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If I didn't know better, I'd think that Republicans are completely FUBARing their primaries to prove their contention that government is not the answer. But I think the truth of it is that Republicans are so fundamentally incompetent in running efficient systems that they're not capable of not messing up.
After hemming and hawing and literally designating at different times three of the then four Republican primary candidates the winner, it looks like Ron Paul has won both the Minnesota primary and the Iowa caucus away from presumptive nominee Mitt Romney.
Et tu, Paul?
The Texas congressman took 20 out of 24 of the delegates from the Minnesota Congressional Districts, RNC committeewoman Pat Anderson tweeted. Those delegates will go on to the state convention, scheduled to be held May 18-19, where the final 13 delegates representing Minnesota at the GOP convention will be chosen.
The news was ignored by the mainstream media, including the Associated Press, which estimated the delegate breakdown would go 17 Santorum, 10 Paul, and 6 Romney. Tweet from Minnesota's RNC National Committeewoman announcing Ron Paul's win.
In Iowa, the Des Moines Register reports that “six of the new Iowa GOP state central committee members elected at district conventions Saturday have publicly expressed support for Paul,” and “two more new central committee members have close ties to Paul.” The new state chairman is also a Ron Paul supporter, who served as a co-chairman for the congressman’s Iowa state organization.
While the pundits are quickly scrambling to say how Iowa doesn't really matter, this kind of stealth victory (which Paul has continually claimed to be his strategy) really fuels his already rabid supporters. Given these symbolic challenges to Romney's ascendance, I think the convention may be very, very fun to watch. Grab your popcorn.
