John Fund Explains Why Gingrich May Yet Appear on Virginia Ballot
In light of the development this weekend that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul were the only two presidential candidates who had enough valid signatures to appear on the Virginia Republican primary ballot on March 6, the American Spectator's John Fund appeared on Sunday's Fox and Friends on FNC and suggested that Newt Gingrich may yet find a way to secure a spot on the Virginia ballot. (Video below)
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Comments
Merry Christmas
Submitted by Tjexcite on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 7:03pm.
But what if they then go back and count all of Romney's and Paul's as well as all of Gingrich's and Perry's and find that no one made the 10K cut with 400 from each. Mitt's and Ron's lost some for wrong district with 600 from one and 200 form other or something like that.
Then no one is on the ballet.
Ron Paul Has Been The Victim Of Dirty Tricks Too Many Times
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 3:01am.
Ro
Ron Paul Has Been The Victim Of Dirty Tricks Too Many Times
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 1:06am.
Ro Paul's people submitted more than 16,000 compared to the 11,600 that Gingrich submitted. It is assumed by people who have long experience with Massachusetts style politics that where you have a signature gather that you will have a spotter for the establishment candidate calling it in and that they will send people by to sign fake names to your qualifying petitions. The people will go from gather to gather poisoning each petition. That opportunity is the primary reason for the qualification petitions, there are several good sound reasons but to keep non-establishment candidates off the ballot was the original reason.
There is also the factor that it gives the establishment’s secretary of state that opportunity to say that “In my opinion insufficient valid signature have been submitted to make work for the non-establishment candidate who has to jump through hoops proving that he provided sufficient signatures. He otherwise could be out campaigning,
Did anyone else find annoying...
Submitted by zenman1661 on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 7:51pm.
Gingrich's whining complaint about Virginia's rules for a candidate getting his name on a presidential primary ballot, the ones that have been around for a while and are easy enough for most other candidates to abide by. I am really getting the impression he thinks that the rules that everyone follows should not apply to him.
Whinning?
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 11:24pm.
You mean like Obummer that whines about all his failed policies being due to everyone except himself? That kind of whinning?
Or perhaps the whinning over the states that are now coming forward with forged signatures that got Obummah's name on the primary?
What whinning do you find the most grating?
Yeah,
Submitted by zenman1661 on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 11:58am.
exactly like that kind of whining. Do you want another president like that.
There's a difference.
Submitted by pbthinker on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:09am.
There's a difference between "whining" and pointing out obvious flaws in the system. The fact is, if only 2 of the 7 candidates, running for the Repubican nomination have made it to the ballot, it's a problem. I don't believe it's "whining" to point that out.
Ironically, the 2 that made it both have problems with the Republican base, which means a low turnout, in a hold your nose election. I hope Newt can stir it up and make it interesting. As fund said, however, Virginia isn't going to be a major determinant of who wins the nomination.
If you read the comment from redfish..
Submitted by zenman1661 on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:10pm.
you will see that the only "flaw" Virginia has is they now have to verify the signatures. Gingrich and Perry did not have enough valid ones. Instead of taking responsiblity for his campaign's error Gingrich lashed out at Virginia in a way that reminded me of the Left attacking voter registration laws.
Here's another fact
Submitted by ckc1227 on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 4:21pm.
"The fact is, if only 2 of the 7 candidates, running for the Repubican nomination have made it to the ballot, it's a problem. I don't believe it's "whining" to point that out."
3 of the 5 who didn't make the ballot didn't even try. So that means only Perry and Newt failed to do what was necessary to get on the ballot. If Paul and Mitt could figure it out, why couldn't Perry and Newt?
Agreed
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 4:46pm.
Gingrich is a whiner, and he always has been.
If the campaign staffs of Romney and Paul were able to do it, it can't be all that hard.
As a Virginia resident, the message I get from the candidates like Gingrich who failed to get on the primary ballot is "We don't care enough about Virginia to make the effort."
Two of eight is not easy.
Submitted by Avitar on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 3:03am.
They are designe to overwhelm creditable candidates.
Ballot access rules in VA were different this year
Submitted by redfish on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 7:55pm.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2011/12/25/virginia-2011-independent-candidate-for-legislature-has-big-impact-on-2012-presidential-primary/
Thanks redfish, Nice to have the pertinent information...
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 9:27pm.
Usually that kind of thing effects the private sector, so the feds can extract their pound of flesh, gimme the cassshhhhh @ 9 sec....
Next up: What exactly is a "checked" signature? Google would love to have a hand in tracking that.
Hay I like being outside, raw signatures are just fine with me.
When It becomes a time to vote, pull what the Hawaii Government does, ask for a picture ID, check to see if you live in that precinct and then hand you a ballot that has a distinct serial number on it, which has been written down on the voter rolls..wheere one must sign off in the book, to get the ballot then and only then you go and vote...Voting for people that will never get elected anyways.
How did the Newt team and the rest miss out on this instant and fresh bit of law?
Soo Ron and Mitt just luck out and get over the 10,000 "checked" signature code, by accident?
You Didn't Build That.
Third parties have to face
Submitted by redfish on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 9:36pm.
Third parties have to face this nonsense all the time, though.
I would want "political freedom" added to that map, although obviously for a lot of people it will seem odd, since compared to other countries we are much freer.
Thanks Redfish
Submitted by Denny Crane on Tue, 12/27/2011 - 2:58am.
They changed the rules LAST MONTH.
I'm no fan of Gingrich, but in this case he has every right to complain and wine.
We Are The 53%
So, really, what good are the 'early primaries'?
Submitted by Willis_Leon_Johnson on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 10:24pm.
I keep hearing about the greatness of all the 'early primaries', and how good they are, but answer ONE measely little question.
WHEN did Iowa or New Hampshire last pick a Presidential candidate that was actually PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL?
We got little johnny mcKennedy, bobbie dole, a couple of bushes, a clintoon, an obama/soetoro, a carter, and numerous other fools that trashed the nation once they got elected.
Maybe iowa and New Hampshire, etc should perk up and PAY ATTENTION to the job at hand.
And THAT is picking a PRESIDENT/STATESMAN instead of the same old run of the mill trash.
End 'gun violence in America' - Require training and MANDATORY "Shall Carry" by every Citizen.
If harry reid is the best person to lead the senate, what does that say about the other 99 senators?
Newt the Incompetent
Submitted by jdhawk on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 10:29pm.
Newt has intended to run for the Republican nomination for years now. He and/or his organization should have determined if they wanted to have the VA voters determine his ability to get votes in the general election and win the nomination. Yet, he and/or his organization failed to get 10,000 signatures? This seems like a paltry number of signatures to obtain.
It is clear that Newt hasn't the money or organization to successfully navigate the nomination process.
It is also clear that the Republican party has chosen Romney as their candidate.
In my mind, neither Newt nor Romney have taken conservative positions on many issues, but often those positions don't overlap. One of the most important issues to me is obamacare (not just because of its takeover of healthcare, but its budget implications as well). It should be defeated and maybe it will be by the Supreme Court and my fears will be allyed by the party chosing Mitt.
I think that a conservative candidate will always have a better chance when running against a liberal. Obviously, the party doesn't share that view. What we are getting in Romney is liberal lite. That may spell disaster for us in November 2012.
This rule has been around a
Submitted by orbitaldecay on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 11:08pm.
This rule has been around a while. In the past, even 2nd tier candidates got on the ballot. The only failure is the Gingrich campaign. Gingrich has 30% of the support. He has NO excuse for not getting on the ballot expect for his campaign's incompetence.
And all the crap that the MSM
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 11:27pm.
is digging up along with the other candidates digging up old settled issues has nothing to do with it? Did you see what they did to Cain?
"This rule has been around a
Submitted by redfish on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:05am.
"This rule has been around a while. In the past, even 2nd tier candidates got on the ballot."
No it hasn't, read my above post (excerpt from Ballot Access News). The ballot access rules were different this year, its the first year that they've chosen to validate all of the signatures. If they kept the same rules as they did in 2008, Gingrich and Perry would have gotten on.
In effect, this year, you needed much more than 10,000 signatures as a fail-safe in case many of your signatures were found invalid or the signatures failed to match the addresses. It could be several times as many signatures, up to 40,000 , given the possibility of problems.
Gee in Wisconsin Mickey Mouse
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 3:00am.
Gee in Wisconsin Mickey Mouse and Adolph Hitler can sign petitions without a problem but not in Old Dominion.
400 names per district?
Submitted by Mashugana on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:06pm.
I had 1200 in my high school. I agree that this shows the lack of organization in the Gingrich campaign (and others). Does anyone know the name of the last elected president who failed to get on the ballet in the Virginia primary?
They technically had to get
Submitted by redfish on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 3:07pm.
They technically had to get about 1,500 names to go through the validation process, not 400. They also couldn't hire petitioners who didn't live in the district. Probably a lot of Presidents wouldn't have been on the ballot under those rules, which again, are new to this year.
Incompetence or back-room Party Rule
Submitted by CT on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:24pm.
The more one learns of the new Virginia primary voting rules the more one wonders where the stink is coming from, but stink it does.
It would be hilarious if Newt won it as a write in....
Submitted by nonncom on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 1:24pm.
The system would then be proven as viable....
Incompetence, thy name is Newt
Submitted by Tenebrous on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 1:09am.
If the rules changed this year, wasn't it Gingrich's RESPONSIBILITY to ensure he had enough signatures to be on the ballot? Folks, this is an early test of presidential character, and Newt failed. I don't care how weird the rules are or how unfair they seem -- until you can get them changed, you have to follow them. And if he didn't even know what they are, well, what more can be said?
Visions and Principles blog
Folks should be aware
Submitted by Boudin on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 1:16am.
That Obama won his first State seat by eliminating his contenders by qualifications and blackmail. He ran unopposed.
The rules changed
Submitted by Denny Crane on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 2:31am.
after they submitted the signatures. He followed the rules. But the GOP changed the rules. The question is did they inform all the candidates of the rule change and allow them to fix the issue? Or (this looks more plausible) did they change the rules and then say oops, you're not on the ballot. tough cookies, maybe next time.
If it were only Newt that didn't make it on the ballot, that would be one thing, but when the majority get disqualified, something doesn't add up.
We Are The 53%
This was no accident.
Submitted by NL207 on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 3:01am.
The establishment Republicans are doing their very best to jam Mitt Romney down the throats of the party rank-and-file. If they succeed, we may well lose the 2012 election. The rank-and-file oppose Romney by at least 2 to 1. They will turn on the party leadership if he is annointed and I do not believe we will be able to get them out to vote in the numbers necessary to carry 2012 if Romney leads the ticket.. Our own Eric Cantor is one of these fools.
BTW,
Submitted by Boudin on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 1:25am.
Perry is suing the electorate board of VA