Missouri Ron Paul Delegates Shake Things Up At The Caucus 
 Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Images via flickr

Ron Paul with Missouri State Representative Jim Guest

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had to suffer a little to vote for Ron Paul this year.  Ron Paul supporters across Missouri - who held their caucus this month - aren't content with settling for the GOP's favorite, Senator John McCain.  Though Missouri's state Republican Party rules require the national delegates to vote for the presumptive nominee McCain, and Paul came in fourth at MO's Feb. 5th primary, some Missouri Republicans are not okay with that.  And it doesn't matter to them where Paul placed in the lineup:  it's the principle, they say.

In Jackson county, at least 175 delegates are Ron Paul supporters. Along with other delegates across the state, they will choose 55 of the party's 58 delegates to the National Convention.

State Republican committee member David Buie said, "There's potential for embarrassing press overage, with no substantive effect on the outcome." What is embarrassing about voting for the candidate of your choosing? Isn't that what elections are for?

"We can also help affect the Republican platform," said Missouri Paul organizer Larry Holland, "And bring it back to its conservative, libertarian views."

In St. Charles County, the caucus turned into a six-hour event where Ron Paul supporters gained control: they made up 241 of the 274 delegate slots.   And they weren't just talking:  they passed a proposed rule change that could affect presumptive nominee John McCain, as the delegates seek to secure the option of voting for the candidate of their choosing from the Missouri Republican Party.

In Greene County (Springfield), Paul supporters made up 72 of the 112 delegate slots.

ENewsPF reports that the Ron Paul campaign may be falling victim to "machine politics" by the GOP, and that the Republican Party is being accused of breaking their own rules to disenfranchise Paul supporters.

"The Republican Party is in trouble and needs more participants in 2008, not less," said campaign manager Lew Moore.  "It makes no sense for Missouri party leaders to exclude and marginalize the new activists they badly need to work at every level this fall."

As for the Missouri GOP's website, John McCain is now listed as the only presidential candidate.

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