Politics

Romney's aggression toward Ron Paul supporters cost him votes.

"The number of people who were open to voting for Romney, and now will not, is surely small, though in a tight election, small groups can make a difference. Carro, for one, is planning on going fishing on Election Day, saying, “I cannot support the Romulan empire.” Others expressed similar sentiments. Referring to the disenfranchised delegates, Susanne Nightingale, a Paul-ite from California, said, “No August vote, no November vote.”"

Boy, Romney was stupid. He had the chance to be gracious, welcome Paul delegates and persuade them to support him, but he did just the opposite.

I'm not the only who thinks Romney was stupid. This website doesn't seem to have links for individual posts, so I'll quote it in its entirety.

" "Politics is the art of inclusion" said former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean. The Romney campaign seems to have forgotten this wise advice. Although, I am certainly a practitioner of hardball politics,the Romney treatment of Congressman Ron Paul at the Republican National Convention strikes me as gratuitous, unnecessary and perhaps fatal in terms of Romney's November prospects.

Although, Congressman Paul won at least 131 delegates through the primary and caucus process, the Secretary of the Republican convention refused to acknowledge, tally or announce Paul's votes. I cannot imagine the reason for this incredible snub.

When Congressman Paul's supporters gathered the majority of delegates in five states necessary to put Paul's name in nomination, the Romney forces quickly amended the rules to require a majority of eight states for that purpose. With Romney having secured more then enough delegates to be nominated it is difficult to understand what harm would have been done if Ron Paul's name had been placed in nomination and his duly elected delegates had been tallied and announced in the balloting.

All of this is particularly vexing in view of Ron Paul's studied neutrality in the November elections and not-too-bright Senator Rand Paul's transparent, self-serving endorsement of Mitt Romney.Rand Paul keeps calling the pro-War, pro-interventionist GOP platform " very libertarian." It isn't . Wake up Senator, Romney is itching to bomb Iran,backs the war in Afghanistan, supports the federal "war on drugs, the Patriot act and won't abolish the Federal Reserve.

Mitt Romney and his handlers have essentially told the Liberty Wing of the Republican Party to drop dead. They would have been wise to remember that Governor Gary Johnson is still likely to be on the ballot in 50 states despite the illegal and fraudulent effort by Republicans to block his ballot access in Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. The Romney forces should bear in mind that Ralph Nader got 97,000 votes in Florida, a state George W. Bush ultimately carried by 523 votes. The Romneyites have helped push Paul supporters into the Johnson camp.Romney acts like he's 15 points ahead instead of in a dead heat in which he needs every vote. Any significant showing by Johnson in any swing state could spell doom for Romney, who did not support Ronald Reagan in the general elections of 1980 or 1984 and who didn't become a Republican until 1983."

I hadn't heard about Republican efforts to keep the Libertarian candidate off the ballot.  Here's an article about the challenge in Iowa.

"Johnson says he faces ballot challenges in several states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma, led by Romney campaign operatives."

Same states. Libertarians tried to do the same to Romney in Washington, and failed.

Claim that Clint Eastwood tossed his vetted speech and ad-libbed. What an awesome guy.

Interesting, detailed breakdown of the Republican-Democrat voting blocks supports the contention this will be a very close election. I'm not so sure. I don't think this analysis measures how badly Obama personally and his policies have turned off the American people. I keep seeing claims that Obama has high likability ratings, but I don't those are accurate. I think people don't want to say they dislike him. I don't find anything about him likable.

Seeking to insure the highest rates of voter fraud possible, federal court blocks Texas voter ID law.