Romney gets nasty in Nevada but Ron Paul prevails

For Ron Paul supporters there is good news coming out of Nevada but the price paid to win these victories has been brutal.  Here goes.  A report from people in the trenches.

In Carson City, the vast numbers of Ron Paul supporters made no difference.  The chair ignored them.  The Carson City Caucus was so ugly that the insider, GOP, Romney establishment itself splintered under the pressure.  More than one eyewitness compared it to rape.

This from a GOP insider who has been used in the past as a Sergeant of Arms.  “It was disgusting. The whole atmosphere was negative.  The leaders were angry and arrogant.  One fellow had a legitimate question about procedures and was shouted down by the chair. He was then escorted out by the Sgt at Arms to be talked to. This question was answered with one sentence later, during the proceedings!”

Here are some observations from Tom Mangone, a businessman.

“One young man stood in the middle of the group of the candidates he supported. He was very calmly stating that we all came here to become delegates to represent our county. He stood his ground in a polite way to become a delegate. The gal who was ‘running’ our group condescendingly said, ‘Do you want me to call the Sergeant of Arms?’ I was proud of this young man, he calmly responded, ‘For what, wanting to participate?’ I later found out he was on the Nevada State Debate Team.

” A woman, who was pregnant and ready to give birth at any moment, participated in her  precinct meeting and became a delegate to the county convention. However, I do not believe she got the opportunity to become a delegate to state, based solely on the candidate she supports.

“But, a man, from my own precinct, who did not participate in the process and did not attend his precinct meeting, showed up only at the county convention. He stated that he could not even attend the state convention, but he became a delegate because of his candidate of choice. This took a spot from someone that wanted to represent Carson City and would have been at the state convention to do so.”

Jennifer Kruger, a professional businesswoman, wrote a critique of the event, point by point, that will break your heart.  I am trying to get permission to pass it on.

Another observer sent me this in an email: “What sickens me is the fact that most, if not all of those thirty and younger were Ron Paul supporters and they saw just what the good ol Boys and their of ladies had done to them and see how America works now at least in Carson City.

“I am sick of the old country club set, making their decisions behind their luxury doors, establishing ‘rules and techniques’ that enable them to have it ‘their way or the highway’ as declared by them from the podium.

“This country needs the young people and they were raped at the Carson City GOP Convention and it was sad to watch helplessly!”

Concludes Mangone: “You read about these kinds of events happening elsewhere, not thinking that it could happen here. I left wondering if we were still in America. It seems that while attending an event such as this you would think we would all be on the same team.  And even though the front table suggested that we were, they insisted we get divided in four separate groups. I counted on these people to do the ‘right thing’ and I was sadly mistaken.

“I guess I should feel lucky because in other countries if you question how the voting process is ran or decline to share who you voted for, you wind up in jail or a bullet is put in your head. Sadly, this country is heading towards that mentality. Trust is now completely gone for the Carson County Republican Party.

“I saw the faces of several individual voters, (for most this was their first convention experience), and there was disbelief from all arenas. Many could not believe the Republican leaders did this and a few stated that they were no longer interested in politics. More and more of these types of events are happening across the country and it is driving a wedge right through the Republican Party. Many Republican voters have been lost. With the polls showing such a close race this type of behavior is gift wrapping Obama another four years in office.”

But Carson City corruption aside, statewide, Ron Paul is prevailing.  In Henderson, Nevada he swept all state delegates from Nye County and won a strong majority of state delegates from Douglas County.

Nye County Republican Party leadership had attempted to fill empty precinct delegate slots with people who failed to be elected or even participate in the February 4^th caucus precinct meetings.  Ron Paul supporters worked tirelessly to keep the convention running by Republican Party rules.  After a tiring circle of threats from the chair to shut down the proceedings unless attendees turned a blind eye to the cheating, Paul supporters elected a chair determined to conduct the proceedings in a fair manner.

With this blow was dealt to the current Nye County Republican Party leadership, they all departed – forfeiting any intention to represent or lead their county to the state convention.  The end result in Nye County was a fair, compliant election of a slate of delegates and alternate delegates to the state convention, all backing Dr. Paul.

Farther west in Douglas County, Ron Paul supporters locked down more than half of the 108 state delegates and many alternate delegate positions.

Reflecting on the powerful impact the Paul conservative movement is having in Nevada, Ron Paul 2012 Nevada State Chairman Carl Bunce said, “Supporters of Dr. Paul are reshaping Republican politics in Nevada.  They have the stamina and determination to bring the party back to its limited government roots, county by county.”

The Nye and Douglas successes add to a decisive victory in Clark County, the populous county encompassing Las Vegas.  In Clark, Paul secured approximately 60 percent of the delegates heading to the state convention, and won a supermajority of the Clark County Republican Executive Board.

Progress and momentum such as in this is hardly limited to Nevada.  It is happening in Washington, Missouri, Iowa and other states.  There are setbacks.  In North Dakota, where on Super Tuesday Rick Santorum won and Ron Paul came in second, the state convention was hijacked by Mitt Romney lawyers.  Romney, who came in third place in the Super Tuesday voting, nevertheless took 60% of the delegates there, even though outnumbered at the convention.

Says Jesse Benton,  Ron Paul Campaign Chairman, of the battles now raging at state conventions, “Beltway insiders might dismiss it, some in the media may choose to overlook it, and establishment party hacks will at times cheat, but nothing can stop the Ron Paul-influenced reawakening of the conservative movement in America.  Voters are smarter than the representation they’re getting and the empty rhetoric of fake conservatives and serial hypocrites.”