The Republican Party chair for Washington County is formally requesting that state GOP leaders include the results of this weekend's re-scheduled caucus into the final tally for Maine's presidential straw poll. The original caucus was postponed Saturday because of an expected snowstorm, and in the statewide results announced this weekend, Mitt Romney edged out Ron Paul by fewer than 200 votes. But while Paul and his organizers originally cried foul over the delay, his state coordinator is now backing off a suggestion that it was part of a strategy to give Romney a boost.

Chris Gardner says he's been quite open about his support for Mitt Romney. But the Republican chairman of Washington County says his support had nothing to do with a decision to postpone last Saturday's caucus because of the threat of snow. In fact, he says, it was not a decision that he made alone.

"I consulted, as the party chair for Washington County, with all the different caucus callers in each town and they represent a wide array of support for each different candidate," Gardner says. "They were all given the chance to either go or not go and no town chose to go. So there is no grand conspiracy here."

But that's not what Paul Madore, chairman of the Ron Paul campaign in Maine, thought when he found out his candidate had lost Maine's straw poll to Romney by 194 votes. He says Washington County was, and is, pivotal to the Ron Paul campaign.

This is what Madore said moments after the straw poll results were announced Saturday night: "And we would have had the votes. It was a tactical move, I think, on the part of the Party to try to even the score. This is how we see it."

Susan Sharon: "So are you really saying that you think there was an effort by the Maine GOP to try to give Romney a boost by canceling the Washington County caucus where there was strong Ron Paul support?"

Paul Madore: "I think you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see it, really."

Four years ago in Maine's previous presidential straw poll, Ron Paul received only eight votes in the Washington County caucus in which 113 total votes were cast. And Romney went on to win a decisive victory in the statewide contest.

Upon reflection about those figures Madore is now backing away from his earlier statement. "My original analysis may have been a little aggressive," he says. "But looking further into the actual numbers, Washington County didn't do as well as I thought they had--and it's okay to make a mistake and own up to it, you know?"

According to Republican Party Chair Charlie Webster, the most turnout Washington County has ever had is 120 people. So Webster thinks it will be difficult for even Ron Paul's energized supporters to turn out in great enough numbers to change the results of Maine's straw poll, which he says is meant to be nothing more than a snapshot in time.

"It's hard to conceive how you could get 300 to 400 people, and even if you did it's unlikely they'd all be for one candidate," he says.

Still, Paul Madore of the Ron Paul campaign is worried that party leaders may try to exclude upcoming caucus results. He says Maine's GOP has a duty to be both transparent and honest about the straw poll tally. Washington County Chair Chris Gardner agrees. That's why he's asking party leaders to re-open Maine's straw poll and include the results of the caucus rescheduled for this Saturday. He says with all the media attention about the event there could be a large turnout.

"Certainly with the numbers that we could be anticipating--which could be well around the 400 mark, I think, is probably an outreach for us--but with that type of number anything can happen and we certainly may play a role into who actually ultimately wins Maine," Gardner says.

Whether or not to include the later caucus results is a decision for the GOP's state committee, which doesn't meet until March 10th. But Charlie Webster says once an exception is made for Washington County the same would have to be done for a few other towns that are also scheduling caucuses this coming weekend.

But that's exactly why Chris Gardner says the Maine GOP should revisit its policy. He says it's important for Republicans to hold all their caucuses before results of a straw poll are released to avoid both confusion and controversy and to ensure full public participation.