[Official Thread] OBAMA WINS RE-ELECTION

[Dalton]

Dumb Santorum quote of the night: "...the men and women who signed the Declaration of Independence..."

[LaCroix]

Any news on the delegate issue? Is Paul still pulling the wool over their eyes?

[Mr Bean]

Any news on the delegate issue? Is Paul still pulling the wool over their eyes?

The campaign is quiet about what they gained Arizona and Michigan as they got zero actual delegates, these were primaries so the delegates won't be elected for a few weeks now.

[Flagg]

Aaaaaand... IT'S A TIE!


MSNBC

Santorum, Romney split delegates out of Michigan 15-15
By NBC's Domenico Montanaro

The NBC News Elections Desk reports that in the Michigan primary, with 30 delegates at stake, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney will split that state's delegates 15 apiece.

Michigan allocated its delegates winner-take-all by congressional district.

It would have been a Santorum blowout (hate it when that happens, so messy) if he hadn't gone full retard in the last week before the vote in Michigan.

[Dalton]

There is officially Drama. The MI GOP awarded Mittens another delegate, bringing the count to 16-14 (or 28-28 without the penalty).

Link

Naturally the Frothy Mix campaign team is having a fit of hysteria over, let's face it, one fucking delegate.

[bobalot]

Aren't the other candidates aware of this and taking steps to counter it? Or is this something that everybody has teh knee-jerk opinion of "Naw, can't happen..."

I talked to a friend in the Ohio republican party, and he was saying that people are waking up to this, and it's generating a general "Oh shit" feeling in the party. Remember, this only happens if someone doesn't win outright on the first ballot, and the last time that happened for the GOP was in '48. In '76 Ford pulled just enough delegates in on the first ballot to avoid a second, so it's been over 35 years from the last time this could have happened, and that's a political generation. In short, no one saw this coming, but people are starting to see it now, but the Paulites have a lead on organization.

So basically, Ron Paul supporters are gaming the system like they game internet polls? Is anybody really surprised?

The GOP probably didn't think that anyone would contemptuously piss in the voters faces like this.

[Raw Shark]

The GOP probably didn't think that anyone would contemptuously piss in the voters faces like this.

I don't see why not, considering all the bullshit they've pulled to disenfranchise people over the past few years. It'd be more accurate to say that they probably didn't expect Republicans to piss in the faces of other Republicans.

[Skgoa]

And the chance of it working out is incredibly slim under normal circumstances.

[Mr Bean]

And the chance of it working out is incredibly slim under normal circumstances.

Correct the Ron Paul plan works only if no one wins 1144 on the first ballot. If someone gets 1144 Ron Paul just sits on his hands and laughs anyone who suggests he planned to steal the election. But if there is a contested convention he can twirl his mustache and turn in 1200 delegates on the second ballot.

[TimothyC]

So basically, Ron Paul supporters are gaming the system like they game internet polls? Is anybody really surprised?

The GOP probably didn't think that anyone would contemptuously piss in the voters faces like this.

The last time the GOP had a primary that was contested to this degree was the '76 election, and the only candidate to have been holding a congressional office at the time was - you guessed it - Ron Paul.

And the chance of it working out is incredibly slim under normal circumstances.

Correct the Ron Paul plan works only if no one wins 1144 on the first ballot. If someone gets 1144 Ron Paul just sits on his hands and laughs anyone who suggests he planned to steal the election. But if there is a contested convention he can twirl his mustache and turn in 1200 delegates on the second ballot.

Right. There are people in the state party organizations however who are doing what they can to keep this from happening but it's not something that they are keen to advertise as being needed to be done and that limits their options. They can't advertise because this is something so out of the blue that it reeks of conspiracy theory.

I've also heard through the grapevine that the worst case of all possible general election outcomes for the GOP is a Ron Paul win in the general. The other bit is that "If we have to lose to the President, then let Ron Paul lose, and thus make the libertarian wing take the blame."

We're watching a fight inside the GOP and it could get very, very ugly.

[bobalot]

And the chance of it working out is incredibly slim under normal circumstances.

Correct the Ron Paul plan works only if no one wins 1144 on the first ballot. If someone gets 1144 Ron Paul just sits on his hands and laughs anyone who suggests he planned to steal the election. But if there is a contested convention he can twirl his mustache and turn in 1200 delegates on the second ballot.

So Paultards think that a candidate, who is getting roughly 11% of the popular vote, getting the candidacy through some technical trickery (not seen in 40 years) wont have any adverse reaction from Republican voters?

The level of delusional thinking is astonishing.

[TimothyC]

Correct the Ron Paul plan works only if no one wins 1144 on the first ballot. If someone gets 1144 Ron Paul just sits on his hands and laughs anyone who suggests he planned to steal the election. But if there is a contested convention he can twirl his mustache and turn in 1200 delegates on the second ballot.

So Paultards think that a candidate, who is getting roughly 11% of the popular vote, getting the candidacy through some technical trickery (not seen in 40 years) wont have any adverse reaction from Republican voters?

The level of delusional thinking is astonishing.

They don't think that far ahead, and those that do - just don't care. They think that the Anyone-but-Obama vote will be strong enough that combined with the pro-Paul vote for Paul to win. They really do think they can pull enough votes from enough places to win - forgetting that the establishment won't give them a full backing of political infrastructure.

[Count Chocula]

Yeah, Paul is a N-O no for the 99% of R voters. Romney...well, we had two Bushes and Clinton. What's the difference? He's got my vote ONLY if he's the "not-Obama" candidate.

Santorum's looking more and more viable. IIRC, the Republican establishment hated Reagan and that worked out pretty well.

[Skgoa]

Let's face it, a political campaign's sole purpose is to get your candidate in by any means necessary. If Paul doesn't get the nomination, they lost anyways.

[Zed]

If Paul's actually doing this, it seems to me that it would be far more viable for him to use his influence to negotiate a deal with another candidate for influence or jobs.

[Dominus Atheos]

AFSCME has a new election ad out:

[Companion Cube]

Speaking to supporters in Chillicothe, Ohio on Friday, the former Pennsylvania senator explained that the U.S. had “transformed the world” with the a new form of government.

“In the previous 2,000 years, life did not change,” he said. “And then America came around and said, ‘No, no more dictators, no more kings, no more classes, no more nobility.’ We believe in limited government, not an all-powerful state. We believe that if we liberate people, we recognize the rights that God has given every person then the world will change.”

Jesus --> Who gives a fuck --> America

I have to say I'm sort of enjoying the Primary spectacle from across the Atlantic. Is there any chance Santorum gets the nomination, ultimately?

[Pelranius]

Speaking to supporters in Chillicothe, Ohio on Friday, the former Pennsylvania senator explained that the U.S. had “transformed the world” with the a new form of government.

“In the previous 2,000 years, life did not change,” he said. “And then America came around and said, ‘No, no more dictators, no more kings, no more classes, no more nobility.’ We believe in limited government, not an all-powerful state. We believe that if we liberate people, we recognize the rights that God has given every person then the world will change.”

Jesus --> Who gives a fuck --> America

I have to say I'm sort of enjoying the Primary spectacle from across the Atlantic. Is there any chance Santorum gets the nomination, ultimately?

It's possible, especially if he gets momentum from Super Tuesday (especially if he wins a majority of those states).

[Civil War Man]

It's possible, especially if he gets momentum from Super Tuesday (especially if he wins a majority of those states).

It'd take more than just winning those states, due to the way most of the states hand out delegates. For most of them, they are handed out proportionately to candidates who get a certain percentage of the vote (usually at least 20%), but are winner take all if one candidate gets a majority of the votes (or supermajority, in the case of Tennessee). As it is, in the states where Santorum might win, he will probably get 40% of the vote at most, with Romney close behind. So in those states, Santorum will be getting a mild delegate advantage at best. Meanwhile Santorum and Gingrich have effectively given Romney a 40 delegate head start by not filing in Virginia early enough. There are possible scenarios where Romney will net twice as many delegates as the next highest candidate without winning most of the Super Tuesday states outright.

[Dalton]

Just a note: Santorum and Gingrich did not get enough signatures to appear on the Virginia ballot.

[Lord Zentei]

I'm surprised that they couldn't manage 10000 signatures in such a large state. In particular Gingrich - he was supposed to be the frontrunner in Virginia.

[Mr Bean]

I'm surprised that they couldn't manage 10000 signatures in such a large state. In particular Gingrich - he was supposed to be the frontrunner in Virginia.

Some fun facts about the Virginia system
1. You must get at least 15,000 signatures total
2. You must gather 400 signatures from each of the 11 counties in the state
3. You get about two months to do it
4. You're not allowed to collect signatures unless you're a state resident
5. The people who sign must be registered voters

So in theory you could hire 11 people to each collect 1370 signatures each or about 23 a day. Except Virginia is not a city state and 4 of the 11 counties are pretty much woods and towns under 2,000. So in reality any campaign looking to get on the ballot must have about twenty people in just Virginia in order to get on the ballot at a time where no one's voted yet so there are still 10-20 campaigns trying to get people to sign up to vote for you. It's the hardest requirements in the nation and remember each of your people need to find at least 23 people a day who are registered, of the correct party AND will stop and sign something and provide contact information. It's why only two campaigns managed it. You need twenty people on the ground willing to work long weeks in the state in order to get on the ballot. And at the last minute in November they increased it from 10,000 signatures to 15,000 signatures.

[Dalton]

NBC calls Virginia for Mittens, Georgia goes to Newtie

[Dalton]

Vermont goes to Mittens

[Dalton]

Mass goes to Romney
Santorum leading in Oklahoma