Missouri's Meaningless Primary

If you are wondering why tonight's Missouri Republican primary isn't receiving the attention that it might as a potential firewall for the non-Romney GOP Presidential candidates, it's because no delegates will be allocated based on the results. Kansas City Star columnist Steve Kraske has a good column on the unplanned chain of events that led Missouri to waste a good calendar date on a statewide straw poll...

Missouri will pick its convention delegates at sparsely attended caucus meetings March 17....

In July, [Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon] vetoed an elections bill that moved the presidential primary from Feb. 7 to March 6. Yes, that’s late in the game, but at least we wouldn’t have wasted millions on a February primary that didn’t count....

The Republican State Committee opted Sept. 29 to pick their delegates at those county caucuses. In effect, the GOP played it safe. It caved to pressure from the national party, which had warned that any state holding a nominating contest prior to March 1 loses half its delegates....

The Missouri Senate and Sens. Jason Crowell and Jane Cunningham...missed an Oct. 17 vote that would have canceled the primary after the House already passed it. A 16-16 deadlock was the result.