Ales Rarus

How did you spend PA primary day? I spent it at Firehouse #4 in Munhall, PA, handing out literature for Ron Paul delegates.

I arrived before 8 AM, introduced myself to the Judge of Elections, and found a spot outside the door to set up shop. There I met a nice Hillary supporter named Allison. She and I discussed/debated politics for most of the day. Later, two more Hillary supporters, John and his Aunt Kitty, spent some time at the precinct and tossed in their two cents. I think it was intellectually stimulating for all of us. All three expressed high admiration for Ron Paul as the only Republican they'd consider voting for (albeit only under duress). I convinced Kitty to check out the Read the Bills Act and the Enumerated Powers Act.

One thing I learned from the Hillary supporters and direct experience is that Munhall is a staunchly Democratic region. There are about 1100 registered voters in the precinct I worked. Of those, only 218 are Republicans (< 20%). In the last election, 58 of them voted. Yesterday, 532 voters showed up at the polls. Of those, 52 (9.8%) were Republicans. The following is a breakdown of how they voted for presidential nominee. Keep in mind that I deliberately avoided promoting Ron Paul. I wanted voters to choose our delegates based on the issues and not reject them for being associated with the House's "crazy uncle".

RON PAUL.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     5    9.61
JOHN MCCAIN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    39   75.00
MIKE HUCKABEE .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     6   11.54
WRITE-IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     2    3.85

For comparison, here are the unofficial results for all of Allegheny County.

RON PAUL.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  9,264   15.73
JOHN MCCAIN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 42,379   71.97
MIKE HUCKABEE .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  5,128    8.71
WRITE-IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  2,113    3.59

A good summary of what the PA presidential preference vote means can be found in a Nation article entitled, "McCain Loses 27% of Pennsylvania Vote". The following is the breakdown of how my precinct voted for GOP convention delegates.

JOHN S. AGATSTON .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     12   10.90
JAMES MCCOLLUM.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     16   14.54
ROBERT TAMBURO.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     22   20.00
ELLEN MELROSE .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     13   15.65
ANDREW MAUL.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     18   16.36
MICHELLE D. AGATSTON.  .  .  .  .  .  .     13   15.65
CRYSTAL M. JONES .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     16   14.54
WRITE-IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     00   00.00

Our delegates averaged 18.67 votes and the others averaged 13.5. For comparison, here are the unofficial results for all of Allegheny County.

JOHN S. AGATSTON .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  4,041   13.07
JAMES MCCOLLUM.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  5,776   18.69
ROBERT TAMBURO.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  4,540   14.69
ELLEN MELROSE .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  4,837   15.65
ANDREW MAUL.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  3,207   10.38
MICHELLE D. AGATSTON.  .  .  .  .  .  .  4,370   14.14
CRYSTAL M. JONES .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  3,875   12.54
WRITE-IN.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    262   00.85

Our delegates averaged 3874 votes versus 4756 for the others. If my sample size were not so small, I ought to be excited that our delegates did better at my precinct in comparison to the whole District 14 population.

Unfortunately, only Robert will be going to the national convention. He barely squeaked into the third delegate slot. I wish our other two delegates could go, but I'm pleased that at least one will. I look forward to hearing about his experiences at the national convention.

Yesterday was a long, tiring day that didn't end until I left at 8:30 with vote tallies, a sun-burned face, and a headache. Having no chair, I had to stand all day, which made me sore all over, but especially my feet. The discussions I had with Hillary supporters gave me a lot of food for thought (Don't worry; I still don't like her.), but I'm not sure how productive the whole exercise was. I'm hoping to work a precinct in November for Bob Barr (assuming I still support him then). At the presidential election, we'll be battling for the hearts and minds of all Americans, not just Republicans. What we do at the polls could have a big impact.

Addendum: Here's another Pittsburgh Paulite's comments about the primary results.