The only word that can describe the Romney response to the WV loss:
“Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain’s inside Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney’s campaign of conservative change.
“Governor Romney had enough respect for the Republican voters of West Virginia to make an appeal to them about the future of the party based on issues. This is why he led on today’s first ballot. Sadly, Senator McCain cut a Washington backroom deal in a way that once again underscores his legacy of working against Republicans who are interested in championing conservative policies and rebuilding the party.”
Look, I am not the one who designed WV’s truly bizarre and byzantine convention system, but the rules are the rules. You need 50% to win, and they take multiple ballots until they have someone who crosses that thresh-hold. There was nothing “under-handed” about what happened, nothing sneaky or cheating, and it was all part of the rules of the game. In fact, when they thought Romney had one, many felt quite comfortable with the back-room deal aspect of it (read this thread for a positively hilarious anatomy of a meltdown, including Adam C praising Romney for being able to cut back room deals for a win).
Again, McCain and Huckabee did nothing sleazy. Claiming otherwise is absurd. Actually, Romney automatons, claiming otherwise is positively Clintonian and reminds me of her wanting to change the rules in Michigan and Florida after formerly agreeing to them.
Think about that for a minute.
I just can not stress enough how much the Romney wing of the GOP needs to be defeated.