Permanent rEVOLution
As attention turns away from the GOP race, the forces of Ron Paul spring into action. This from Missouri:
Never before had St. Charles County Republican Party Chairman Jon Bennett received so many queries about where this year's party caucus was to be held. And Bennett didn't recognize most of the callers.
On Saturday, Bennett learned why. Dozens of avid supporters of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman who is running a renegade quest for the presidential nomination, staged a political guerrilla attack. At that caucus at St. Peters City Hall — as well as others across the state — party regulars like Bennett were overwhelmed.
Caucuses in Missouri, held only in presidential election years, are typically low-key affairs attended mainly by party diehards. But this year, the pro-Paul activists commandeered gatherings in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Springfield. Paul supporters also controlled caucuses in at least a half dozen rural counties.
The result: Paul's supporters predict they have snagged roughly a third of the 2,137 state Republican delegates. Those delegates will determine the state GOP platform this spring and help select the presidential delegates to the national Republican presidential convention in Minneapolis in September.
This reminds me of a problem with the McCain campaign that's been ignored during MichiganFloridaFerraroWrightGoolsbeePowergate. Organization: He doesn't have it. He overcame the sturdy and well-built Romney machine with pure luck as Thompson split the conservative vote in South Carolina and Giuliani imploded in Florida. Right after Romney dropped out of the race, Mike Huckabee upset McCain in three primaries (nearly five) with next-to-no money. The Republican machine will coalesce around McCain, but it's nothing like the 50-state hydra Obama will have if he wins his nomination.