Mr. MexiCain Takes Washington, Barely

Posted on February 11, 2008

Cross-Posted FROM Gribbit’s Word (IN FULL)

Well to say that he won Washington is a bit premature. ABC News is calling it for MexiCain in spite of the minuscule difference in the vote count suggesting that the powers that be in the Washington GOP may have a bias.

The Washington state GOP ceased counting ballots with 87.2% of the precincts reporting according the Mike “the Huckster” Huckabee. Now I’m no fan of the Huckster. I personally think that he’s a flim-flam man and holds a Masters of Clintonian Politics as a graduate of the Arkansas School of Clintonian Politics with a 4.0 GPA. But even I have questions as to the motivation behind the Washington GOP’s refusal to continue to count the ballots cast? Or at least releasing the counts.

With 87.2% reporting, a mere 242 votes separate Huckster from MexiCain. To say that the remainder 12.8% does not contain enough votes to make up that 242 margin is a fable. The state Party must be doing this for a reason. But why?

The Huckster’s campaign released the following:

â€œThe Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities in the Washington State Republican precinct caucuses. It is very unfortunate that the Washington State Party Chairman, Luke Esser, chose to call the race for John McCain after only 87 percent of the vote was counted. According to CNN, the difference between Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee is a mere 242 votes, out of more than 12,000 votes countedâ€”with another 1500 or so votes, apparently, not counted. That is an outrage.

â€œIn other words, more than one in eight Evergreen State Republicans have been disenfranchised by the actions of their own party. This was an error in judgment by Mr. Esser. It was Mr. Esserâ€™s duty to oversee a fair vote-count process. Washington Republicans know, from bitter experience in the 2004 gubernatorial election, the terrible results that can come from bad ballot-counting.

â€œFrankly, I am disappointed in the way that Mr. Esser has handled this urgent matter. So I call upon Mr. Esser and his colleagues to cooperate fully with the Huckabee campaignâ€”and all Republicans, everywhere, who care about honest and transparent vote-countingâ€”to make sure that every vote is counted and that all Republicans in Washington have the chance to make their votes count. Attempts by our campaign to contact Mr. Esser have been unsuccessful. Our lawyers will be on the ground in Washington State soon, and we look forward to sitting down with Mr. Esser to evaluate this process, to see why the count took so long, and why the vote-counting was stopped prematurely.

â€œIt would be a disservice to every voter in Washington State to not pursue a full accounting of all votes cast.

And I agree. Surprisingly.

Even though I don’t like the Huckster, he is still in this race and the people’s voice has a right to be heard. If he is the choice of the people of Washington state in spite of state Party officials, then he should receive the delegates from Washington. There is no explanation for not releasing the numbers from those last 12.8% of ballots unless it counters what the state Party officials want to see.

I am of the opinion that this elections cycle has been tainted by outside influences. Everything from the main stream media to the Democratic Party encouraging their members to vote in open primary states as Republicans. MexiCain is riding a wave of support largely consisting of Independents and Democrats and that for me is a problem. Republicans are being marginalized by these interlopers.

The Huckster has a chance to derail MexiCain’s phony “straight talk express” and deny him the required 1191 delegates to secure the nomination. He is showing moxie in his refusal to give up the ghost in Washington and a stubbornness that only can be attributed to his post graduate degree work at the Arkansas School of Clintonian Politics.

At this point I am standing by my belief that no matter who the nominee ends up being, true Conservatives will either abandon votes for President in November, stay home, or vote for a Dem in order to insure that the next failed Presidency (and the next one will be) will belong to a Dem. Huckster cannot beat Hillary or Barack. I believe that once it is down to MexiCain v either Dem, MexiCain will lose because all of his cross-over backers will go back to their liberal friends.