Straw poll diary: A uniter, not divider

Like a good poker hand, the outcome is never quite clear until the cards are fully dealt. In this case, Saturday morning, when those cards were dealt, the outcome became quite clear.

First: the location. Dallas/Fort Worth is about 5 hours from Ron Paul's home base near Houston, which means that his delegates would have had a hard time getting to him. Dallas IS, however, a stronghold for certain neocon institutions, which worked heavily, to get their nearby delegates from Dallas/Fort Worth crowded in. They did a fantastic job -- my hats off.

Second: the candidates. Everyone that mattered dropped out of participation except for Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul. Whether intentional or not, this greatly narrowed the pro-war vote for delegates who appreciate participation. Had all the candidates shown up, Ron Paul would have run away with it simply from the dilution of the hawkish vote.

Third: the turnout. Low, but not quite low enough. Texas Republicans are generally displeased with their choices this year and, for that reason, Fred Thompson has become an early favorite simply because he is so well known, and yet, his positions so UNKNOWN, that folks can attribute to his politics whatever they like. He has become, here, like a "default" candidate for unhappy Republicans. Here in Texas we knew and feared this, which is why we hoped and prayed for a low turnout -- let the contest be decided by committed activists. However, enough of the undecided hawk delegates showed up that Thompson carried second place.

Forth: the show. Hats off again, this time to Townhall.com, who put on an orchestrated hatchet job against Ron Paul for the delegates main presentation. The final presentation (immediately before voting) was a Pentagon-attack survivor from 9-11 who told his tear-jerking story of severe burns, even to the point of showing pictures of his horridly destroyed body. Very few dry eyes could be found during this 30min-1hr presentation. After that emotional pull, he stressed the importance of killing every man, woman and child in Iraq, and pleaded with the delegates to bear this all in mind when they went to vote. Infuriating!!!

Fifth: the voters. Ron Paul supporters were everywhere. If the vote had been open, we would have carried it. However, only official delegates to Texas Republican conventions in the last 4 years were allowed to vote. That narrows it considerably to folks who were big supporters of Bush and his lackey, our governor, Rick Perry.

Now, the good news:

Dallas/Fort Worth meetups did an AMAZING job of enticing delegates to allow RP supporters to tag along and get credentialed. That's how I got in. Ron Paul supporters from all over the state (and a few others) showed up and DOMINATED the convention, outside because of our presence, and inside due to the sleight-of-hand mentioned previously.

Last thing: Folks, this convention was designed, orchestrated, and carefully crafted to make SURE that two things happened: Duncan Hunter won, and Ron Paul got 0 votes. Instead, thanks almost ENTIRELY to all of you who participated in the letter writing and calling program, we got 216 votes and 3rd place. If we can do this at an event like this one, just think what we can do at a REAL election.

God bless, and Go Ron Paul!

Bo Zimmerman
Austin, Texas

Quote: "And the winner of the first-ever Republican Straw Poll in Texas is: California Congressman Duncan Hunter, who claimed 534 votes, or 41.1 percent of the ballots cast this afternoon. Finishing second is candidate-in-waiting Fred Thompson, who formally launches his candidacy next week, with 266 votes, or 20.5 percent."

Ok, I'm a little confused by the outcome here. Duncan Hunter? Fred Thompson, a person that hasn't even officially thrown his hat in yet? And then Ron Paul from TEXAS! I know these are only straw polls, but the logic of this escapes me. Iowa is one thing, but TEXAS! I can't believe the results I keep seeing that fly in the face of the rabid supporters of Ron Paul. That's what I keep hearing anyway. What am I missing?

Attended the The Ron Paul Pride of Texas Freedom Rally
with music by Jimmie Vaughan and the Horton Brothers Band in Ft. Worth last night, Standing room only 500-600 people, The third rifle was auctioned (one was auctioned in San Antonio one in Texas City) and went for $8000, the most yet.. Inspiring speech by Dr. Paul, standing ovations. Great music by the two bands. A great time was had by all. I left more inspired than ever. Hope the straw poll today goes well.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson