(Red Right Returning, a nautical mnemonic for the side of the buoy or marker on which to pilot a ship in order to stay in the channel, is a look back at the activity of the past week of the Republican candidates in the 2012 primary. Feel free to voice your opinions in the comment section.)
Wait a second…Maine, again?
It would appear that, like Iowa, the Maine caucuses may not be in the bag just yet. You’ll recall that Maine’s caucuses were held over the period of a week on a town by town basis. Washington county, home to Lubec, the easternmost point in the United States, even postponed its caucuses until today because of a potential snow storm. Yet the Republican Party went ahead and called the race for Romney with 39% of the vote next to Ron Paul’s 36%.
An unfortunate irony
Many have cried foul, not the least of which is Ron Paul though Paul is used to being snubbed at this point. But several caucus leaders in several districts have complained that when they called in to report the results in their districts they were told that those figure had already been reported (which is not the way that’s supposed to happen). Some district numbers didn’t even show up in the final results such as all but one town in Waldo County. Washington county has been told their caucus won’t even count and they are not pleased about it. Could the Maine decision be reversed like Iowa? Could Ron Paul have actually won Maine?
The suspicion that the Republican party is rushing Mitt Romney towards nomination regardless of caucus or primary results is growing in Maine. Washington County’s caucus is going on right now. None of Maine’s delegates will be seated until in March so Maine has time to iron out the discrepancies. But the interesting thing here is that reversals like the one in Iowa have never taken place before. If Maine is reversed, then having two reversals in one campaign says something about the state of the Republican primary.
A request has been made to have the Republican State Committee Chair Charlie Webster censured by the Waldo County. Others have called for his removal as happened with Iowa’s chair.
This whole issue probably won’t have a great effect on the primary as a whole, certainly not if it isn’t resolved before Super Tuesday, but it does shed some light on how the outdated caucus system is rife with inaccuracies.
538 Refugees 
If these states really want to go first in the primary schedule, they should get their act together. I know Maine is cold and gets a lot of storms. So does New Hampshire. A little preparation would go a long way toward enhancing their credibility when they make the case for holding an early primary.
As for Ron Paul… does anyone really take this guy seriously? Florida is sending 50 delegates to the RNC Convention this year, and Paul couldn’t even bother to campaign there. I know it’s an expensive state, having 11 major media outlets. It also has a lot of wealthy donors to tap into if you can make a convincing case to them. Further, he’s openly stated that he wouldn’t know what to do with the White House if he won it, that he’s advancing a principle rather than trying to win the nomination. What principle is that? The principle that says he can make more money on the campaign trail than he can as a Congressman?
I don’t see how anyone can be impressed either with Maine’s lack of preparation or Paul’s lack of effort on the campaign trail. He’s the last of a coterie that included Donald Trump and Rick Perry, opportunists who wanted to mug for the spotlight rather than win an election. And Maine either has to learn how to hold a primary in the wintertime or settle for holding it on Super Tuesday by which time the snow will have melted.
@Statler
At the time Florida was a winner-take-all state whose delegates were expected to go to Romney. Paul decided to spend his money and efforts on a caucus state strategy with open voting hoping to appeal to his Democratic and independent supporters to come out en force. Hasn’t happened yet. I suspect Paul isn’t even trying to win. But he could be using the Republican primary as a months long PR bid for a third party run in the General. If that’s the case, it’s working brilliantly.
@ MrU,
Missed ya buddy. Glad I found your blog.
I dunno if Paul stands a chance in a Third Party candidacy either. I assume he’d run for the Libertarian ticket, which already has a high-profile former Republican (Gary Johnson) running for the party nomination. He’d have to make the switch soon to stand a chance against Johnson, and even then he’d be moving from a long messy primary in the GOP over to another such primary battle in the Libertarian Party. Sounds like one long hard slog after another to me.
And even if he did win it, then what? The Libertarians have never won elective office at the federal level or even a Governorship or any other state level elective office Not exactly the winningest star to hitch your sails to. They didn’t even get ballot access in four states back in ’08.
Nah, I see Ron Paul as a specimen of the most pathetic species of them all-the aging hipster. His outsider image resonates well with Brooklyn- based bearded 20-somethings who would never otherwise vote. He’s not outsider enough to go all the way and jettison the GOP-he’s voted the party line 77% of the time according to WaPo. But he still wants to be seen as a maverick. Kinda makes me think of the most recent incarnation of John McCain.