Ron Paul wins delegates in WA, political games or 'Survivor?' Part 2

Part 1: Ron Paul wins delegates in WA, political games or 'Survivor?'

Continued from part 1:

The Gingrich, Santorum, Romney unity slate worked as planned until someone realized after the tie in Legislative District 27 with Romney and Santorum each taking 10, shutting Paul completely out, that perhaps Santorum and Gingrich better come up with another plan, because if by chance Romney kept winning more delegates and met the number needed to win the nomination, it would mess up the chance for a brokered convention, which would end the race for Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

After all the speeches were completed, some paid campaign representatives from both sides showed up to attempt to persuade Santorum and Paul to form an alliance to shut out Romney so we could ensure he didn't get more delegates. Since only three made the first cut of percentages needed to secure a delegate position to go to state, another round or three of votes would need to be completed to eliminate some and secure the other 28 positions.

A couple of people approached me from Paul's and Santorum's camps to tell me I had a great speech and got a lot of votes, and surely I was going to be in the top group to win a delegate spot to go to state. I was so excited, and quickly puzzled when I saw the unity slate, without my name on it. I thought, "This doesn't even make sense..."

After many huddles, we were given a final list and told to vote only for the people on the new unity slate with Santorum. All the while, I thought, "Wait a minute, I'm not going to be a delegate, after my passionate speech that caused even Santorum delegates to vote for me, and I was one of the people with the most votes according to ballot counters?" I absolutely had no idea what caused such an oversight, I thought, "Why did they not go by the votes?"

Instead, later I would find out, they went down the list from their original slate, and chose the people they were well acquainted with, since they didn't know me, I wasn't selected. The whole experience became a sort of metaphor to me of what Ron Paul is going through around the country. He is popular, gets many votes, he works hard to educate and open people's eyes, even persuades others to give up their party to sign up for another just to vote for him, yet he is rejected by his own party because he is a bit of an "outsider" with liberatarian ways. He hasn't been with them all along, just like me with the Ron Paulers -- the parallels were profound. "Hmmm, I guess this is why people get so frustrated with politics..." I thought.

When I brought the oversight to the Ron Paul leader, he apologized profusely and proceeded to share he overlooked another person he really thought should be on the list, but in all the confusion, made that mistake, as well. I told him it was okay, but not without giving him an earful of my financial contributions to the campaign, all the biased articles I intentionally write about Ron Paul (and often get pitched negativity for), in an attempt to balance out the mainstream media's black-out and the negative comments under many of the over 60 articles -- and just because he doesn't know me, (because I don't door knock and make phone calls) doesn't mean I don't do a lot for the campaign.

After my friendly little reprimand, we laughed it off, and he assured me I would be able to get involved and be on the inside even as an alternate. He handled it perfectly and I left the conversation in peace that at least I shared my feelings, instead of shoving them and building up resentment.

I am so thankful the outcome came out like it did, or I would not have been able to share in the sufferings of Ron Paul, empathize with the dynamics he regularly experiences of being overlooked, ignored, misunderstood and consistently carries around the reputation he isn't winning the state beauty contests.

But I truly won in the area of new relationships built, political knowledge and an experience that I will not soon forget. Like my fearless leader, I shall smile and go forward keeping one of his quotes in my mind, "If you're not having fun promoting liberty, you're not doing it right."

Ron Paul went on to win the most delegates in my district, taking 15 to Santorum's 14, Romney won 2 and Gingrich 0. In Legislative District 25, Ron Paul took 18, Santorum 17 and Romney and Gingrich 0.

If you started with this article, you may go back to the beginning at: Ron Paul wins delegates in WA, political games or 'Survivor?' Part 1

Related report: Ron Paul wins the 2nd Legislative District exit poll

Follow Stephanie Ealy @stephealy