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.