Oklahoma County Republican Convention

Today was our county Republican Convention and it lasted nearly all day long. I got there around 9:20 a.m. and left at 4:15 p.m.

The speakers were:

Senator James Inhofe

Representative James Lankford

Representative Jason Nelson

Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony

State School Superintendent Janet Barresi

Labor Commissioner Mark Costello

State Auditor & Inspector Gary Jones

Corporation Commissioner Dana Murphy

Senator Ralph Shorty

Senator Clark Jolley

County Commissioner Brian Maughn

After all the speakers had finished we got down to the business of adopting the following: a) Credentials Report, b) Rules and Order of Business Recommendations, and c) Platform.

a. Credentials: Reports to the convention the total number of votes registered at the convention and submits a correct list of names to the Convention Secretary.

b. Rules and Order of Business: Recommends the order in which the business of the convention shall be conducted and rules under which voting and other business shall take place.

c. Platform: Studies resolutions submitted by the precincts and submits recommendations to the convention

No sooner had the Credentials Committee Report started than about 40 Ron Paul supporters started making a LOT of commotion. They claimed a lot of Ron Paul supporters had been dropped from the rolls as Delegates. They were not on the rolls as Delegates and so could only attend the convention as visitors. This means they can't vote on any rules changes or any platform changes. [Ron Paul supporters want to change the rules so they will be able to take over the convention and then they will go to the National Convention and try to get Ron Paul elected President. The problem with what they are doing is not giving other Republicans an opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice. Besides Ron Paul is not a Republican, he's a Libertarian.]

About 40 Ron Paul supporters stood at the front of the convention waving their voters registration cards. They said that they had attended the prescient meeting and signed up as Delegates, to work on the platform committee, and the rules committee. [At the prescient meeting many of them tried to block regular Republicans from being Delegates by closing there prescient. This action nearly prevented Representative Sally Kern from being a Delegate at the Convention. It nearly cost me being a Delegate too.]

The Ron Paul supporters put forth a motion to allow all those who were there at the convention and held a Republican voters registration card be allowed to vote at the convention as Delegates. There was a short discussion with those for the motion and those against the motion giving their reasons for or against. I could see that if these people had truly been dropped from the roll to serve as a Delegate then they should be allowed into the convention as a Delegate. There was no explanation of why each one had been dropped. A woman who sat next to me started yelling at one of the officers, her face was red, she was furious. She asked him, "You will keep 13 people out of the convention? Your not willing to allow 13 people in who can vote to get rid of Obama?" The logic sounds good. The problem is that if these people get to the National Convention they won't vote for who our state elects, they will vote for Ron Paul. This can weaken the chances of one of the top candidates being elected. The Ron Paul supporters prevailed. The yes votes were 1,812, the no votes were 1,749. Then we had to wait for the ones who claimed they had been dropped from the rolls to be processed and given badges. By this time it was after 2:00 p.m. I was starved. I had taken an orange to snack on so I ate it. Lack of food makes people very nasty. Too much makes them sleepy. Finally we could vote to accept the Credentials Report. Just to vote on the Credentials Report took over an hour. It was 3:00 p.m. People were getting really ticked off in both camps.

Finally it was time to vote on accepting the Rules of Order and Business. They allowed people to ask questions and I had a question. I stood up and ask if they would explain section IV. I truly didn't understand it. I had no other motive than to understand what it said. Someone got up and read the section and honestly I still didn't understand it totally. No sooner had this section been read than another Ron Paul supporter popped up and made a motion to amend the Rules. They wanted to amend the section I didn't fully understand. Suddenly I felt very strange and that others in the Convention might have thought I was part of this conspiracy.

The motion to amend the Rules was quickly countered by someone in the back of the convention wanting to table the motion to amend. Later this lady withdrew her motion to table the motion to amend the Rules. By this point I was extremely and sick of the Ron Paul supporters. I feel sure that all the other people at the Convention for the first time were confused and sick of it too. The motion to table the motion to amend the Rules was dropped. Then we all had to vote on the motion to amend the Rules.

The part of the Rules the Ron Paul supporters wanted to amend was about how many Delegates the County Central Committee could appoint. The report said that the County Central Committee would be allowed to appoint 15% of the number of Delegates selected at the County Convention. The Ron Paul supporters wanted this number changed to 5%. I found this very strange. The first time they were amending the Credentials Report was to include more Ron Paul supporters as Delegates. The second time they wanted to amend the Rules and decrease or exclude other Republicans from being appointed as Delegates. Well, isn't that interesting? Ron Paul supporters wanted more of their people allowed as Delegates and fewer of the other Republicans appointed as Delegates.

I yelled at one of the men who had proposed both amendments, "First you wanted to include and now you want to exclude." Now I see what the purpose of all this hullabaloo was about. It's not about fairness it's about them taking over the Convention so they can vote for Ron Paul in the National Convention.

One Ron Paul supporter told me he had moved here two years ago and had been political there. Yet he had not registered to vote here in this state until early February 2012. Why? He knew there was a presidential election coming up. If he were very active politically I'm sure he would have registered to vote before two years elapsed. I now believe he might have been a plant by the Ron Paul Campaign to cause confusion in the Republican Convention. He said that he hadn't received his voter registration I.D. before the prescient meeting yet he had in his hand a copy of his registration when he applied. I asked him why he had been so mindful to get a copy of his registration form and not been mindful enough to register in time to receive his I.D. card before the prescient meeting? His excuse was that he had been a police officer and was accustomed to backing up all his paper trail.

All of this confusion and amendments had been previously prepared. The Ron Paul supporters were extremely loud, interrupted people, would act as if other Republicans wanted to cheat them. Personally, I believe the Ron Paul supporters are there to cause confusion, to high-jack the process, to cause a disruption in the process so that people will get tired, go home, and give up. Most of us had only eaten breakfast and had no lunch. We were very hungry and tired. Next Convention I'm taking a lunch and eat it right there. I may even take several lunches and sell them.

Turkey sandwich anyone?