Tim Boyer is one of the leading conservatives in the 5th District of Virginia… so when he takes exception to the way things turned out, it’s worth ready his rationale:
At least four campaigns turned in enough signatures to get them on the ballot, assuming enough were verified as being registered voters in Virginia. Originally, all four campaigns supposedly made the ballot; A few hours later Perry and Gingrich are disqualified after more insufficient petition signatures are discovered (??). Ron Paul makes the final cut, after undergoing the same validation process that Perry and Gingrich were subjected to as per VA code, but having collected far more signatures. Romney then collects enough signatures that RPV decides, per the info given me from my source, that he doesn’t need to go through the validation process, having collected over 15,000 signatures (remember VA Code makes no exceptions). Assuming this chronology is accurate after all the info is in, how could the Chairman have any idea of whether or not Governor Romney qualified for the ballot per the requirement of Virginia’s Code, which stipulates that all signatures be valid, IF as my sources suggest, Romney petitions were not actually gone through one by one and verified?
There is no doubt much more than meets the eye, but it would seem reasonable for questions to be asked of RPV, as well as Romney’s Virginia Chairman Bolling, as to whether Romney received preferential treatment- especially considering Bolling is Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor- and if all code requirements were sufficiently satisfied. And further, if they were not, must Governor Romney join Perry and Gingrich in No Man’s Land.
Read it all [1], because this angst over Romney — and the perception (perhaps not fact, but perception nevertheless) that Romney pressured the outcome — is heartfelt, deep, and very much real.