It shouldn't be surprising that Ron Paul's supporters are floating a story of conspiracy. Except it's not just Ron Paul's supporters in Maine casting dount on Mitt Romney's close win over Ron Paul.
The Bangor Daily News in Maine reports "pressure is on" the state Republican Party to "reconsider its weekend declaration that Mitt Romney won" the Maine caucuses. Romney edged out Ron Paul by 194 votes.
Maybe Ron Paul should call Rick Santorum for advise.
Then, like now, the state GOP said Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucus by a close margin. Then it was described as inconclusive, and then finally, a Santorum victory after urging from the Santorum campaign.
There were issues with the vote count in Iowa and Nevada, which each held caucuses instead of primaries.
In Maine, several towns that voted early were not included in the total. Some towns had their caucuses postponed due to weather(it was miniscule for us north-easterners!) and haven't even voted yet. Yet the state party came right out and said Romney won.
Mitt Romney, widely seen as having the support of the GOP establishment, might have almost been better off with Ron Paul winning. The possibility of voter fraud casts a long shadow, and since we all know how concerned the GOP is about voter fraud they should get right on this case.
L. Sandy Maisel, professor of government at Colby College and a Democrat, said the perception seems to be that because the Maine Republican Party establishment largely supported Romney, it was selective when tallying the results.
“It sure looks like they counted what they wanted to count,” he said.
It sure looks like the Republican primary is going to be a long one. Got popcorn?