From the May 2008 Idaho Observer:

RENO—Nevada Senator and State GOP Chairman Bob Beers announced on the afternoon of April 26, 2008, that the 2008 Nevada State Republican Convention would be in recess. He claimed that the Peppermill Hotel management has asked everyone to leave. Amid vocifeous objections from the nearly 2,000 people assembled, most of whom refused to leave, Beers shut off the lights, turned off the PA system and left the building.

The entire event was recorded by Dennis Grover, host of the long-running community access program "Liberty and Justice for All" (see ad page 23). When asked how he pulled that off, Grover explained, "I just entered the room like I owned the place, chose the best spot and began setting up my recording equipment. Some people came over and asked what I was doing. I told them I was with the press and was going to record the convention and showed them my press pass. They said, ‘You can’t do that because you don’t have one of our media passes.’ I said, ‘so give me one’—and they did."

Grover captured the entire event as it unfolded and later recorded a special episode of Liberty and Justice to distill into an informative, 90-minute program the 10 hours of recorded convention footage. According to Grover, the 10 hours is an important record of the scandalous proceedings, but it is long stretches of "boring" punctuated with moments of intensity. The recording even captures the mockery party leadership made of the process to "elect" Beers as convention chairman. "It just shows how arrogant these people have become," Grover commented.

According to witnesses, party leadership came into the convention nervous about the overwhelming delegate support for Ron Paul. Their concern increased when the party platform that passed was a "Ron Paul" platform that reflected getting out of the war and advocating fiscal responsibility (McCain is on record as willing to stay in Iraq for "100 years" and has expressed no desire to limit government spending).

A session that tried the patience of the chairman was held to adopt rules making the delegate selection process more fair. By respectfully observing the rules, the motion passed so that, when the balloting began, the vote would be fair and accurate.

Mitt Romney, stumping for presumed Republican nominee McCain, spoke and received polite applause. Then Ron Paul gave a 14-minute speech that had the entire house rocking—Paul and McCain supporters alike. "At that point, there was party unity among the delegates in the house and you could feel it. It was really wonderful," said Washoe county delegate Juanita Cox.

The ballot count was halfway completed when Beers, in apparent disregard for party bylaws, gavelled the convention into recess.

Peppermill management is on record as stating there was no problem on their end and the room was booked through the following day.

When people would not leave, the lights were shut off, the PA system silenced and convention organizers left the building amid significant objections, witnesses reported.

Cox later explained that even McCain supporters, who believe in the process and that everyone should be allowed to voice their opinion and vote their conscience, were shocked by the antics of the Nevada Republican leadership.

The next morning, many people returned to the room but Peppermill management said that, even though the room was still booked, the GOP had pulled its event insurance so people could not meet in the there. "I just turned my camera on and did interviews," Grover said.

Within days of the debacle, in its statement about the event, the Nevada GOP still blamed the Peppermill for the recess and was planning to resume the convention at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The statement has since been revised to softpedal blaming the Peppermill for the recess and admitted that party bylaws require that the convention be called back to order in the same country wherein it began. Party chairman and former Miss America Sue Lowden said the ballots are locked in the Peppermill’s safe.

The Nevada GOP really wants a copy of Grover’s recording. "Lowden called me and demanded a copy. I said, ‘send me $25 and I’ll get one out to you right away.’ She said I was not authorized to make that recording, to which I replied, ‘Would you like me to FAX you a copy of the press pass you gave me?’ Then she hung up on me," Grover said.

It is still unknown how the Nevada GOP will resolve this situation. It appears that honesty is not one of the options under consideration.

Note: Copies of the Liberty and Justice show are available by contacting Grover (use contact info in ad on page 23). The five disc-set of the 10 hours of recorded convention is also available. Liberty and Justice discusses the event in talk-show format with clips from the convention, including Ron Paul’s inspiring platform speech in its entirety. Also, Grover wanted us to instruct our readers with Internet access to go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgusFAEJuek to see and hear something very special.

HONOLULU—A powerful display of corruption, led by Governor Linda Lingle, Chairman Willes Lee and ranking state GOP leader Sam Aiona, crushed Ron Paul delegate recruiting efforts at the Hawaii State Republican Convention May 16-18, 2008.

Angered by and fearful of the well-organized Ron Paul supporters’ winning of delegate seats at several district caucuses last winter, the GOP set up and executed a plan to "steal" votes from Ron Paul-supporting delegates.

The fix was in. The convention ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village here was decorated with large McCain banners. Flanking the stage were larger-than-life photographs of McCain, one of which showed him as a young pilot and the other as a senator.

Using a template designed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Hawaii GOP scripted the entire convention. An undisclosed GOP official, apparently sympathetic to the Ron Paul campaign, leaked a copy of the script after the voting was completed. A full copy of the script is available online at www.dailypaul.com/49549

The agenda. Rather than remain impartial, Aiona, brother of Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, composure cracking only momentarily, railroaded the complete agenda through. Every outcome was predetermined with no debate allowed. Attempts were made to block orderly Ron Paul supporters from accessing the two microphones set up on the floor.  

Many long time Republicans were disgusted and one district chair from Maui stormed out. Others who consider Ron Paul "a kook" were delighted and asked supporters, "Why don’t you just go home?"

Unable to get enough participation from the dwindling Republican faithful, state workers were called in to swell the numbers of McCain supporters. At least one McCain supporter was reluctant. Luke Messman and Matt Holt reported a conversation with a Honolulu businesswoman. Identifying herself as a "special interest," she admitted she was neither a McCain nor a Paul supporter, but that she was contacted the day prior and "forced to attend."

Using colored cue cards—red for "yes" and green for "no,"—the GOP instructed the workers how to vote on every motion. 

Against RNC rules, the voting procedure was changed from four ballots to one. This was clearly advanced planning since GOP insiders then produced their "Unity Slate"—which was printed days before.  They also voted to allow the slate to be used as a ballot, which was necessary to enable the low-level reader workers to vote.

To its credit, the Ron Paul (RP) contingent was nimble enough to change its slate accordingly.  However, one ballot gave the majority a certain victory that would not have been assured had the rules not been changed in violation of party bylaws.

A protest from RP coordinator Julie Signore, clearly citing the RNC rules that expressly prohibit changing voting rules at the last minute, was met several times by Aiona (not the chairman) with, "Your point is NOT WELL TAKEN." 

The entire process, from admitted "filtering" of nomination papers to not letting observers see the number of votes entered into a computer and every act in between, was a parade of malfeasance.

That’s the ticket. Governor Linda Lingle, who is Jewish, had addressed attendees and explained that she had returned a day early from a "global leadership conference" to attend her party’s state convention. The conference was held in Tel-Aviv during the 60^th anniversary of Jewish-occupied Palestine (otherwise known as "Israel"). "We discussed leadership at length and in depth," Lingle stated and smiled while her audience applauded.

She announced that she would be heavily involved in the McCain campaign on the Mainland in the late summer and fall.

The convention was unquestionably steered toward the preconceived outcome of a McCain victory from the moment the convention was called to order. To justify the GOP’s abuse of process, Aiona admitted privately that, "We had to do this to keep Senator McCain from being embarrassed." 

Others feel this orchestrated blackout of Ron Paul supporters was to keep Lingle in the running for being on the ticket with McCain as his vice-presidentential running mate.