Phoenix, Arizona -- The Charleston Gazette provides a good overview of the deal that sent John McCain's delegates to Mike Huckabee in West Virginia yesterday, a move that blocked Mitt Romney from winning the state. How did it happen? Buddy Roemer.
Roemer, the former Governor of Louisiana and a staunch McCain supporter, was to have been among the long line of elected officials that joined McCain on stage here in Phoenix on Tuesday. That's the fun part of political endorsements -- being there (and being visible) when your candidate wins. That's why we saw Florida Governor Charlie Crist, whose backing of McCain was crucial, standing behind his man last night. And Senator Joe Lieberman, and Senator Richard Burr, and Jack Kemp, and others.
But when McCain invited Roemer to join him here at the Arizona Biltmore, the former governor told McCain that he could be more helpful in West Virginia. So Roemer attended the state's convention and met with top McCain supporters in the state to devise a strategy to keep Mitt Romney from winning 18 of the state's 27 delegates yesterday. Romney won more than 40 percent of the votes on the first ballot, with Huckabee second at 33 percent and McCain trailing badly at 15 percent, just above Ron Paul at 10 percent. Roemer met with McCain supporters and told them to throw their support behind Huckabee. "Mike has helped John many times on the trail," Roemer told the newspaper, by way of an explanation. The Huckabee team was thrilled with their victory. So was John McCain and so was Buddy Roemer.
