The Nevada State Republican Convention was halted abruptly by a recess from the chair after if became apparent that a Ron Paul upset was in the making.
How did this happen? Nevada State Republican conventioneers, of which I am one, were met today with an agenda that included a rubber stamp vote for National Convention delegates, anointed by the Nominating Committee without any input from the county delegates. A floor fight ensued over the rules for delegate selection, and the result was a change in process to allow for nominations from the floor. This vote was by a roughly 7:4 margin where the preselected slate of candidates for the National Convention was discarded.
After a recess a party official proposed a limited ballot of five names for each delegate instead of the full compliment in order to "streamline" the process and speed the count. This was rejected out of hand by around a 75% majority. The move, imo, was an attempt to weight the vote to Clark County where most of the population resides.
Since RNC rules apparently call for at least three delegates to the National Convention for each Congressional District (Nevada has three CD's) a call for nominations was made and the house divided into the appropriate sections for the selection of these 9 delegates. This contingency was totally unexpected by convention planners and resulted in a lengthy delay during which other business was conducted. Suddenly, Senator Bob Beers, who is the convention chair announced that as a result of our decision to amend the process to give the delegates on the floor a voice in our National delegation, we had caused such a delay as to run us up against the time limit in the rent agreement with the Peppermill Resort and Casino and called a recess and reconvene at an unspecified time and place. I was a delegate at the county convention which was held in the same venue and ran a couple hours long without so much as a peep about problems with the owner of the hall. The dais promptly fled the premises after the recess was called.
Rumor has it that 7 of the 9 delegates selected to fill the CD seats were Ron Paul supporters. The balance of the delegation has yet to be nominated and voted upon.
Anyone who may be participating in the political process and is a Ron Paul supporter would be well advised to be well prepared for your state's convention. Nothing seems to smarmy a tactic to nullify our vote.
How did this happen? Nevada State Republican conventioneers, of which I am one, were met today with an agenda that included a rubber stamp vote for National Convention delegates, anointed by the Nominating Committee without any input from the county delegates. A floor fight ensued over the rules for delegate selection, and the result was a change in process to allow for nominations from the floor. This vote was by a roughly 7:4 margin where the preselected slate of candidates for the National Convention was discarded.
After a recess a party official proposed a limited ballot of five names for each delegate instead of the full compliment in order to "streamline" the process and speed the count. This was rejected out of hand by around a 75% majority. The move, imo, was an attempt to weight the vote to Clark County where most of the population resides.
Since RNC rules apparently call for at least three delegates to the National Convention for each Congressional District (Nevada has three CD's) a call for nominations was made and the house divided into the appropriate sections for the selection of these 9 delegates. This contingency was totally unexpected by convention planners and resulted in a lengthy delay during which other business was conducted. Suddenly, Senator Bob Beers, who is the convention chair announced that as a result of our decision to amend the process to give the delegates on the floor a voice in our National delegation, we had caused such a delay as to run us up against the time limit in the rent agreement with the Peppermill Resort and Casino and called a recess and reconvene at an unspecified time and place. I was a delegate at the county convention which was held in the same venue and ran a couple hours long without so much as a peep about problems with the owner of the hall. The dais promptly fled the premises after the recess was called.
Rumor has it that 7 of the 9 delegates selected to fill the CD seats were Ron Paul supporters. The balance of the delegation has yet to be nominated and voted upon.
Anyone who may be participating in the political process and is a Ron Paul supporter would be well advised to be well prepared for your state's convention. Nothing seems to smarmy a tactic to nullify our vote.
