We previously commented in these pages as to how Ron Paul supporters were short changed on delegates and alternates and largely relegated to the back of the bus for the Republican district and state conventions, no doubt in a show of unity by County Chairwoman Judy Davidson and her fellow travelers (acknowledged, there is only so much room in the front of the bus, it just helps not to be a Ron Paul supporter). Anyway we also warned that the county convention organization was so poorly led that: The mess created may be aggravated at the district convention in that no anticipation seems to have been given to the likely process for alternate seating which in 2010 called for a numerical process.
Our reference to “numerical process” was the term used in 2008 and 2010 for the First District convention. It was not defined therein but my recollection is that it meant in the order provided by the county officers as approved by the respective county conventions. The new 2012 Second District published rule regarding seating of delegates / alternates states (Section 2 Delegates ) “Alternates shall be used in sequential order, All alternate delegates shall check in at the regular time, but shall return to the Credentials table at 11 AM for assignments.” These seem to be essentially the same as applied. However they both reflect /depend on how the list is formulated, approved and transmitted.
Now one way of looking at the possibilities this presents is that . . . if the Republican Chairwoman of Scott County had any desire to mollify Ron Paul supporters “in the spirit of unity,” she could have advocated for (and we expect got the job done) the listing of Ron Paul supporters first, as a sop to the number done on them (allocated to them) as regards delegates. It would have required an actual spirit of unity whereby competing presidential preference camps are embraced as good and valuable Republicans necessary to our success in the fall. That would have required reading for approval at the county convention the list in such a compensatory order. But the list the Chairwoman’s Nominating Committee produced was read in alphabetical order and passed as such at the County Convention and that becomes the “sequential order” for the seating of alternates at the District and State Republican conventions.
The clueless might ask “what could be more fair than an alphabetical listing”? . . . the unfortunate reality is what could be more absurd as an adult formulation on a matter that people compete to achieve! Imagine – your an “A” person . . . you practically know you are in before you make the trip. At the other end of the sequential spectrum if you are a U, a V or a W person you don’t even bother to make the trip. Someone might posit that “alphabetical is equally unfair” to the various presidential camps, but to this observer that is just another way of saying absurd on its face.
Imagine you are a Republican Party candidate organizer. “A’s and B’s get seated because they are A’s and B’s !! ?? . . . L’s,M’s, and N’s are in constant limbo because of their surname??!! Well I know where to begin calling in Scott County to get people to the caucuses and conventions!
Random assignment is not what we are calling for. Because fairness demands it, representative proportionality in contested presidential years is. But random assignments for alternates would be superior to the absurdity of using the alphabet to prioritize individual alternate delegates. Randomness would better insure that something resembling proportionality within the established alternate pool would be the mathematical result.
Most counties have the presence of minds in a particularly intense competitive presidential season to have an accurate, transparent, advertised in advance system for delegate selection that is adaptable to any level of intensity. Not Scott County “the jewel” of the Party under the “unity” farce minded approach of the powers that be. The word is out! In Scott County . . . to champion your candidate or cause . . . change your name to Aaaaaable. None of this helps maintain a rationale for maintaining the significance of our first in the nation caucus status.
Note – coming tomorrow – a reflection on the Republican State Central Committee District Delegate election and the merits of two favorite sons from Scott County and later we will get to the recent Scott County Central Committee meeting.
