My Final Thought About The Ballot Mess

(thanks to the people who sent this to me so I could re-post it)

1.  Its a disgrace on the Perry, Gingrich, Santorum, and Huntsman campaigns for ignoring what was required, not doing their homework, and then bitching about it afterwards (like the judge said).  I hate to agree with the establishment set around here but yes, they should have known better.

2.  Its a disgrace to the RPV, who is so dominated by people scared of anyone new voting in our primaries they set up these ridiculous rules.  I mean, every time I turn around I hear "we don't want Democrats telling us who our nominee will be."  Its a bullshit argument because never once that I can find has any of our nominees for statewide office ever been decided by Democrat votes.  Its also insular thinking that prevents new voters from becoming Republicans.  It sends an old and stodgy message that new voters aren't welcome.  Look at Ron Paul supporters . . . and I know Paul is on the ballot but stay with me . . . they get criticized for being non-Republicans.  Okay, maybe that's right.  But there could a substantial amount of voters engaged by Paul's economic message that wants to work within the state GOP?  This thinking and obsession within RPV would turn so many of them off and refuse to allow the party to grow.  There is so much entrenched power in Richmond and in RPV they are deathly afraid of anyone new, and knee-jerk to "they aren't one of us."  We can't grow our party with this mind-set, and this mind-set led to ballot restrictions that give the state no say in the nomination of our presidential nominee.

3.  Its a disgrace to our waring statewide officials running for 2013.  Bill Bolling comes out of this looking like an in-the-tank Romney hack who gamed the system from the inside for his guy to get the upper hand in 2013 at the expense of a real choice.  Ken Cuccinelli comes out looking like a guy who forgot about his professional obligation in his quest to out-flank his rival and having to double-back to save face.

4.  Its a disgrace to the voters of Virginia.  Polls are tightening in South Carolina and it looks like either Gingrich or Paul could get past Romney.  For all the talk of him winning Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney still hasn't busted through nationally and a minuscule amount delegates have actually been decided.  By the time this primary hits in a couple of months, we could still be in a race for the nomination and our voters will have essentially been disenfranchised.  We won't be covered, cared about, or important.  Virginia LEAD THE WAY in bringing back the Republican Party from disgrace in 2008 by what we accomplished in 2009 and 2010.  We won all three statewide offices, blew up the House of Delegates, took three congressional seats, and then won back the State Senate.  Now we are an afterthought.  The McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli election theme of jobs and economy combined with a re-energizing of the conservative cultural base did this.  The rest of the country FOLLOWED Virginia's lead, and now we are being relegated to a laughingstock in the most important decision facing the party.

The only winners and Romney and Paul, and for both its a pyrrhic victory at best.

Comments

[James Young]

I disagree with your point two. I think a good case can be made that non-Republican voters secured the GOP Senate nomination for John Warner in 1996.

[Elise Bender]

Just ask for a paper ballot and use a huge Sharpie pen to write in somebody else's name .... other than Romney or Paul. Who cares if the ballot will not count.

Just a way of saying: The Republicans have become real jerks. They will eventually go the way of the Whigs.

Romney is an establishment candidate who has never demonstrated any guts or courage to confront or solve the problems he helped create (Romney-care anyone?)

Paul is just an old crank who provides a camp for slackers, druggies, antisemites, isolationists, and others who are disaffected in one fashion or another. No way to back into the future.

[Let's Be Free]

I am an old crank who will be voting for Ron Paul because he is the candidate who can be trusted to give my children a future. We need to look forward to relieving the next generation of the immense burden of big government conservatives and libeals both. BTW, I agree with Chris that all the players in this soap opera (and their surrogates) look like a bunch of clowns; they have not served the people or the democratic process well.

[Jaime Gartner]

Paul just seems creepy. I don't like clowns either.

But. I will vote for a clown or a creep before I will vote for Obama.

[Another Disenfranchised Republican Voter]

I can't stand Ron Paul and frankly I think he'd make a terrible President, but I'm planning to vote for him as an act of protest against the insular idiots running Romney's campaign here in Virginia.