Thanks to Wes for sending in these shots from the grassroots kickoff in Jefferson County this past Saturday!
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Showing posts with label Jefferson County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jefferson County. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Photos: Jefferson County Grassroots Campaign Kickoff
Thanks to Wes for sending in these shots from the grassroots kickoff in Jefferson County this past Saturday!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Video: Jefferson County Caucus Outtakes
The video above covers points that I raised in my two posts so far about the Jefferson County caucus. Please read my St. Patrick's Day Death March and my take on the use of a draft call to convention for more information about those issues. The video above includes footage of caucus goers entering and exiting via the back door in violation of caucus procedures.
More to come...
Jefferson County GOP Caucus Used a Draft Call to Convention
The pictures above were taken at the March 17th Jefferson County Republican caucus. They are photographs of the Missouri Republican Party's Call to Convention; however, there's a problem with that document. It's a draft version, not the official call to convention issued by the Missouri GOP.
If you click through the photographs above, you'll notice that there are large, faded letters in the middle of each page. The "R" on the first page isn't even recognizable, but on other pages you can usually make out one to three 4" high letters of the word "DRAFT". These pages were obviously photocopied and that process obscured the "DRAFT" watermark.
Before we get to the main question--Why would a draft version of the call to convention be used?--let's recall that in Jefferson County, as in St. Charles county, the central committee attempted to ban cameras and recording devices.
As you can see in that sign--making some allowance for the spelling of "electronic"--cameras were prohibited. Perhaps part of the reason for prohibiting cameras was because the organizers did not want anyone to know that they were using a draft call to convention.
So, why use a draft call to convention?
The draft document used in Jefferson County included language that would bind the caucus's delegation to the results of Missouri's February presidential preference primary (paragraphs 3 thru 5). However, the final and official call to convention includes the following language instead of those three paragraphs and specifically precludes the binding of delegates to the February caucus results:
No delegate to the Republican National Convention shall be bound by the results of any Republican Presidential Primary held before March 6, 2012. Upon being nominated and prior to any vote to elect national convention delegates or national convention alternate delegates, each nominee for national convention delegate or national convention alternate delegate shall notify the chair of the Congressional District Convention or of the State Convention, as appropriate, of the Republican Presidential Candidate who that nominee pledges to support on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. No nominee shall identify more than one Republican Presidential Candidate who that nominee pledges to support if elected as a national convention delegate or national convention alternate delegate. Prior to any vote to elect national convention delegates or national convention alternate delegates, the chair shall announce the Republican Presidential Candidate who each nominee will be pledged to support. National convention delegates and national convention alternate delegates chosen at the Conventions must pledge their support to the Republican Presidential Candidate who they identified at the Convention at which they were elected and will be bound to cast their vote for said candidate on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention.It stands to reason that a draft version of the call to convention was used in an effort to bind the caucus's delegation to Rick Santorum--the winner of the February presidential preference primary. However, Hanlon's Razor suggests an alternative explanation: incompetence. So take your pick: 1) disingenuous political maneuvering or 2) ham-handed event preparation.
More to come...
Below the "read more" link is an animation of the photographs of the draft call to convention. It runs through the pages twice. On the second iteration, the word "DRAFT" is overlaid to make the original watermark a little easier to recognize.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
St. Patrick's Day Death March During GOP Presidential Caucus in Jefferson County
Bob McCarty was pretty disgusted with the Republican caucus in St. Charles county. That caucus ended abruptly when police were called and has since been rescheduled for April 10th. Bob has written extensively about what he dubbed the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre":
With a scheduled start time of 10AM, that means that participants who didn't leave early were at Hillsboro Intermediate School for over nine hours. In fact, as Travis Forrest explains in the video below, some people arrived as early as 7AM:
Travis also explains that he and others that arrived early tried to enter the building by the back door. Several volunteers were allowed in; however, Travis and another couple were told to enter through the front door after 8AM.
Videographer Brian Mueller also shot video of the "volunteers" gathering inside the school.
The strategy this year for Missouri's caucus system, basically, require coordination among political factions prior to the start of the caucus. To maximize your faction's influence in the caucus you need to have the support of 50% + 1 votes. If your faction controls 50% + 1, then it is relatively easy to guarantee that all delegates elected at that caucus support your candidate. In the 2012 Missouri caucus, there were three viable factions: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum with a few Newt Gingrich supporters as well.
Each Missouri caucus is run according to Robert's Rules of Order (at right). Participants familiar with parliamentary process can maneuver the caucus to their favor.
There's nothing wrong with collaborating between factions and leveraging your knowledge of Robert's Rules. Ultimately, that's the whole strategy. However, denying access to the building, much like dilatory tactics, is a way of unfairly giving your faction a strategic advantage in the caucus. At the Jefferson County caucus this meant that the people left standing at the front door had trouble finding outlets for their computers.
The chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee even tried to prevent a printer from being brought into the caucus despite the fact that she herself had brought one. Ultimately, the printer made it in and was setup underneath a chair because there wasn't a better place to put it that also had access to a power outlet.
All of this points to a strategy of discomforting some participants while prolonging that discomfort until the electoral outcome could be manipulated to the favor of one faction. That's not how a caucus is suppose to be run.
More to come...
- ‘St. Patrick’s Day Massacre’ Takes Place During GOP Presidential Caucus in St. Charles, Missouri
- I Am A Man Without A Political Party
- GOP Officials Weave ‘Tangled Web’ Over Caucus
- Video Best Summary of ‘St. Patrick’s Day Massacre’
- St. Charles County GOP Chair Says Caucus Letter ‘Actually Drafted by Santorum’s Campaign Team’
- Source, Phone Message Revealed in St. Charles County Republican Central Committee Scandal
- Media Coverage of GOP Caucus Fallout Widens
- St. Charles County GOP Hasn’t Changed Much
- Will Members of Congress Tuck Tail and Run Again?
- You Be The Judge — Watch Videotapes of 2012 Missouri Republican Presidential Caucuses
- CAUCUS 2.0: Are St. Charles County GOP Central Committee Officials Trying to Limit Participation?
- ‘Point of Order!’
- Missouri State Legislators Not Inclined to Place High Priority on 2011 Weldon Spring Cancer Report
With a scheduled start time of 10AM, that means that participants who didn't leave early were at Hillsboro Intermediate School for over nine hours. In fact, as Travis Forrest explains in the video below, some people arrived as early as 7AM:
Travis also explains that he and others that arrived early tried to enter the building by the back door. Several volunteers were allowed in; however, Travis and another couple were told to enter through the front door after 8AM.
Videographer Brian Mueller also shot video of the "volunteers" gathering inside the school.
The strategy this year for Missouri's caucus system, basically, require coordination among political factions prior to the start of the caucus. To maximize your faction's influence in the caucus you need to have the support of 50% + 1 votes. If your faction controls 50% + 1, then it is relatively easy to guarantee that all delegates elected at that caucus support your candidate. In the 2012 Missouri caucus, there were three viable factions: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum with a few Newt Gingrich supporters as well.
Each Missouri caucus is run according to Robert's Rules of Order (at right). Participants familiar with parliamentary process can maneuver the caucus to their favor.
There's nothing wrong with collaborating between factions and leveraging your knowledge of Robert's Rules. Ultimately, that's the whole strategy. However, denying access to the building, much like dilatory tactics, is a way of unfairly giving your faction a strategic advantage in the caucus. At the Jefferson County caucus this meant that the people left standing at the front door had trouble finding outlets for their computers.
The chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee even tried to prevent a printer from being brought into the caucus despite the fact that she herself had brought one. Ultimately, the printer made it in and was setup underneath a chair because there wasn't a better place to put it that also had access to a power outlet.
All of this points to a strategy of discomforting some participants while prolonging that discomfort until the electoral outcome could be manipulated to the favor of one faction. That's not how a caucus is suppose to be run.
More to come...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Photos: Jefferson County Lincoln Days
Thanks to Wes Bradley for sending these photos from Saturday's Lincoln Days in Jefferson County.
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