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Santorum wins Kansas caucus
Some 365 Republicans from Bourbon and Linn counties gathered to select their presidential preference at Saturday's caucus.
Along casting ballots, the gathering in the Linn County 4-H Barn at Mound City also gave participants a chance to hear from candidate representatives and concerned party members.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the preference among not only local party members, but the state as a whole, the Associated Press reported. Bourbon County Republican Party co-Chairman Chris Maycumber said Santorum earned 33 of Kansas' 40 delegates and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney garnered seven. His co-chair is Christie Smith.
John Hennessy of Bourbon County said Republicans need to have the best debater in order to beat President Obama.
"If we don't have the best debater out there, we're going to have four more years of Obama, and we can't take four more years," said Hennessy, a U.S. Marine veteran.
Fort Scott radio broadcaster Andrew Benage spoke on behalf of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Benage said Paul has always held fast to his principles of a strong defense and that life begins at conception.
Paul is a veteran who served as a flight surgeon in Vietnam. He's never voted for legislation that is not expressly authorized by the U.S. Constitution. "Ron Paul is the only veteran you can vote for today," Benage said.
Some 130 Bourbon County residents came out for the caucus. "It's part of the American process," Fort Scottian Martha Scott said. "I think it's neat to be part of a process."
Nancy Patterson, accompanied by her husband, Cliff, was attending her first caucus but not backing any particular candidate.
"I wondered what it was about," she said. "It's neat; very neat, and we learned a few things. I think I need to think it over what I've heard today. I think I have to go back and do a little more research."
Former state Rep. Lynn Oharah is leaning toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, although he'd go for ABO -- anybody but Obama.
"This is the best turnout for this area that I've seen. There are a lot of educated people this year. There's a lot of interest. If we can keep this momentum going, it'll be a slam dunk," Oharah said.
Sixteen-year-old Brad Barrett of Parker isn't old enough to vote, but he's quite interested in the process. Paul and the Republicans get his support. "It seems like the Republican party is the true conservative," he said.
Marvin Clements, precinct committeeman for Scott Township, he was pleased with Saturday's turnout. "I stopped counting at 275," he said. He added that all the Republican candidates are good and any one of them could beat Obama. He said many people he talked to are not sure which hopeful to choose among Romney, Paul, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, or Santorum, but they will get behind the nominee.
"It's just a matter of the right person coming in and doing it," Clements said.
In other statewide results, Romney received 6,250 votes, or 20.9 percent; Gingrich got 4,298, or 14.4 percent of the vote; Paul, 3,767, or 12.6 percent; and other, 252, or .8 percent, AP said.
Maycumber said he was surprised at the outcome in favor of Santorum and added he thought the gathering went well. "This was my first caucus," he said. "I really enjoyed being there and being a part of it."