Folks, I’m beside myself in shock today as I’ve read that the Illinois Republican party is considering taking away the ability to vote for presidential delegates from the IL voters.  The role of a delegate is probably unknown to most, but essentially they are the ones that get sent to the RNC to nominate the candidate to run for president.  Don’t the voters get to vote for the nominee, isn’t that why we have the primary election in the first place?  You might ask yourself.  Yes essentially you are correct, however the delegate is a level of protection against a winner takes all situation.  I’ll explain..

Normally when you go into the voting booth in IL on election day you not only cast a vote for your choice in candidates, but also you cast votes for local delegates as well.  A delegate is someone that has been chosen to attend the national convention and participate in the final nomination process.  A delegate can outright support a candidate or they can be unaffiliated, it’s their choice.  The winner of the most overall votes will get a percentage of their delegates, and then the delegates of the other candidates are awarded in succession as to where they finished in the overall votes.  This ensures that each candidate has representation from each state going to the convention.  This is exactly what the ILGOP is trying to stop. Doug Ibendahl explains it better than I could.

“If the plan is adopted, Republican Primary voters would not elect delegates representing the various candidates for President, as has been done in the past in Illinois. Instead, the State Central Committee would pick the majority of delegates and alternatives after the Primary. (A few at-large delegates would also still be selected at the State GOP Convention in June next year. That has typically been a very pre-rigged affair.)

As 99.99% of Republican voters have absolutely no say in choosing the members of the State Central Committee who would be doing the choosing of delegates, our State GOP’s plan should be a serious concern to every Republican, and especially to the campaigns of the various Presidential candidates.”

http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=11214

So you see now why this is so important?  Please, share this news with as many IL republicans you know.  Even though they may not share political views with you, they still deserve to have representation at the RNC, and their say in who our nominee will be.  Please, call your local GOP outfitts so voice your concern, let them know this disgusting power grab will not be acceptable.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, a new poll out from Rasmussen shows that Congressman Paul is virtually tied with Obama in a one vs one scenario.  You can see the entire write up by going to the link

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/obama_39_paul_38

What I find to be even more amazing however, is the fact that Ron blows the doors off Obama with the independants, receiving 10% more of their vote.  When it comes to the general election the independents are how a candidate wins the day.  Obama will not be able to count on that vote against Paul, and even more troublesome for the president, a percentage of registered democrats switch to Paul in a one vs one scenario.

What this ultimately tells us folks, is that right now the biggest threat to Obama’s reelection is Ron Paul.  When speaking with other republicans, if they are stuck in the ‘Ron can’t win’ mindframe, let them know about Ames and about this poll.  Remind them of the independants that will vote for Ron and will not for any other candidate.  I told someone today in all confidence “If you are truly serious about Obama being a one term president, then you need to support Ron Paul.”

Chad Clark – Peoria Ron Paul Grassroots Network

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