Ballot-Access News is reporting that the Constitution Party of Montana has dumped Chuck Baldwin in favor of a Ron Paul/Michael Peroutka ticket.
Read about it at B.A.N.
Ron Paul on the ballot in Montana
September 5th, 2008 · written by G.E. · 18 Comments
Filed Under: Constitution Party
18 responses so far ↓
1 Fred Church Ortiz // Sep 5, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Some days I just love life.
2 NewFederalist // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Why didn’t he do this months ago? He could be on every state ballot on both the CP and LP line. I really think less of him for this. He supposedly is such a good friend of Baldwin. Why would he allow this to happen to a friend? Makes no sense to me.
3 Fred Church Ortiz // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Why didn’t he do this months ago? He could be on every state ballot on both the CP and LP line.
Because actively pursuing a third party run would damage his standing in his House caucus. In LA and MT, he can sit back and just let it happen – plausible deniability that would be unavailable to him should he have accepted the CP and/or LP nominations.
He supposedly is such a good friend of Baldwin. Why would he allow this to happen to a friend?
Montana already decided to dump Baldwin, independent of anything Paul could have said or done. Better they put RP on the ballot than Alan Keyes.
4 Sivarticus // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:35 pm
The Constitution Party will get far more votes this way than with Baldwin in MT. It’s probably a good thing in the long run. And a much better choice than dumping Baldwin for that loser Keyes.
5 G.E. // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:46 pm
NewFed- You’re with the ConstitutionalIST Party?
6 G.E. // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I’d love life a lot more if I were in Montana.
7 Fred Church Ortiz // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Today, we are all Montanans.
8 Conquistador // Sep 5, 2008 at 10:01 pm
As I posted on BAN, the Constitution Party of Montana is actually unaffiliated with the national Constitution Party. Therefore, they didn’t dump Baldwin, they simply decided against endorsing him.
9 SovereignMN // Sep 5, 2008 at 10:37 pm
In case anyone was wondering:
Montana Caucus results on Feb 5, 2008:
Candidate Votes Percentage
Mitt Romney 625 38.39%
Ron Paul 400 24.57%
John McCain 358 21.99%
Mike Huckabee 245 15.05%
Montana non-binding primary on June 3, 2008:
Candidate Votes Percentage
John McCain 72,551 76.18%
Ron Paul 20,452 21.48%
No Preference 1,786 2.93%
Peroutka received 1764 votes in Montana back in 2004.
10 SovereignMN // Sep 5, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Last Rasmussen poll from Montana shows McCain leading Obama 45-44. Paul could be a big spoiler there, although it is “only” 3 electoral votes.
Last Rasmussesn poll from Louisiana shows McCain leading Obama by 17 points. Paul most likely won’t be a factor there but as Trent mentioned, he could get 5% and qualify a new party.
11 Trent Hill // Sep 5, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Wow. They not only beat us to the punch,they did it in a state that will score more votes.
12 richardwinger // Sep 5, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Louisiana, since 2004, has made it fairly easy to qualify a new party. It doesn’t need to worry about polling 5% for president. It just needs 1,000 registrants.
13 Trent Hill // Sep 5, 2008 at 11:43 pm
richard,
Quite aware of that. As I said, the qualification of the party isnt the true reason this started. There are thousands of people in Louisiana who want to be able to vote for Ron Paul–and wouldnt vote otherwise. We Ron Paul activists were treated like shit during and after the GOP Caucuses–this is our way of saying: “We wont go away. You have to court us, or suffer losses. We will not lie down, we will draw blood.”
14 johncjackson // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:09 am
Nice pres option with a terrible VP.
15 Trent Hill // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:32 am
Im not keen on the VP either. Of all the people they could have picked that would have attracted attention–why Peroutka?
16 Fred Church Ortiz // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:34 am
Wasn’t Peroutka on board with the defecting state CPs?
17 Trent Hill // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:57 am
He was one of the ringleaders,yes. But the defecting state CP’s didnt really have a problem with Baldwin–he also voted for disafilliation,albeit through clinched teeth.
18 Peter Orvetti // Sep 6, 2008 at 4:30 am
This from Politics1:
GOP Congressman Ron Paul will see his name appear on Presidential primary ballots in November in two states: Montana and Louisiana. The Constitution Party of Montana, which is feuding with the national Constitution Party over the issue of abortion, has placed Paul on the Montana ballot as the party’s nominee instead of official CP nominee Chuck Baldwin. In Louisiana, a group of Paul supporters have succeeded in placing him on the ballot there under the label of the fictional Taxpayers Party. Montana is a hotly contested swing state this year, while Louisiana is fairly solid McCain state. Paul refused to make a deal with the RNC to grant him a prominent speaking slot at this week’s national convention in exchange for Paul endorsing McCain. Instead, Paul held a rival convention across town from the GOP convention.
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