# Charlie Webster blames Romney's loss on Mystery Black People: **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119 "2012-11-15T19:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/1 "2012-11-15T19:47:02Z")
Maine GOP head, Charlie Webster blames Romney’s loss on Mystery Black People: > **[Maine GOP Chair Alleges Mysterious 'Black People' Voted In Rural Areas](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/charlie-webster-maine-gop_n_2136055)** > > Maine GOP Chair Alleges Mysterious 'Black People' Voted In Rural Areas > [@](#): > > “In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day,” he said in an interview with WSCH TV. “Everybody has the right to vote, but nobody in town knows anybody that’s black – how did that happen? I don’t know. We’re going to find out.” He goes on to say that “he heard” that “some guys” were going door to door, telling people that Republicans were going to take away their welfare and disability payments. > [@](#): > > He continued, “And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s where their base of support is.” He said later that people are moving to the state because of welfare. But don’t worry, everyone! He’s got a cunning plan to smoke out all the illegal voters! > **[Maine Republican chairman questions black voters](https://www.pressherald.com/2012/11/14/maine-republican-chairman-questions-black-voters/)** > > Charlie Webster's claim that hundreds of unknown black people voted in rural Maine towns causes a stir, and leads one GOP strategist to call for his immediate resignation. > [@](#): > > Webster said he has identified five “pockets” of the state where he has concerns about voting irregularities. He would not identify those areas, but said he plans to mail “Thank You” cards to all of the newly registered voters. If a large number of cards are returned because the addresses are invalid, Webster said, he will know he is on to something. Too good to not to share but I couldn’t decide where else to put it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/2 "2012-11-15T19:49:32Z")
Oh my! Literally _dozens_ of black people voting, in Maine! What will we ever do? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/3 "2012-11-15T19:55:55Z")
Didn’t Obama win Maine by 100,000 votes? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/4 "2012-11-15T20:01:56Z")
You can find (or be subjected to) a lot of this right now. In a country of 300 million people it’s probably a given that a few million people will go nuts after their presidential candidates loses, but you can find people saying that in some predominantly black areas there were votes cast than there were registered voters, that Romney was somehow improbably shut out in some virtually all-black precincts, and in general that some kind of Democratic machine fraudulently cooked up votes in states or areas where Obama was winning by a ton anyway. If the Birthers are bored or dejected, maybe they’ll cotton to this instead. I don’t think this means much of anything, but if it takes root it’ll be a bad sign for people who think the Republicans are going to wise up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/5 "2012-11-15T20:18:27Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Didn’t Obama win Maine by 100,000 votes? [Yes, by about 107,000 votes or 15 percentage points.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/president/) Maine awards its electoral votes by Congressional district and a month or two ago Romney was talking about winning one of those votes, maybe in the 2nd district. Of course we know now that most of the campaign’s own projections were wildly over-optimistic. I am not sure results by Congressional district are available yet, so maybe they think Obama stole the second district. If so, I think Romney only needs to flip another measly 61 electoral votes to win. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/6 "2012-11-15T20:22:27Z")
Some of the (middle aged, suburban, well-educated, well-off, white) guys I work with claim that the Obama campaign pulled a variety of dirty tricks to win this year and in 2008. They make no mention of the big Tea Party wins in 2010. I’m not about to call BS on the guys who sign my paycheck, but this sounds like some kind of paranoid 40-years out of date wish-fulfillment. There are two main themes. 1. Voter intimidation at polling places by “the Black Panthers”. Specifically, they say it occurred in Philadelphia (and unspecified other places) this year and in 2008. The intimidation consisted of “big black guys with billy clubs, glaring at people” inside or near the entrance to polling places. 2. Payment (usually said to be cigarettes or alcohol) of poor/minority/illegal immigrant people in exchange for Democratic votes, combined with organized transportation of such people to cast multiple votes all over town. Lacking any means of graceful exit, I joked about how I didn’t realize the Black Panthers existed anymore and if they were going to be effective at voter intimidation, they’d have to be the toughest octagenarians in the country. Are there any photos, video, emails etc. of anybody of any ethnicity or political faction engaging in these tactics? It’s hard to imagine that in the era of people tweeting photos of the hamburger they had for lunch, nobody put this up on the web. Super bonus points if someone identifies himself as a Black Panther on camera. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/7 "2012-11-15T20:25:10Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Didn’t Obama win Maine by 100,000 votes? > [@Marley23](#): > > [Yes, by about 107,000 votes or 15 percentage points.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/president/) Or roughly 8,917 dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/8 "2012-11-15T20:27:04Z")
Now I sooo want to photoshop a black panther (animal) into a shot of people waiting in line to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/9 "2012-11-15T20:31:18Z")
Merged two threads on election fraud topics. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/10 "2012-11-15T20:31:35Z")
Fox News’ top story on election day 2012 was that a Black Panther appeared at a polling station in Philly. They confirmed that he was a designated poll watcher, then continued to insist that this was somehow “news”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/11 "2012-11-15T20:37:23Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > Fox News’ top story on election day 2012 was that a Black Panther appeared at a polling station in Philly. They confirmed that he was a designated poll watcher, then continued to insist that this was somehow “news”. But he was _standing!_ … _Near the door!_ THE DOOR! ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/12 "2012-11-15T21:05:25Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > Fox News’ top story on election day 2012 was that a Black Panther appeared at a polling station in Philly. They confirmed that he was a designated poll watcher, then continued to insist that this was somehow “news”. This is not racism. It is rooted in a dislike of berets that is a natural outgrowth of hating the French. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/13 "2012-11-15T21:14:46Z")
If all these black people can steal the presidential election, why can’t they steal the House of Representatives too? If they did, they really would control the government. Or haven’t they been foillowing the news for the last 4 years? ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/14 "2012-11-15T21:24:58Z")
On behalf of all the sane people of Maine, please accept my apologies for the publicity one of our resident loons is bringing to Maine. Would anyone have a vacancy he can fill? I’ll pay the shipping! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/15 "2012-11-15T21:37:09Z")
Send him to California… We’re used to crazy here, and the Democratic margin is large enough, he won’t threaten it. (In San Diego, the Republican Party’s numbers dropped to below the numbers of Independents. They’re a 3rd Party here.) Now, this is a limited offer… ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/16 "2012-11-15T21:38:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You can find (or be subjected to) a lot of this right now. In a country of 300 million people it’s probably a given that a few million people will go nuts after their presidential candidates loses, but you can find people saying that in some predominantly black areas there were votes cast than there were registered voters, that Romney was somehow improbably shut out in some virtually all-black precincts, and in general that some kind of Democratic machine fraudulently cooked up votes in states or areas where Obama was winning by a ton anyway. If the Birthers are bored or dejected, maybe they’ll cotton to this instead. I don’t think this means much of anything, but if it takes root it’ll be a bad sign for people who think the Republicans are going to wise up. Oh sure, sure. The notable part about this (aside from the irresistable headline) is that Charlie Webster is the (admittedly outgoing) head of the Maine GOP,not some random Bagger. I don’t know who they plan to replace him with but I hope he buys enough stamps. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/17 "2012-11-15T21:40:19Z")
Don’t look at me, at one of our first meetings for the Ad Hoc Committee to Steal This Election I raised an objection to the “get dozens of black folks to vote in Maine” tactic as being too obvious. Apparently our plan has been discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/18 "2012-11-15T21:43:39Z")
These people cost Mitt Romney the election. And yet if he were to have these people killed, he would be the one to go to prison. That’s democracy for you. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/19 "2012-11-15T21:50:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > But he was _standing!_ … _Near the door!_ THE DOOR! And HE’S BLACK!!! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119/20 "2012-11-15T21:58:13Z")
Now, let’s not be too hasty. When asked about the veracity of Charlie White’s claims over in the “ID Demanding vote suppression thread”, **Bricker** replied: > [@I Pit the ID-demanding GOP vote-suppressors (Part 1)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3055): > > I’d say if there’s a small town, where everyone legitimately knows everyone else, then anyone you see at the polls that you don’t recognize, is, almost by definition, at least worthy of a second look, no matter their color. > > I have no idea what size of town Wright was talking about and no way to judge how valid his perception of knowing everyone in town is. There certainly exist towns in which that perception would be valid. So is it within the realm of possibility that black strangers somehow managed to make their way to polling stations in small towns in Maine, and cast ballots? **Bricker** seems to be dancing around the issue quite a bit here, and is choosing his words very carefully, and is not _actually saying_ that this indeed happened. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-webster-blames-romneys-loss-on-mystery-black-people/641119.md?page=2)