Yep, they had themselves a Republican caucus yesterday, down in my neck of the woods. The national media skipped reporting it for the most part. I found an account from Richard Winger (a Dickensian name if ever there was one). More on the jump:
Although Louisiana holds a presidential primary on February 9, the Republican Party chooses its delegates to the national convention with a two-step caucus/convention system. The first round was held on January 22, when approximately 10,000 Louisiana Republicans turned out to vote in eleven different cities for delegate to the state convention. Each U.S. House district chose 15 delegates.
It appears that Ron Paul supporters outnumbered the supporters of any of his opponents. But since this was predicted, the supporters of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, cooperated to set up a "fusion" slate of unpledged candidates for Delegate. The "fusion" slate, labeled the "Pro-Life/Pro-Family" slate, beat the Ron Paul slate in each of the 7 U.S. House districts. Formally, the "fusion" slate billed itself as an "uncommitted" slate, and no one really knows how many supporters of each presidential candidate are on the fusion slate, except the campaigns themselves.
So, although Paul's supporters showed more intensity than all the other candidates' supporters combined, the anti-Paul, pro-life, pro-family "fusion slate" succeeded in kicking the can down the road to the state convention. Presumably, at that time, a non-Paul Republican candidate will have gained some sort of consensus.
As if it matters.
UPDATE: OK, I have no idea what Richard Winger's politics are. I was mildly bemused by his name, is all -- in this context anyway.