Delegate reality check.

[WWIIIDefender]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pxTkS24gXQ&feature=g-all-u

 

[bullet293]

Great news! Go RON PAUL!

 

[Classic Liberal]

Woot!

 

[Fletch]

People believe what they want to believe. In this case, the media and the public at large want to believe that the primary votes are what's most important, and that delegates naturally follow. Near as I can tell, that's not the case in most states for the Republican party.

Ron Paul's supporters have never been secretive about their strategy of gaming for delegates rather than votes. And this is truly a libertarian, decentralized, bottom-up strategy. Registered Republican voters who support the principles of individual freedom that Ron Paul stands for have been organizing in caucuses all across the nation. I was briefly involved in the effort back in 2008, when it was first getting started.

The instructions we were given: "Volunteer for everything, and position yourself to be a delegate. Save vacation time if necessary for the convention. Save money for travel costs. Most delegate positions go unfilled because nobody has the time or the energy or the money, so make sure you've got all three and can jump on it when the opportunity arises."

The fact is, most caucus meetings are poorly attended and mostly go through the motions. The only people showing up with any energy to drive the thing forward are Ron Paul supporters, and their energy is non-transferrable. It says something when a handful of Ron Paul supporters can show up and dominate a meeting. It says the Republican party is diseased and necrotic. It's a dinosaur. It has nothing of value to offer anyone, otherwise caucus meetings would be packed with Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, and Bachmann supporters who could easily defeat the handfuls of RP activists who show up.

It's a long-view strategy, a huge gamble, but it's fun to see it pay off, even if only in a few states so far. The Romney campaign has a lot of catching up to do, and I doubt they have boots on the ground to make it to all the caucus meetings. RP generally doesn't have that problem. All it takes is a few supporters in each district to swing the vote, and we've been playing the game for 4 years to Romney's 0.