Update on the RI Presidential Primary Ballot Status

The final numbers from the Rhode Island Secretary of State website. Hugh Cort, Alan Keyes & Duncan Hunter made it against the odds. Joe Biden just missed by less then 140 signatures and Bill Richardson didn't even come close with only 332 total signatures. Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton & Huckabee all blew everyone else out of the water in the total's count and the Republicans overall had five of their candidates with over 2,000 signatures while the Democrats only had two. Chris Dodd had enough signatures (1612) but apparently not enough of them were real or something weird so he will not appear on the ballot (he ended up pulling out of the race anyways...).

Well here's the final numbers from Ron Paul to Raymond Stebbens (and yeah, I have no idea who he is either).red stands for Republican/ blue for Democrat/ pink for Willard/ and a special real off-white for Anarchist Mike Gravel

Money vs. Message

Even National Review is starting to pick up on the fact that Mitt Romney can spend gazillions, but people aren't buying.

The face Willard fears most…

Rhody Delegate Situation

Guess who's leading with the most Rhode Island delegates? Surprise, surprise...

Mike Huckabee
District 1: 19
District 2: 22
-Total: 41

John McCain
District 1: 22
District 2: 18
-Total: 40

Ron Paul
District 1: 14
District 2: 7
-Total: 21

Rudy Guiliani
District 1: 1
District 2: 8
-Total: 9

Fred Thompson
District 1: 5
District 2: 4
-Total: 9

Mitt Romney
District 1: 3
District 2: 5
-Total:8

Uncommitted Republican
District 1: 2
District 2: 1
-Total: 3

The reason why these numbers are important is because it basically insures that in the best case circumstances, Mitt Romney can only at the most get eight RI delegates. And that is assuming that all eight of the his delegates collect at least 150 signatures. The same thing applies to Fred Thompson (who is going to pull out Saturday night or Sunday anyways) and Rudy Guiliani. The guy with the most egg in his face has to be Romney though because RI is a state that he should own - he literally was the governor next door - and now he can only muster up eight total delegates? Do we know him too well?

What Does $585,000 Buy You?

It depends on what you spend it on... But the real answer is that it bought Mitt Romney backers a smear job against Mike Huckabee orchestrated by Beltway Insiders.

The Club for Growth has an affiliated 527 group, Club for Growth.net, running anti-Mike Huckabee ads in early primary states.

- At least $585,000 in contributions from Mitt Romney financial backers.

- Club for Growth has spent $750,000 against Governor Huckabee in Iowa, South Carolina and Michigan.
Here are donors that have donated both to Club for Growth.net* and Mitt Romney:

Read more here...

Some of the more recent famous guests of Club for Greed

Rudy Guiliani

Mitt RomneyFred Thompson

Will Rhode Island Actually Count This Year?

According to the Providence Journal, this year, Rhode Island might mean something in the 08 primary election!

The article begins,

"Known for years as the afterthought of American politics, Rhode Island’s March presidential primary may prove meaningful in the 2008 presidential election campaign, particularly if the Republican and Democratic contests remain unsettled after the string of contests on Feb. 5.

“Rhode Island may be very relevant here, and I’m not just saying that,” says Tad Devine, the Providence native and top Democratic consultant who is an expert on the presidential nominating process."

Regarding Huckabee's support in the state,
"Huckabee’s delegates include a number of people who are not GOP activists and [some] longtime party members, including Scott Bill Hirst and Robert Tingle, who has run unsuccessfully against Democratic Sen. Jack Reed."

See the full article here

Again, it would be amazing if Rhode Island would actually have an impact on who was the Democrat's or Republican's candidate in 2008. Ohio, Texas, and Vermont all have primary's on the same day, March 4, as Rhode Island and all those states, with the exception of Vermont, have far more delegates then Rhode Island.

Here are the delegates up for grabs on March 4th:
Texas: 228 Democrat delegates & and 140 Republican
Ohio: 116 Democrat delegates and the 88 Republican
Rhode Island: 32 Democratic delegates & 20 Republican
Vermont: 23 Democrat delegates and 17 Republican

As you can see, Texas and Ohio mean a whole lot more then Vermont or Rhode Island but on the other hand, 37 delegates could mean a whole lot at the National Convention.

So will the Ocean State end up counting in 08? We shall see...