I have been very hesitant to post about this, because I don’t like getting into hasty accusations or uncalled-for speculation.
Earlier in the race, I was very critical of others who were demanding federal investigations, extraordinary recounts, and such. I’m pleasantly surprised that I was wrong in my expectation that there would be more of this kind of thing.
But the events of Washington over the weekend warrant attention. According to the press release from the Washington State Republican Party … well, … I’ll let you read it for yourself:
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Sen. McCain Wins Republican Precinct Caucuses in Washington State
Contact: Luke Esser
206-575-2900Gov. Huckabee finishes a strong second
Tukwila, WA…Washington State Republican Party Chairman announced tonight that Senator John McCain has won the 2008 Republican precinct caucuses in Washington State. With 87.2 percent of precincts reporting statewide, Sen. McCain leads the GOP field with 25.5 % of delegates. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee took 23.7 %, Texas Congressman Ron Paul 20.6 %, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won 16.5 %. Approximately 12.7 % of delegates reported their preference as “uncommitted”, while another 1.1% reported their preference as “other.”Washington State Party Chairman Luke Esser released the following statement this evening, “What a great day for Washington Republicans. They came out in full force today to support their candidates, and to make their voices heard. Congratulations to Sen. McCain for a hard-fought win, his second caucus victory in the 2008 presidential nomination process. And congratulations to Gov. Huckabee for his strong second-place finish.”
The percentages reflect the preferences of delegates who were chosen at precinct caucuses around the state earlier today. A final report is not expected to be available until Monday, February 11.
With a spread of 1.8%, they called the race before counting everything?
It gets better … they still haven’t. The results showing are only at 93.3% reporting:
Saturday, February 09, 2008
2008 Precinct Caucus Results
Statewide Results 2008 Precinct Caucuses:
Precincts Reporting 93.3 %
Candidates Percentage
Huckabee 23.8 %
McCain 25.4 %
Paul 20.7 %
Romney 16.7 %
Other 1.0 %
Uncommitted 12.3 %
Last Updated: Sunday 2/10, 5:45 PM
The Washington race went back and forth between John McCain and Mike Huckabee for the lead. The press release reports at 87%. The current page shows 93%. Why, pray tell, are they calling a winner? With a 1.6% difference?
I don’t want to accuse anything … but I do think that the questions need to be answered. Where are the votes? Why aren’t they counted? What’s going on?
This is very interesting, and we’ll see what happens.
February 11, 2008 at 6:06 pm
How come you mark all of your posts for the Alliance?
Its getting a wee bit annoying.
February 11, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Washington State held only the first step in its nominating process on Saturday. The announcement of the WSRP was irresponsible and a manufactured promotion of the Establishment’s buddy, John McCain. The truth is NOBODY won….YET.
I tell you this from the point of view of a Washington State Republican. We held our local precinct caucuses on Saturday, where we elected delegates to the county convention. The county conventions will be held in April and the state convention at the end of May. I’m going to my county convention as a Ron Paul delegate. In my pooled caucus (of 25 precincts), Ron Paul won and Huckabee placed 2nd.
We do not yet have results broken down by county and the state party hasn’t posted the actual numbers of the delegates. They are leading people to believe that the percentage of “wins” by each candidate is the percentage of the delegates, but many of us believe it is the presidential preference statements of the caucus attendees, which in many cases can very greatly. For instance, in almost every area I heard from, McCain supportes were not interested in going as delegates to the convention, so the supporters of Paul, Huckabee and even Romney were usually elected even when McCain supporters had sway.
February 11, 2008 at 7:49 pm
As for the missing “votes”, it’s just a matter of some precincts not sending in their results on Saturday.
February 11, 2008 at 8:55 pm
They mentioned this on CNN a few times today… It is messed up to say the least. They had a quote from the Chairman who said they would go back and finish counting, but he wasn’t changin his mind on who won… Excuse me? Someone either won or not… has nothing to do woith changing his mind…
February 11, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Dan – Actually, I don’t. But I’ve marked the last few because they’ve been relevant to politics.
Michelle – Thanks for your input. It seems that it would be more appropriate, in that case, for Mr. Esser simply not to announce anything … since it does seem too close to call accurately. That’s interesting about the McCain people not wanting to go as delegates. I find a certain number of people who are willing to vote for McCain, and even who favored him … but no one excited enough to work for him.
But that’s only in my circle of friends, which is hardly a scientific study.
February 11, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Tam – Yeah, I don’t think it’s one of those opinion questions. If the answer is that McCain won … okay. I’m not thrilled, but that’s life.
I remember a survey I saw near the end of 1999 asking people if they thought that the 21st century began on Jan. 1 of 2000 or 2001. I went ballistic. It’s not an opinion question! Oh, well …
Reality is overrated sometimes.
February 11, 2008 at 11:12 pm
ok cool, no prob.
On the substance of your post, early calls piss me right the hell off. Did you catch Esser’s statement that Huckabee should “just trust the party”?
February 11, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Yeah … I don’t want to be too rude to a fairly-natural ally, but that’s pretty far out of line.
Of course, the best comeback I had would have been to quote Pres. Reagan — “Trust but verify.”
February 12, 2008 at 12:56 am
yeah Wickle, we can’t let those pesky facts get in the way of opinions… drives me nuts!