Sour Grapes

Romney supporters across America, and especially on FoxNews and Talk radio, are blowing West Virginia WAY out of proportion.

Looking at the numbers, McCain and Paul had 334 votes between them. With Paul out of the race, that left 118 voters up for grabs. McCain's 176 votes were in jeopardy as a potential third round would likely count him out altogether.

Huckabee gained 192 votes. That means that some Ron Paul supporters also came to Mike Huckabee.

Romney gained 57 votes. Suppose for a moment that some of those votes came from McCain supporters... That is most likely.

73 voters walked out of the convention, opting not to vote more than once.

In the West Virginia convention process, we all need to understand that a non viable candidate, like McCain and Paul in the first vote, will require that their delegates have a legitimate second choice. Their motivation to vote should not be called into question. That is called poor sportsmanship. That is being nothing more than a sour grape!

Romney gained votes on the second choice, but Huckabee gained more. It may be that some delegates were undecided as to their second choice, and were instructed that they should support Huckabee. That is the process in this type of venue.

To quote Romney himself: Quit Whining!

A loss is a loss, and that is what Romney took in West Virginia. Learn to lose with dignity, learn to lose with grace. Stop being sour grapes!

Huckabee wins West Virginia!

CNN Reports that the second round of delegate counting is 100% complete:

Huckabee: 567 - 52%
Romney: 521 - 47%
McCain: 12 - 1%
Giuliani: 0 - 0%
Paul: 0 - 0%

Mike Huckabee takes first blood on Super Tuesday, and picks up 18 delegates from the state of West Virginia.

West Virginia Results - Thoughts - 2nd Round of Counting

Huckabee had a strong performance in West Virginia, but Romney faired better at the convention's first round count:

Romney: 464 - 41%
Huckabee: 375 - 33%
McCain: 176 - 16%
Paul: 118 - 10%

89 Delegates seperated Huckabee and Romney.

I have edited this post, because I was not previously aware that a candidate must win more than 50% of the delegates to win the state. Therefore, there is a second round of counting taking place, and a shuffle of delegates. There are promises and favors being flung this way and that at the convention as Huckabee and Romney delegates attempt to win the Ron Paul support and the John McCain support. McCain is still included in the second round, but because Paul was seen as non viable, his delegates must vote for one of the other three.

For starters, I feel like an idiot. I was unaware of the majority rule. I was starting to look at the state as a Huckabee loss.

The big question I must now pose is if the state recounts come in too late, will the winner of the early vote state get any sort of bounce?

Thoughts on West Virginia Speeches

West Virginia is clearly a Huckabee / Romney state. The speeches were great, the crowd was pumped up... and now the delegates vote for this winner take 18 state.

I predict that Huckabee will win. He had the advantage of speaking last, jazzing the crowd, and speaking to the hearts of the delegates. That being said, Romney supporters had to sit through the lack-lustered McCain presentation by McCain's surrogate. The fact that Huckabee had the chance to wake this crowd up may pay big dividends!

WV gives out 30 delegates, but only 18 are being pledged today by the convention. Nine more are being handed out based on the Primary results in May... and three stay unpledged and belong to the state party... perhaps for bargaining tools.

The results should be out before 12:30 ET. That is one hour away... breath is officially being held!