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Battle over Maine GOP Caucus Results Intensifies
02/15/2012   Reported By: Jay Field

The Maine Republican Party has no immediate plans, as of now, to back off its decision last weekend to name Mitt Romney the winner of the state's GOP caucus. Party officials went ahead with the move, even though Washington County postponed its caucus due to a snowstorm, and a handful of other communties didn't have their votes counted due to clerical errors. The chairman of the state party says adding totals from these areas won't significantly alter Romney's nearly 200-vote lead in the non-binding, presidential preference poll that's part of the caucus. But that's not stopping Ron Paul supporters in Maine from working feverishly to get voters Downeast to attend Washington County's rescheduled caucus on Saturday.

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Battle over Maine GOP Caucus Results Intensifies Listen
 Duration:
4:1

An average of 110 to 120 people have attended the Washington County GOP caucus during recent election cycles. Ron Paul got just eight votes in 2008. So if history repeats itself, Saturday's rescheduled gathering won't change the overall outcome in Maine. But in 2012, the only predictable thing about the campaign for the Republican nomination has been its unpredictability.

"Hey, Herm! I'm just printing some stuff out," says Billy Bob Fulkingham. Family members arrive for a strategy session as the printer in Fulkingham's tiny home office spits out an attention-grabbing flyer. At the top is a photo of Congressman Ron Paul, circa 1981, sitting next to Ronald Reagan. Below--bullet points on why Paul is the former president's true heir.

"These are kinda for undecided people--to grab their attention," Fulkingham says.

Like many Ron Paul supporters, Fulkingham began following the Texas Congressman's campaign online. He met Paul in Bangor last month. Fulkingham's was disappointed to learn that his caucus in Winter Harbor in Hancock County was scheduled after the February 11 deadline imposed by the state GOP. His vote wouldn't end up counting in the statewide presidential straw poll.

So Fulkingham encouraged friends in nearby Washington County to attend the caucus there. "So I was planning on going to Washington County to check that out. And they said it was canceled Friday and I was so mad," he says.

Towns throughout the county decided, together, to reschedule the caucuses due to a threat of snow. So the statewide straw poll went forward without Washington County. Mitt Romney won by 194 votes. But it turns out there were problems in other places, including Waterville and communities throughout Waldo County.

"There's no purpose to continuing on with this debate," says Charlie Webster, who heads the Maine Republican Party. Webster says votes that weren't counted due to clerical errors have now been added to the statewide total. Webster would not release the actual numbers, but he says Gov. Romney still enjoys roughly the same-sized lead as before.

"The committee will decide in March whether they want to add all those little towns that are out there---Hancock County now, Washington County now---to this grand total," he says.

But that's not good enough for many Ron Paul supporters, who want to see the state party rescind Romney's victory immediately and order a recount after the make-up caucus on Saturday. In the hours after Romney was declared the winner, Paul's top press official blasted the outcome in a press release.

Out in Washington County, supporters are channeling their anger into get-out-the-vote efforts. Billy Bob Fulkingham drops by a friend's house in Millbridge. He finds Hartley Gostin in the garage, fixing a trailer.

"Do you know any other people that are from Millbridge that are going?" Fulkingham asks Gostin. "I've got a couple friends Downeast that are going. I'm going to try to talk to some family memebers," Gostin replies.

Fulkingham tells Gostin the caucus will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Washington Academy in East Machias. Gostin credits his friend and fellow lobsterman for turning him onto Paul.

"You know, being pretty much ignorant politically, it's just the way he speaks and the things he talks about," he says. "You know, we're on a tight budget. Most of the guys now don't feel that way that's in office. They say they do, but they're not proving it with their actions."

Fulkingham asks Goston to spread the word. He hands Goston some flyers and suggests he become a delegate. "So when I go to this caucus, just say I'd like to be a delegate?" he asks.

"Just say I want to be a delegate. First opportunity arises, just raise your hand and don't take 'no' for an answer," Fulkingham says.

Paul's supporters will need to turn out hundreds of voters to have a chance of actually overturning the results in Maine. So Fulkingham will be making a variation of this pitch to as many people as he can between now and Saturday. Calls and emails to the Romney and Paul campaigns seeking comment were not returned by airtime.



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