Ron Paul loses worse than even Obama in West Virginia

Not a good day for Rep. Ron Paul.

Everybody was watching the overwhelming of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton on the ongoing Democratic side of the partisan primary struggles in West Virginia yesterday. But over on the Republican primary battlefield with 98% of the votes counted, the 72-year-old Paul was overwhelmed by the presumptive GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Paul gathered in only 5% of the vote, a lousy 5,812 ballots.

That's about 1/17th as many votes as those received by the dread enemy, the 71-year-old Arizonan, McCain, who got 87,786 ballots.

Paul even got thumped by ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee, who isn't running anymore and hasn't been for weeks and was actually acting as a commentator on MSNBC. Huckabee got more than twice as many votes as the Texas congressman, 11,896, or 10%. And he'd already won most of West Virginia's GOP delegates back in that winter state convention deal with the Paul people to head off the Massachusetts Mormon.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, another GOP also-ran, also came close to nipping Paul, who's having more luck selling his bestselling new book than his way-behind-the-crowd candidacy. Romney got 5,062 votes, or 4%. Rudy Giuliani -- remember him, the former New York mayor? -- received 2%, or 2,777 votes. So Paul did beat him again.

Paul also beat Alan Keyes, who in 2004 did such an impressive job as the Republican candidate of terminating the political career of that up-and-comer named Obama in the Illinois U.S. Senate race. Keyes got 1,389 West Virginia votes, 1%.

Out in Nebraska, Paul did somewhat better, copping 13% of the vote (17,587) to McCain's 87% (117,529). Which, according to The Ticket's calculations, means McCain won.

But as Paul's vocal supporters are fond of pointing out, it's not about winning the Republican nomination. It's about something else, which they'll be happy to explain in the comments section below where they are always welcome.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Jake in Salt Lake]

Thanks for the election results Andrew! You're right on the money, the fact that Paul didn't win is not the important thing here. The grassroot support that he is gathering and the like minded individuals are laying the foundation of shift back to old Republican values. It took Goldwater to get us Reagan. Paul is just the icon of a movement that is resonating with many, many people. On with the R3VOLution!

[BAJ]

Andy,

You dont get it do you??

Do you really think that Hills or Obama or McCain are going to for example - bring the troops home, and close the new bases in Iraq?

Every letter you tap into your column tweaking Paul is space wasted that could be used to criticize the uniform funding of the War by all three mainstream candidates.

Paul's funny. He and his followers are different and easy to dismiss - WV voters could see that - plainly. The concepts Paul suggests scare the hell out of people, especially those who lack a certain reverence for change born of personal responsibility and its freedom.

Its ok that your scared. Most likely nothing is going to change - and you will have done your part to assure that.

[Tom J]

Sometimes it's Paul, sometimes it's Huckabee. No matter who it is, there always seems to be someone in the Republican primary who gets the disgruntled 10% of the voters. Is it particularly high this year for this stage of the primaries?

[joshie]

Winning would be great of course. When I switched my registration from Democrat to Republican last year to vote for Ron, I did so thinking I would change back to Democrat if he lost in the primaries. Instaed I have decided to stay in the deflated Republican party and press forward in reshaping it in the ideals of liberty and freedom. This is a long term struggle. I am even involved in local politics now which I never would have imagined only a year ago.

[Matt Garrison]

Ron Paul's campaign is about spreading a message about the importance of constitutionally limited government when all the other candidates support massive government programs that will do nothing but dig us into more debt, limit our freedom, expand enforcement of unconstitutional, tyrannical laws, and continue to ruin our credibility in the international sphere.

Brace yourself for greater tax burdens, less privacy, and a continuing decline in personal liberty.

Most importantly, keep your powder dry.

[Danny]

Mr. Malcolm

Mr. Paul's message is quite simple -- coercion is immoral, even when done by government. On this there can be no moral disagreement.

It is a wonderful surprise to see the response his message is getting, given the interests (and therefore money and votes) lined up against this moral concept:

1) military-industrial complex
2) financial industry
3) medical industry
4) farm industry
5) oil / energy industry
6) main-stream media
7) those employed by government at all levels
8) those who support government-mandated institutions (tax lawyers, accountants, etc)

In other words, when government at all levels taxes and spends over 50% of the wealth of a nation, there are at least 50% of the people who have every incentive to continue the same system. Add to those who benefit tangentially and it is easy to see the size of the hill that needs to be overcome.

However, a high hill doesn't change the immoral into moral.

Regards

[William]

One can truly use West Virginia as a measuring stick.
West Virginia is extremely cutting edge, grossly effected by terrorism, top of the line, and up to date with the rest of the country in education and technological advancement.
Their schools are in the top 46 in the nation!
As career meccas, West Virginia's cities have managed to draw droves of the higher-educated, in multiples of the national average for the following careers:
----------------------------
Roof bolters, mining:
537.95 x the national Average.
Shuttle car operators:
471.3 x the national Average.
Mine cutting and channeling machine operators:
464.4 x the national Average.
Continuous mining machine operators:
267.15 x the national Average.
Helpers--extraction workers:
64.4 x the national Average.
Gaming change persons and booth cashiers:
48.1 x the national Average.
Insulation workers, mechanical:
29.5 x the national Average.
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders:
25.55 x the national Average.
Earth drillers, except oil and gas:
24.3 x the national Average.
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining:
20.6 x the national Average.
Crane and tower operators:
15.35 x the national Average.
Psychiatric aides:
14.7 x the national Average.
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic:
14.7 x the national Average.
Chemical technicians:
13.6 x the national Average.
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic:
10.1 x the national Average.
Conveyor operators and tenders:
10 x the national Average.
----------------------------
Data taken and averaged from: job-hunt.org/jobs/careers/westvirginia-careers.shtml

I have merely scratched the surface!
West Virginia truly depicts the higher-educated citizens' vote.

[Darren]

I wonder why Ron Paul faired so badly in West Virginia. Could it be because many of his votes were not counted properly? Thanks to one vigilant Ron Paul supporter, CNN were caught altering the vote count. When the count was coming in for Raleigh County and was reporting at 79%, John McCain was at 60% with 2,187 votes, Ron Paul was at 27% with 983 votes and Mike Huckabee was at 10% with 357 votes.

When Raleigh County had finished and was reporting at 100%, the numbers had changed. John McCain was at 79% with 2,774 votes, Mike Huckabee was at 13% with 462 votes and Ron Paul was at 3% with 116 votes.

Take a look at these two images that were taken from http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=137485:

Image 1 - http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm33/Quiltskate/Raleigh79RP27.jpg

Image 2: http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm33/Quiltskate/Raleigh-RPlostseveralhundredvotes10.jpg

Is this yet more evidence of vote fraud against the only patriotic conservative Republican in the GOP? I am willing to bet that it is.

Long live the Ron Paul Revolution.

[Kanard]

So if he is so insignificant why the media bothers to smear him constantly, how come you don't write about Alan Keys, or the uuu amazingly controversial?Huckabee whom with his opportunistic nature stands by for a vice president position.

The fraud that is behind the elections and the media, would like to say the only Ron Paul supporter is himself...and he is nuts.
Not such a thing, who is buying his book? If these people can read they can surely vote and most probably did so...
The stench of fish can be smelled all around the world, but Americans keep drinking the tap water and zombiengly marching at the medias drum.

[Johannes Vindenburg]

Ron Paul smells of vinegar and requires a bath.

[Brad]

Ron Paul is a joke and so are his supporters. Bunch of computer programers who can't get a date, but make decent money to waste on a high voiced lunitic who's polices are as awkward as his supporters. (besides actually securing the borders, he's got my support on that one).

[Rhys]

It's West Virginia... not even a real Virginia

we know she's a ho

[belle]

So Hollywood Huck "beats"Ron Paul? Who is still in the race? Huck? No. Thompson? No. Giuliani? No. You get the drift.

5% for a candidate that has been ignored, reviled, insulted by the subversive media, and in a Robert Byrd (welfare) state, is damn good. Umm, where are the Nebraska results?

Progress is measured differently by the Ron Paul supporters, and I for one say it's better than we ever expected. Go Ron!!!!

[america sucks the BIG shlong!!]

america is G-A-R-B-A-G-E, nuff said!!!

[andy]

Malcom can sure throw around the insults. Well, I say Andrew Malcom is just an old constipated bloat. I mean look at his picture! He looks like he's about ready to croak.

Perhaps Malcom should get out of his wheel chair and come to a Ron Paul rally.....then he can talk....

[ricknhouston]

WOW! C'mon people !!! Don't you realize this pathetic excuse for a journalist and this rag sheet are playing you like a cheap guitar? Do the lot of you enjoy being made fools of? He knew this is what would happen before he even finished his stupi, biased, repugnant 'story" ... and sure enough .... here you are, doing just exactly as he predicted you would!!
I am ashamed of all of you !

[keith]

"Every letter you tap into your column tweaking Paul is space wasted"

Is that ever the truth

[Jack D.]

Just goes to show where the sheeple of this country live. I would guess that people in that area are generally not very computer savvy either.

[George Dance]

"Loses worse than Obama?"

Obama got more votes than McCain.

[Levi]

I think the biggest point of the nominations are thus: There is only about a 50% turnout rate in the presidential election. There is probably (no idea the exact number) 50% of those people that vote in the primaries? I would bet that once people are given a chance to know who the heck Paul is (after this democratic bs is through) the turnout would be a lot different. maybe even 70 % voting rate? who knows? pauls people are pretty dedicated.

[Diko]

Reading this from an Australian point of view I can see that an average of 5% of Americans are intelligent and informed. He speaks for the people but most don't even listen. What a joke this is.

[Scott Harmon]

Get serious, Andrew. West Virginia is a welfare state if there ever was one. A good deal of the countryside looks like it has not progressed much since the Civil War. West Virginians would probably vote for Lincoln if he were on the ballot. Arkansan redneck Clinton and Arkansan redneck Huckabee should have done very well--what's the point?

[joe]

Andrew the Retard,

How much press did Ron Paul get? try none ...As I've pointed out before retard. I wouldn't wipe my ass with a copy of the L.A. Times.

[blakmira]

I would be so grateful if you did not do one more blog on Ron Paul until you had personally and thoroughly investigated how the votes are being counted in all of these primaries.

I'm talking Diebold, optiscan machines -- you know, the machines that are so clean they leave no paper trail? Those little memory cards that are taken out of the room secretively, then "tallied" and "called in"? You know, those paper ballots that are carted away in someone's van then kept unlocked in open boxes instead of a safe?

I won't hold my breath, Andrew, for you to do this. But if you really want to know how Ron Paul could have so many supporters showing up en mass at these conventions while McCain just has a ghost town full of lonely crickets; so many supporters putting signs all over towns across America, so many people buying his book that it's hitting #1 on the NY Times Bestseller list May 18th and is #1 on Amazon -- come on, don't you as a reporter want to find out just what the hell is really happening to all of RON PAUL's VOTES??????

[blakmira]

P.S. Thank you Carole and Darren for printing those CNN screen shots of Ron Paul's votes going "mysteriously" backwards -- from nearly 1,000 to just over 100 and dropping from 27% down to 3% in that one county. Meanwhile, the votes were obviously siphoned off to the Huckster and McCain, of course.

And I know it was like this all over the State, because the same "mysterious losing of votes" happened in Pennsylvania, where someone else caught a screen shot of it.

Come on, Andrew, be a real journalist. Step up to the plate and do just one real investigative piece about vote count fraud!