Then we have Kathy Birdsall of Hancock saying that Hancock Village Republicans decided to have thier caucus on Feb 18, a full week after the deadline.
Im finding it hard to understand how one could think that they could caucus after a deadline and still expect thier votes to be included. That would be like Maine saying we know everyone else votes on the First Tuesday of November for President but we are deciding to vote on the following Tuesday and we really want our votes to count anyway even though the winner will be declared by the.
You just don’t understand the conservative’s organization and sense of entitlement.
Come on, Im one of the those entitled conservatives you rail against. It seems that the rules were laid out pretty clear. If people had trouble following them then that is too bad.
See, you just don’t get it, do you ?
As I understand it, the rules said that all caucuses had to be held by February 18th. Some of the towns set their caucus dates last summer to be held between February 12-18. Then in December, when it would be too late to change the caucus dates because materials had already been printed, the party said that it would announce the results on February 11th. It appears from the comments by those holding caucuses this week that they were under the impression that their votes would be counted and added to the results that were announced on February 11th.
Why did the party decide to announce the votes in the middle of the caucusing period? Who made the decision? Did they take into consideration that some of the towns would not be able to move up their dates when they decided to announce the results early? Did they make it clear that any towns that did not caucus by February 11th would not have their votes counted? Why would they disenfranchise voters who were caucusing within the period set by the rules? It would be nice if someone in the press could answer these questions and publish a copy of the rules so that we can all see whether it was clearly stated that votes from caucuses held after February 11th wouldn’t be counted.
“Affluent bedroom communities like Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth went heavily for Romney. Republicans in cities like Lewiston and Bangor favored Paul, as did those in rural Aroostook County”
That pretty much says it all right there folks. Romney is the candidate for rich, ‘moderate’ republicans (and their wannabe, lapdog friends) who want to retain the failed status quo, while the rest of us working stiffs are here screaming out for an actual change…
Ron Paul 2012!!
You don’t want to be Romney’s lapdog. He will strap you to the roof of his car for 12 hours.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/13/romneys-dog-on-car-roof-story-makes-him-unfit-to-be-president/
You are, I hope, familiar with “dogsagainstRomney.com”?
“But according to Maine GOP leaders, towns knew well ahead of time that
the presidential poll results would be announced on Feb. 11, and had an
opportunity to hold their caucuses before that date. Those rules were
spelled out months ago, Maine Republican Party Chair Charlie Webster
said.”
Well, we found out a few weeks ago that they would be taking results before all the caucuses took place. Were we then supposed to reschedule our district caucuses which had been planned since last summer even though there wasn’t enough time to do it? We’d already published by then! It says nothing in the caucus kit about a Feb 11 count. In fact I remember being reassured our votes would also be counted when I asked about the early release date. Now I see what the plan was.
It really doesn’t matter.
The GOP is pooping where they sleep…maybe they will try to find a way to blame it on the Liberal Poop Bandits. Charlie Webster knows they exist.
”
But according to Maine GOP leaders, towns knew well ahead of time that the presidential poll results would be announced on Feb. 11″
In other words:
The candidates are already chosen and voting doesn’t matter.
Your voice and vote? LOL!!!
Will of the people?
Ha!
talk about a rigged election process.
I created and Excel file out of the MaineGOP.com PDF file this article links to… I also included results from Waldo County Feb 4th super caucus where many towns voted in Belfast that were omitted http://bit.ly/zcsYu1 (Omitted Waldo County Feb 4th totals: Santorum- 39, Ron Paul- 35, Romney- 29, Gingrich- 18).
I still don’t know why the Tea Party joined the GOP…. They have very little in common.
they were infiltrated and co-opted.
They were going to be a threat to the 2 headed 1 party system that the media wants you to believe in.
The Tea party was pure when it started, but now it is just as the gop.
The tea party is alive and well within the GOP and about to hand them the biggest defeat they have seen in generations.
“Webster also said that even if Washington County’s votes were counted, they likely would not have swung the pendulum toward Paul. A total of 118 votes were cast in Washington County caucuses in 2008 and only eight of them went for Paul.”
Look who is a Mitt supporter….because 118 votes were cast in 2008 in Washington County back in 2008 Charlie Webster here thinks only 118 people are going to vote 4 years later? Wow Washington County, wow, this is what the State of Maine thinks of you…you would be better off becoming your own state….
they want people to give up on the other candidates.
If they’ve already announced the winner, and you were going to cast your vote but now your vote doesn’t matter then why try?
So thats one way of putting it.
regardless, it’s dirty, corrupt, and criminal what these so called “representatives” are doing.
The elections are rigged.
I think we of Washington County might actually prefer being our own nation at times.
What ever happen to Washington County and Aroostook County becoming a state? Now might be a good time!
You can’t make this stuff up. LOL Vote all the Republicans out in 2012 and LePage will quit like Sarah Palin did.
This is too ironic.
LOL…What a bunch of jokers. These are the bunch who are pushing for voting integrity…What a JOKE.
In your article:
I’ve read several article out of local Maine newspapers now that have mentioned Washginton county now being counted, but what about Waldo county where some 17 out of 18 precincts were not counted? All of which went for Ron Paul? This was despite the fact that the state GOP had a week to tally the votes. Local GOP officials there are puzzled why the whole county was left out.
In this article, as in others I’ve read, it’s mentioned that the votes would not have put Paul in 1st place. But this article, as well as others I’ve read, have failed to connect the uncounted votes in Washington county, where Paul was also expected to perform very well, with all of the precincts that were for Paul in Waldo county.
Are we seeing a trend here? Is your news organization, and hopefully others, going to hold the state GOP to account for this? Is it a coincidence that the establishment favorite Mitt who was neck and neck with the outsider Paul, was allowed his votes while Paul’s were ignored in what was already known would be a tight race?
Please do your best to defend each and every one of our votes. The people of Maine made the effort in good conscience to show up and sacrifice our time to participate in this great nation’s free electoral process.
Most Sincerely,
– LIberty Loving Citizen
It really doesnt matter…….
Time to move on….
Sowing seeds of voter apathy?
I heard they haven’t even counted Waldo County that went heavily for Ron Paul. So how is this right??
WOW… Talk about being bought and paid for… from the party of voting integrity. What a friggin joke.
I find it amusing that anyone really thinks that the one half of one percent of voters (Maine’s portion of the population) in the US matter at all. As to Charlie’s rules, he’s a legend in his own mind.
Chris Gardner is a liar, he was not dismayed, he said it was the rules that they would not be counted. Charlie Webster was told and probably paid not to let Ron Paul win. I thought Charlie Webster was suppossedly the one who cleaned up the voting corruption in Maine. You don’t have to be a Ron Paul supporter to be upset about this. Those two and I am sure others should be put in jail for voter fraud. The truth is coming out on the corruption that went on, this will not go away.
The Maine GOP Caucus ‘Process” faces criticism? The Process? No, no, no – the process is what it is. It’s the Maine GOP CHAIRMAN, Charlie Webster – the Leadership, and it’s minions who are this issue! You were flat out defrauded, Maine! What are you gonna do about it?
Monday morning stories are rolling in of FALSE numbers reported to HQ by the caucuses. The lady who answers the phone at Maine GOP didn’t seem to care until she was told the votes were counted OUT LOUD in front of everyone! That’s right – in Belfast, MN. The votes were counted out in the open – and Ron Paul won – but the GOP says Romney won it. Fraud!
Ron Paul won without Washington County holding caucus yet.
Source:
http://pollways.bangordailynews.com/2012/02/13/national/more-bases-for-maine-caucus-complaints-from-ron-paul/
Wait, I thought it was those evil college students that were corrupting our elections? Charlie, please clear this up!
The Republicans can no longer complain about voter fraud.
They themselves are fraudulent.
They should have talked with the folks in Florida… They know how to count votes…
When Republicans talk about “change”,
they are referring to election results.