And The Stench Grows Even Worse

Apparently three other Washington counties sent attendee preferences versus delegates elected to state party headquarters in addition to Snohomish: Benton, Grant, and Jefferson.

The party has announced new numbers, incorporating some corrections.

With 96% of precincts reporting:

Huckabee 23.3 %
McCain 25.6 %
Paul 21.4 %
Romney 15.3 %
Other 1.1 %
Uncommitted 13.3%

But really, who can believe those numbers now?

Eric Earling at Sound Politics writes:

Needless to say, this is not a good situation at all. I have had conversations with enough relevant individuals at the county and state level to determine there was clearly a communication breakdown at some point between the county and state parties. Who is ultimately responsible for that lack of alignment is for others to determine and rectify.

The responsibility in any situation such as this lies at the top. I think pressure for Luke Esser to step aside is going to grow. With what figures to be a hotly contested gubernatorial race this fall, Dino Rossi does not need a vote count scandal hanging over the party, not after what happened in 2004. Clearly the WSRP leadership was not prepared to handle this presidential caucus at all. There must be accountability for this mess. Esser's open letter trying to put lipstick on the pig is too little, too late.

And it doesn't help that former state Republican chair and McCain supporter Chris Vance is running his big mouth in the Seattle Times, disparaging the Huckabee campaign in an attempt at spin control for Esser:

The Huckabee campaign either doesn't understand that, which I doubt, or they're just trying to use this to build up sympathy for poor Mike Huckabee who's being persecuted by the Republican establishment in Washington state.

OBVIOUSLY, Huckabee has a legitmate beef, given all these reporting errors. Way to mobilize the base, Chris. The caucus delegates comprise the heart of the party, and 74% of them didn't vote for your guy. What a great way to ensure defeat in the fall statewide elections and plunge the Washington State Republican Party even further into mediocrity.