Today was a victory for Ron Paul supporters in Jackson County, Missouri.

Further summary is needed to really explain what happened at the end of the caucus that resulted in the Beat Obama slate. I’ve spoken to the Chair, several delegates, and many attendees in order to compile the most accurate report possible.

The Credentials Cmte. reported 1012 people present, but the highest vote — the one for the election of the chair — only had 970 votes. That’s our starting point of voters present: 970.

The day began with approximately 375–400 Ron Paul supporters. Some are confused because over 550 stickers were passed out to ID Ron Paul supporters. However, the team ran out of one type of the Paul stickers and two people were counting. Sticker types were switched and the stickers that did not state Ron Paul were accepted by non-Paul supporters. The sticker counting system failed and was discounted. The door click system was more accurate, and the team’s best count indicated approximately 375 Ron Paul supporters.

Numbers dwindled throughout the day. The best count tracked these walk-outs/early departures: 80 Santorum, 60 Romney, 12 Paul, and 5 Gingrich. By the final vote the total number of people voting was 768.

The final delegate percentages agreed upon by the 768 votes were:
To the State: Paul 73% ; Romney 27%
To the 5th District: Paul: 44% ; Romney 56%
To the 6th District: Paul: 100%
Alternates: Paul 100% to the State, 5th, and 6th.

How did that deal, the Beat Obama slate, come about?

The Romney and Santorum leaders both approached the Paul leaders about two weeks ago. The local Paul team rejected them completely. After 17 March and the debacles seen then, when Romney and Santorum camps approached them again, they discussed a plan B — a compromise slate — at the Monday night Ron Paul strategy meeting open to Paul supporters.

This group of about 25 people who have been leading the Ron Paul movement in Kansas City with their blood, sweat, and tears, decided that between Santorum and Romney, Santorum was the most dangerous “to the concepts of liberty”. Therefore, they agreed to dialogue with the Romney camp about a possible compromise slate. Later in the week leaders of the local Paul strategy team met with the attorneys from the Romney team and hammered out a compromise.

The deal was strictly a Plan B. Plan A was a full Paul slate. If it was possible to pass Plan A, then Plan A would be voted on. If, however, Plan B was voted upon and lost, then the Romney camp would not agree to Plan B and would go to their Plan C — a deal with the Santorum camp. Therefore, the ultimate decision on the floor of the caucus was down to EITHER pass Plan A OR pass Plan B… and no second chances. If they tried Plan A and lost, they would forfeit ALL delegates because Romney would switch to Santorum.

Even if we’re generous and say that 400 Paul supporters were present at the final vote, that 400 was not the 2/3 necessary to pass the vote (51%) and close the meeting (2/3). The Paul camp did not have sufficient votes to pass Plan A, a full slate.

Also important: two men separately nominated the Ron Paul Constitution slate. Neither of them had been to any of the Paul strategy meetings.*

The first gentleman had good intentions. The Ron Paul slate had been distributed to Paul supporters earlier in the day and had been well-promoted by the team. When it came time to nominate slates, the Paul team captains had already determined that the numbers meant that the 100% Paul slate could not pass. They could not tip their hand to the full room and inform the Paul supporters of every detail, and the first man who nominated the Paul slate wanted to help. Team members spoke with him privately to see if he had additional names to add that would flesh out a second slate and safely give two Paul-centric slates. He did not. He withdraw the slate nomination.

The second man who nominated the Ron Paul slate was a Santorum supporter. He was still wearing his Santorum sticker. He was deliberately trying to divide the Ron Paul vote. He was publicly challenged by the Chair to declare whether he had a full slate of delegates for the RP slate he has nominated. The man didn’t, clearly, and he said as much. His slate was therefore rejected as it was invalid.

The Chair, Mark Anthony Jones, asked each of them if they had a full slate of delegates and alternates. They both said they did not. They had not prepared slates with names of delegates.** These were the two Paul slates that were withdrawn/rejected.

The Paul team had to decide between the compromise slate with Romney that was a definite majority of delegates for Paul, or risking getting no delegates for a slate that was incomplete when they did not have the necessary votes to pass it. The Paul team chose to take the compromise and they won the overwhelming majority of delegates for Paul.

The Romney camp would not have voted for a full Paul slate because they knew they could make a deal with the Santorum camp and get delegates. The Romney votes were far too slim to win anything on their own, but were necessary for either the Paul or Santorum camp to get delegates. Paul had more supporters present than the Romney and Santorum camps individually, but not a 2/3 majority overall.

Today was the best possible victory for Paul supporters in today’s caucus given the number of people present. The team did well. The Chair was honorable and answered the Santorum camp’s concerns. Robert’s Rules of Order were followed. Recordings were permitted.

Ron Paul won the delegates fairly and honestly. Well done, Jackson County!

*   Edited: 04:05PM EST, 3/35. Clarified and expanded situation surrounding the nominations of the Ron Paul Constitution slate.
** Edited: 11:00PM EST, 3/24. Possible inaccuracy removed.

We’ve had a Ron Paul weekend in Kansas City! The Missouri GOP holds a large event each year called Lincoln Days at which candidates and organizations may present themselves to attendees, socialize, and conduct general business leading up to the caucuses and state convention. I coordinated the Ron Paul representation at this year’s event, held at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, MO on Friday and Saturday. Our Lincoln Days event was companion to the enormously successful Ron Paul Rally held across the street at Union Station on Saturday night!

We spent 12noon to 11pm Friday and 7:30am to 5:30pm Saturday interacting with fellow conservatives to discuss, represent, and educate about Ron Paul. Nearly twenty local volunteers helped man the table and mingle throughout the event in order to spread the message of liberty and constitutional conservativism. My special thanks to Casey, Ed, Cameron, Aubrey, Paul, Leslie, Tina, Kent, Brooke, Gabe, Gregory, Aaron, Claudia, Donna, Joyce,  Mike, Jerry, and Regina for your help! Members of the Youth for Paul organization joined us Saturday afternoon to continue to advertise the Ron Paul Rally at Union Station.

The contrast between the teams and tables for the presidential candidates was fascinating. The Gingrich table had one part-time staffer with signs, sticker, and a sign-up sheet. The Santorum table had several volunteers/staff with signs and stickers. The Romney table had perhaps two staffers but at least two dozen volunteers across the building — the Romney volunteer with the most signatures at the end of the event won a large prize (I heard $500 cash or gift package mentioned by some, but I did not verify that). Most oddly, I had several of the Romney volunteers sneak over to me to say that even though they were dressed in Romney tees they were planning on voting for Dr. Paul. Go figure! The Romney table consisted of printouts of his name and sign-up sheets.

Our Ron Paul table, however, was purely volunteer and very issues-oriented. My volunteers were primarily out amongst the crowd interacting and chatting with folks rather than sitting idly, and they were driven by their commitment to specific issues. Many attendees commented on the most visible contrast between our table and the others: ours was educational! We distributed literature on Paul’s position and voting record on issues like national defense, pro-life, homeschooling, gun rights, securing our borders, how to balance the budget in three years, workers’ rights, and so on.

The most rewarding experiences were with conservatives who had either not yet fully committed to a candidate or who liked part of Ron Paul’s platform but were confused or disagreed with other parts. The overwhelming majority of these individuals entered with an inquisitive mind and walked away as Ron Paul supporters. One woman was a Santorum supporter who came by to discuss Dr. Paul’s pro-life and defense positions… and after talking fervently with one of our volunteers she thoughtfully took off her Santorum sticker, crumpled it in her hand, and donned two Paul stickers in its stead.

We transitioned from the Lincoln Days event over to the Rally late Saturday afternoon. Volunteers either went to their first and second row seats to wait for Dr. Paul’s speech or they stayed in the entry and worked for an additional several hours to sign-in attendees, distribute resources and literature, answer positional questions, and, later, to clean-up. I stayed out in the entry to distribute literature and answer questions, so I didn’t get photos from the thick of the rally, but the enormous Union Station plaza didn’t take long to fill… and the current count is nearing three thousand people!

Rob Baurain’s incredible panorama from near the front end of the plaza before the crowd had finished gathering:

Video of Ron Paul’s speech from Chris Wilson:

Ron Paul will be holding a rally at the Union Station in Kansas City on Saturday, 2/18, at 7:30pm. Arrive early to get access! I am coordinating the corresponding Ron Paul representation at the Missouri Lincoln Days event from Friday-Saturday at Westin Crown Center Hotel, so stop by the hotel early and then walk through the skyways over to the rally!

To help spread the word, download this PDF that can be divided into little flyer-strips and distributed!

This is a powerful example of citizens standing up and educating hypocritical politicians. Features Cleaver under fire for supporting the funding of abortions and violating the law.

Conservative Black Forum, 1/23/2012. Hosted by Allen West, Moderated by Star Parker.

At 1:43:22 Parker opened the floor to Q&A. The first person was a woman who directly questioned and challenged Cleaver on the Hyde Amendment and his support of funding Planned Parenthood/etc. He dodged the question and very condescendingly instructed her on how politics work. She stood up again and restated her question and demanded that he specifically answer. He said that he would vote against abortion but he would not defund clinics (Planned Parenthood, specifically) that provide other services for the poor. He was forceful and clear. The next audience member was a man who challenged Cleaver to, “as a man of God”, do his due research on the origins of Planned Parenthood as a eugenics program. Other members of the panel pressed Cleaver further. Cleaver left during the Q&A at 1:54:20.

I attended and filmed a press conference yesterday morning.

Jacob Turk announced that he is running for Congress against the incumbent Emanuel Cleaver for Missouri’s fifth district. Turk, a former U.S. Marine, engineer, and small business owner, has spent the past few election cycles getting to know the critical needs and strengths of the fifth district of Missouri while transition from the private sector into the political arena.

Turk is focusing his campaign on issues of on fiscal responsibility and congressional integrity. He is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights, he opposes regulation of business and healthcare, and he has stated that he supports an audit of the Fed.

The political establishment in Missouri are sufficiently afraid of Jacob Turk that, after he came very close to defeating Cleaver in 2010, the State redistricting was designed so that Turk’s personal residence was specifically placed out of 5th district… the newly drawn district line sits just a few blocks from Turk’s home.

Kevin Craig, current Libertarian candidate for Missouri House 7th District and a friendly colleague from my Springfield years, was recently interviewed by Missouri Viewpoints. Kevin is a Christian and a political anarchist with very thoroughly considered ideas. I’ve yet to read all of what he has written on his extensive website!

Another fun tidbit for me is that the Missouri Viewpoints program is affiliated with the Hard Bean Cafe in the Kansas City metropolis — the Bean is a fabulously fun and stylish cafe in southern KC… and if you stop by any time soon, my friend Katherine might serve your iced caramel mocha!