Saturday, September 24, 2011

Missouri Republican Party Takes a Proactive Approach to March Presidential Primary Bill

The headline on the Missouri Republican Party blog pretty much says it all:


Action Alert! Presidential Primary Date Legislation


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FHQ quick hit: Not only is there some tension over this bill between Republican-controlled chambers in the Missouri General Assembly, but the Missouri Republican Party has a preferred destination for the presidential primary as well: March 6. The state party aligns with the House-passed version and is at odds with the Senate. Recall, state parties have the ultimate say in this. If the primary is scheduled for a date that they are not in support of, the party can seek out other options; in this case a compliant, most likely, caucus.



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3 comments:

astrojob said...

Has the Washington GOP set March 3 as their caucus date? I saw this story on the primary calendar:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/19/gops-primary-calendar-may-aid-romney/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

which includes a graphic that says Washington is on March 3. Then I did a google search to look for more info, and I found a comment on this Ron Paul board referencing March caucuses:

http://www.dailypaul.com/177087/washington-state-supporters-please-read

and then here on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/WhatcomRepublicans/posts/10150273576769331

astrojob said...

Look like the Green Papers also has Washington on March 3:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/WA-R#0303

Also, that Washington Times article has Alaska on March 17, while the Green Papers has it on March 6:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/AK-R#0306

Josh Putnam said...

Thanks for the links. This was actually on my agenda for this week after letting it sit for a while. First of all, none of the websites for the parties in Alaska, North Dakota nor Washington show any confirmed dates for the precinct caucuses there.

It looks like there is some evidence that Washington Republicans are caucusing on March 3. But all of those are through Ron Paul-related channels. They have done a really good job of assembling this information, but I would like to have that confirmed by the party. That Tony Roza at The Green Papers has Washington on March 3 is a good sign. I'll check with WAGOP and get back to you here.

As for Alaska -- and that Washington Times story in general -- I'm skeptical. Again, Tony Roza has seemingly spoken with someone at AKGOP to confirm the March 6 date. I'd err on that side before the Washington Times. The latter does not specify the source of their calendar, though it leads one to believe it is the RNC.

Anecdotally, the Wall Street Journal called me several weeks ago (just prior to Arizona) wanting to talk calendar and told me that the RNC had sent them my way for calendar chat. No, that isn't a way of me saying that I'm special (That's debatable.), but it is evidence that the state party should be believed on the calendar before the national party.

...at least until after October 1 at the earliest.

Again, let me double check with the state parties and I'll keep everyone updated here as to what I find.

Thanks again for the links.