Battle over Maine GOP Caucus Results Intensifies
02/15/2012 Reported By: Jay Field
The Maine Republican Party has no immediate plans, as of now, to back off its decision last weekend to name Mitt Romney the winner of the state's GOP caucus. Party officials went ahead with the move, even though Washington County postponed its caucus due to a snowstorm, and a handful of other communties didn't have their votes counted due to clerical errors. The chairman of the state party says adding totals from these areas won't significantly alter Romney's nearly 200-vote lead in the non-binding, presidential preference poll that's part of the caucus. But that's not stopping Ron Paul supporters in Maine from working feverishly to get voters Downeast to attend Washington County's rescheduled caucus on Saturday.
An average of 110 to 120 people have attended the Washington County GOP caucus during recent election cycles. Ron Paul got just eight votes in 2008. So if history repeats itself, Saturday's rescheduled gathering won't change the overall outcome in Maine. But in 2012, the only predictable thing about the campaign for the Republican nomination has been its unpredictability.
"Hey, Herm! I'm just printing some stuff out," says Billy Bob Fulkingham. Family members arrive for a strategy session as the printer in Fulkingham's tiny home office spits out an attention-grabbing flyer. At the top is a photo of Congressman Ron Paul, circa 1981, sitting next to Ronald Reagan. Below--bullet points on why Paul is the former president's true heir.
"These are kinda for undecided people--to grab their attention," Fulkingham says.
Like many Ron Paul supporters, Fulkingham began following the Texas Congressman's campaign online. He met Paul in Bangor last month. Fulkingham's was disappointed to learn that his caucus in Winter Harbor in Hancock County was scheduled after the February 11 deadline imposed by the state GOP. His vote wouldn't end up counting in the statewide presidential straw poll.
So Fulkingham encouraged friends in nearby Washington County to attend the caucus there. "So I was planning on going to Washington County to check that out. And they said it was canceled Friday and I was so mad," he says.
Towns throughout the county decided, together, to reschedule the caucuses due to a threat of snow. So the statewide straw poll went forward without Washington County. Mitt Romney won by 194 votes. But it turns out there were problems in other places, including Waterville and communities throughout Waldo County.
more:http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/20308/Default.aspx
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