Cruz controls North Dakota “unbound” delegate selection
Another step towards keeping Trump from 1237
At one level, the North Dakota delegate selection today was not a big deal, because the delegates are “unbound” even on the first convention ballot.
The delegates were not even required to openly state their candidate preferences as the Bismark Tribune reported:
Delegates at the North Dakota Republican Party convention elected 25 unbound delegates to be sent to the Republican’s national convention following a debate and failed request providing candidates the choice to declare their preference for president prior to the vote.
Prior to the vote from the list of nearly 75 candidates, a request on the floor to provide each of them the option to publicly state their presidential preference before voting on national delegates failed by a 611-748 vote.
The state has 28 national delegates; the party’s chairman, national committeeman and national committeewoman are automatic delegates to the convention.
But that non-story masks the real story.
According to reports, Ted Cruz’s campaign dominated the selection of the 25 delegates, according to CNN:
The Cruz campaign put significant time and resources into the North Dakota voting — as GOP rivals Donald Trump and John Kasich — and on Sunday evening sought to portray the results as an unequivocal win.
“I’m thrilled to have the vote of confidence of Republican voters in North Dakota who delivered such a resounding victory today,” Cruz said in a statement. “As I met them over the weekend, North Dakota Republicans recognized that I am the only candidate who can move this country forward by protecting freedom and liberty. Whether we defeat Donald Trump before the convention or at it, I’m energized to have the support of the vast majority of North Dakota delegates.”
Cruz himself addressed the North Dakota Republican gathering. The other campaigns sent surrogates….
As many as 10 of the delegates on the preferred list have indicated some or solid public support for Cruz.
Of course, the Trump and Kasich campaigns are also claiming victory, though there doesn’t seem to be more than wishful thinking there, as NBC News explained how it went down:
But the Cruz campaign went one step further to ensure North Dakota’s slate of delegates is favorable to the candidate by passing out a piece of paper with a list of 23 people it identified as supporters, asking delegates to vote for them.
“Senator Cruz appreciates all of his supporters at the convention, but he asks you to focus your votes on this group due to the necessities of unifying our votes,” the Cruz slate reads.
There was some overlap with the slate proposed by party officials and some openly admit they’re still undecided.
Dick Dever, a state senator who appeared on both the party slate and Cruz’s proposed slate, said Saturday night he leaned more towards Kasich, but that “the verdict is still out” on who to support — and he could “possibly” decide on the day of the convention.
Trump delegate wranglers roaming the convention privately speculated that the Cruz campaign simply printed a slate for optics, to ensure the story coming out of the convention focused on how many delegates Cruz won over others.
According to Politico, 18 of the 25 have expressed some preference for Cruz, even if not required to do so and not committed to so vote:
Ted Cruz’s preferred candidates won the vast majority of convention delegates available in North Dakota over the weekend, taking 18 of 25 slots in the state in another show of organizational strength over Donald Trump.
But it’s still not clear how loyal all of Cruz’s slate will be, as several included on it told POLITICO they were only leaning toward Cruz, or simply opposed to Trump, if the Republican nomination heads to a contested convention in Cleveland.
The importance of these small delegate skirmishes cannot be overstated. A few delegates here, a few more there, and before you know it, Trump may not reach the majority 1237 he needs on the first ballot.
Depriving Trump of a majority has to be Cruz’s strategy, because once that first ballot is over, things do not look good for Trump, the threat of riots and Days of Rage notwithstanding.
.@tedcruz declares victory in North Dakota after elected delegates are announced, via @SunlenSerfaty pic.twitter.com/RcDAaY3Rmr
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) April 3, 2016
In other words, Ted Cruz has won nearly every "unbound" delegate in North Dakota outright. Trump's team humiliated. https://t.co/zCPqXR5bcL
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) April 3, 2016
My informal breakdown:
20 Cruz/NeverTrump
2 Gov/First Lady
2 Unknown
1 Trump/Kasich/highest bidder#NDGOP16— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) April 3, 2016
Looks like Cruz did well in North Dakota delegate selection. Not quite a clean sweep but pretty good. https://t.co/ukOPfdVS6V
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 3, 2016
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Comments
On a bit of a roll:
Ted Cruz wins first 6 Colorado delegates, Donald Trump shut out
http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2016/04/02/ted-cruz-wins-colorado-delegates-donald-trump/125427/
Look Out Below!
Sen. Ted Cruz is out-hustling Donald Trump and looks set to ensure many Arizona delegates will defect to him in a convention floor fight.
The Texas senator, who ever since Iowa has played a stealthy ground game in contrast to Trump’s chaotic populism, is taking steps to snatch the Republican presidential nomination from The Donald at the convention in July.
The New York businessman easily won last month’s Arizona primary taking 47 percent to Cruz’s 25 percent, scooping up all 58 of the state’s delegates. That’s nearly 5 percent of the 1,237 Trump needs for the nomination, and they’re tied to him on the first ballot.
But Cruz, exploiting deep opposition to Trump among grassroots Republicans, has been far more active in Arizona than Trump, insiders say. He’s recruiting candidates for the available 55 delegate slots, that along with the other three delegate positions filled by party leaders, would be allowed to vote for him in a multi-ballot contested convention.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cruz-snaring-trumps-ariz.-delegates/article/2587556
And now Pennsylvania’s delegates are largely unbound to follow the results. This gets crazier and crazier. Why bother with primaries at all, if it’s going to be a slugfest in the dark at the convention?
http://twitchy.com/2016/04/03/does-donald-trump-understand-the-delegate-rules-in-pennsylvania/
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/10229809-74/delegates-candidates-district
Windbag, this is how it goes in third world countries like the one we apparently live in.
I can’t decide whether I should learn Spanish or Arabic.
On Spanish or Arabic: My theory is that Mexicans believe in “Mexico and Mexicans first,” and they are not guilted into putting themselves second. They’re constantly playing Americans for saps, and they have a violent, blood-thirsty vein in the cartels and others like them. I believe when the muslims begin asserting themselves widely here, the Mexicans won’t stand for it. El Chapo made the opening salvo already.
Learn spanish.
Twitter Fee:
Jeb Bush
@JebBush
I am endorsing @tedcruz. Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has shown he can unite the party.
https://www.facebook.com/jebbush/posts/847372542058457
3:44am · 23 Mar 2016 · Twitter Web Client
2,278 Retweets 3,913 Likes
When Ted Cruz Wanted to Be Part of the Establishment
He climbed over colleagues in search of W’s favor, only to be rejected—setting him on his outsider’s course.
By Shane Goldmacher and Daniel Lippman
January 26, 2016
Excerpt…
[…]
On the trail today, Cruz bashes the “Washington cartel,” jokes of being so hated in the U.S. Capitol that he needs a “food-taster,” and says at nearly every stop, “If you see a candidate Washington embraces, run and hide.”
[…]
Read the rest here: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/ted-cruz-2016-establishment-george-bush-213561
Twitter Feed:
Avik Roy
@Avik
We have reached Peak Establishment, now that Cruz has been assimilated.
Retweeted:
https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/716660523580829697
Laura Ingraham
@IngrahamAngle
GOP Establ delegate games in TN & LA proves that they wd rather blow up the party than change on issues driving @realDonaldTrump voters.
12:58pm · 3 Apr 2016 · Twitter for iPhone
224 Retweets 368 Likes
Just because you dont understand a system, doesnt mean its bad. (in fact, this system is the only reason we Grassroots activists have been able to take so much power back away from the Establishment)
Similarly, just because your guy can win properly, it does not mean he is somehow entitled to anything.
Lastly, as I said below, you really need to learn what the heck is even going on before you rant and rail against your imaginary boogeymen – all you Trumpbots are coming off as pitiful showing your complete and utter lack of understanding of anything
Similarly, just because your guy cant (not can) win properly, it does not mean he is somehow entitled to anything.
…stupid simple typos can change entire meaning, but luckily think most probably know what was being said.
I’ve attended these things; I well know how they work – and how they don’t.
…yeah, riiiight…
Because it is a party nomination and the GOP gives states some latitude in how they send delegates. There is no requirement for binding delegates by primary or caucus.
Far fewer delegate are sent uncommitted now than 40 years ago, most states adopted primaries for the attention from candidates. So your complaint is based purely upon ignorance of the process and its history.
No, Henry. Cruz won no delegates. The GOPe gave them to him, temporarily. I love this! lolol
Yeah… those establishment boys sure are making it clear they are determined to lose the general.
What a gaggle of flippin’ morons. Shooo Weeeee
Say hello to President Sanders… unless by some miracle Hillary’s friends manage to pull her fat out of the FBI fire.
…and, pitifully, you have that completely backwards
These people were voted on by the local delegates from the list.
For quite a while (largely because of the TeaParty movement), we Grassroots activists have been doing everything we can to take over our local delegate spots (Im a County Delegate in Utah myself)
We Grassroots activists are the ones choosing all the Pro-Cruz Delegates to go to Cleveland – not the establishment.
However, Trump had the Establishment on his side in this fight. He had the only Rep, Cramer, influencing who was on the NDGOP 25-man options. That is why the Trump camp was so confident in their victory here – they had the Establishment doing their bidding for them.
Problem for Trump is we TeaParty/Grassroots activists have already largely destroyed the Establishment in many of the processes.
Trump is also now desperately trying to get the Establishment to come in with a heavy hand, take over the process, and change the rules to just hand him a nomination he does not deserve because he cant get enough supporters to vote for him and provide the 1237 delegates.
You Trump chumps keep railing against the Establishment claiming boogie-men in every shadow, without even realizing who you are fighting. Its pitiful
Keep up the good work … it is a thankless job. My dad was became more involved in GOP politics after Goldwater’s defeat because the GOP Establishment back then were a bunch of bastards. Folks like my dad, made Reagan possible in 1980. I thank you for your sacrifices.
With Trump hiring Paul Manafort, as well as his big donations to Rove, Boehner, and McConnell, it confirms what I have been wondering for a while; Trump is the GOP Establishment.
It is like recruiting college athletes. The coach, in this case the GOP Establishment, wants their guy, but has a plan B, C, D, E, and F, just in case.
Thanks – and sadly it wasnt that much of a thankless job until Trump brought the no-nothing low-lifes out from under their rocks and sent his Legion of hate out enmass to spread their ignorance and hate on his behalf. I too thank you and your father for your work, especially without his effort on behalf of Reagan we all might not be here carrying on the job ourselves!
As far as Paul Manafort, yeah, tell me about it. If you look at the names Trump has surrounded himself with, you realize he has assembled a group of the sleaziest, scummiest, most corrupt & dishonest freaks he could find. Half of them have have had pretty serious legal issues, the other half have been close confidants and assistants to corrupt politicians who resigned in disgrace or were set to jail. Many of the names are a whose who of who you would never want anywhere near power – and yes, a ton of them have longtime connections to the Establishment and the Cronyism they have empowered for decades.
If only the devoted Trumpeters would stop praying 5 times a day in the general direction of their new, supposed infallible prophet, and instead pay even a moments notice to what he is actually calling for and working to accomplish… that said, of course, expecting that is a bit much from what is obviously nothing more than a Cult – the very definition of which is they wont do what we need them to
The story you tell about the folks Trump surrounds himself with is a tale I have heard in a few states. He has known exactly who to hire. Folks like Roger “Pee Wee Herman” Stone are just the tip of the iceberg.
The funny thing about these tactics is that there are consequences to having these folks in one’s campaign. I know that in at least 3 states there are nervous Trump supporters, who are actual delegates, who are getting very nervous about Trump. I am hearing they are making back-channel conversations with the other candidates.
Yet, the fearmongering from the Trumpettes remains unabated. But have no fear, Trump has a new idea to rid this country of our $19Trillion debt … wait for it … better trade deals. I am inclined to believe Trump never read Adam Smith’s The Wealth Of Nations or is historically stuck in the 16th-18th centuries, when mercantilism ruled. If you love war, you will love mercantilism.
Yet, we are called arrogant and condescending.
That’s okay, we are not the ones in free-fall. Trump has lost almost 40 points in the GOP futures market in the last 2 weeks. I wonder why ……
http://tippie.uiowa.edu/iem/
You clearly don’t understand, we think the Tea Partiers and Libertarians also within the ranks, have got this one wrong….
La dee dah…
Yeah, we know, youve got your vast GOPe/CiC/Lizard-People conspiracy theories and desperate desire to elect a dictator who will ignore all the principles which made our country great, but supposedly go after whatever enemies your bigotry and hatred has you obsessing about today…
All you Trump Cultists are so predictably pitiful, and all I can say its too bad the clown has brought all you scum out from under your rocks
Call me all the names you wish, since when you find yourself unconvincing, that’s your fallback.
All the namecalling in the world will not change the fact you don’t have the slightest clue about my advocacy of Trump, even though I’ve provided a link to an article that articulates it nicely. I do disagree with the writer insofar as he is too kind to muslims and abortion, but other than that, he’s spot on.
Me, a cultist. If you knew me, you would laugh uproariously at the hilarity of that concept.
La dee dah, the man is mad he keeps painting me irrational and a cultist, but the damn paint just WON’T stick. 🙂
Most of what you say makes no sense, a ton of it is conspiracy gibberish and blind bigotry or hate, and all of it is unbelievably arrogant – which ironically is the charge you throw at others when they point out the massive holes in what you claim.
Then you do the odd, childish things like the LaDeeDah stuff constantly, showing youre not even a serious person – mostly just a troll like most of the other Trump-Cultists.
I no longer have any use for your kind, and because of it I am not worried about showing you even an ounce of respect – you dont deserve it. All the sane world can do now is put up with you freaks a little while longer, and when your Orange God scurries off into the history books as one of the biggest jokes going and complete embarrassment of the world, ideally we wont have to see you all again (although, I imagine you will just jump back to the Democrat side next time they nominate a similar empty-suit cult-of-personality like Obama, which knowing Trump followers, is probably the person you supported last and the candidate who first got you interested in politics.)
Quit whining. Your so-called brilliant businessman who only hires the best people has screwed up the delegate rules in state after state. He’s an incompetent blowhard who can’t put two coherent sentences on policy together. Get over it.
There Shall Be No Party Unity, By Order Of The GOP Morons-In-Charge.
How sad like every other post in this thread is you obsessively ranting and raving about things you know absolutely nothing about…
Your assertion she doesn’t know doesn’t make it true.
The arrogance factory is out. Why don’t you go donate?
lol
What have we here… a self-appointed ankle biter who thinks they alone have a grasp of reality. Sorry… you don’t impress me very much.
You two have the same odd style of language. Some singsong psycho crap. Creeps.
With no evidenced intellect with which to engage in substantive dialog, you throw some name-bombs. heh
I wonder who is voting for Trump
his negatives are north of 60%
he has yet to break 50% in any election.
and yet his supporters sound just like
Obama supporters …
must be the kool-aid
I suspect the Dems who are voting for the Donald
are not going to be there on election day.
and it is gonna be a sad sad group of Trumpers …
I am extremely tired of these characterizations of Trump supporters, and how dare ANYONE compare us to Obama supporters. I support Trump. I’m female. An Emory grad.
This fellow captures the tenor, if not my exact thoughts (He’s too easy on muslims):
http://nypost.com/2016/03/05/why-i-support-trump-and-resent-the-elites-trying-to-destroy-him/
Wake up: we’re tired of being played for suckers. You like it so much, form your government where you can bind yourself to all manner of stupidity to foreigners. I’m uninterested in being a serf to illegal aliens, picking my pocket every way to Sunday, and terrorists making it miserable to fly. I won’t fly anymore! Nobody’s feeling me up, because we pretend we can’t tell the difference between muslims and Americans.
Get a CLUE.
I was going to post this as a response to VotingFemale but I noticed you went to Emory. This was written in January by Erick Erickson, a fellow Georgian and well-known conservative:
In 2013, Donald Trump gave $220,000.00 to organizations, many of them dedicated to stamping out the Tea Party. From Karl Rove’s American Crossroads to Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC, Trump spread out money. Rove got $50,000.00 and McConnell got $60,000.00. Trump also wrote a check to McConnell’s campaign directly for $5,200.00.
What’s more, Trump also gave $100,000.00 to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican Establishment PAC that was created to crush conservatives at the behest of John Boehner.
Running as an anti-establishment Republican now and courting Sarah Palin is a distraction from two stark facts.
In 2010, with the rise of the Tea Party, Trump supported Democrats against conservatives.
In 2014, Donald Trump supported the Republican Establishment as it sought to crush the tea party and conservatives.
It is seriously disingenuous to think Trump is somehow now against the very candidates and organizations he funded just two years ago — candidates and politicians he is already again starting to say nice things about.
http://theresurgent.com/in-2013-and-2014-donald-trump-was-funding-john-boehner-mitch-mcconnell-against-the-tea-party/
I am sure that is a very good explanation for this. We just aren’t going to hear it from Trump.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
I put up a link you obviously didn’t bother with.
Obviously, the person who wrote the article you cited also did not see/read what Erickson wrote.
FTR, I did read the article you posted and it does not explain Trump’s donations and dalliances with the GOP Establishment and the anti-TEA Party folks.
I am afraid our politics are becoming more comparable to Jacobins and Girondists than I care to imagine.
He forgot to add “Establishment” to that so-called “conservative identity he dished out to Erickson. This primary campaign has been quite revealing on just how much those “well-known” “conservatives” who FOX et al like to trot out, aren’t really conservative at all. Not if they’re trying to deprive the people of their right to decide who the nominee is.
I’ve said it before…we sent people to stop the DC gravy train in 2010, 2012, 2014 and they did nothing. Furthermore, we discovered they’re on the train, riding first class.
These so-called conservatives only pay lipservice to the people, they’re not for change at all.
I could not care less about Erik Erikson. He’s self-absorbed and self-important – and really cannot see the forest for the trees. He’s someone who thinks we should be nice to muslims and have them as our neighbors.
He can be nice to them all he wants. And when muslims kill more Americans, as they have already over and over and over again, the useful idiot might then comprehend his error.
But until it happens in his own neighborhood, he seems uneducable. Maybe even then, who knows? He’s stubbornly blind to “radical” muslims. But as Geert Wilders notes, according to muslims, there is only ONE islam, but you know, us Protestants, Jews and Catholics know islam so much better than muslims!
Are you saying Erickson is making up that information or are you saying the ends justify the means works for Trump and you are fine with it?
It’s funny how the Republicans keep doing things – believing that the alligator will eat them last. When, in fact, the alligator doesn’t care who they eat first.
Whatever he did in the past, it doesn’t seem to be stopping those same people from trying to rig delegates against him, first in LA and TN, and now in CO and ND.
Obviously, CloseTheFed, we will have to go through as many Dem presidents as it takes to shut down the GOP goon squad.
Perhaps this is that time. I don’t yet know because it is still being played out but there is a seething voter hatred of being defrauded like this.
What are you talking about? While the GOP hasn’t won the WH in recent presidential election cycles and may not in this one, they are far from weak. In fact, they have been remarkably strengthened across the nation. Not only do they currently hold both Houses of Congress, but they also hold a majority of state governorships and legislatures.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/04/the-2015-election-tightened-the-republican-stranglehold-on-state-government/
The GOP is not going anywhere; all Trump and his supporters are doing is unifying the establishment wing and the Constitutional conservative wing of the GOP against him. (Hint: that, too, makes the party stronger because this is the single issue on which we can all–fervently–agree.)
What scenario are you imagining in which Trump “blows up” the GOP? Seriously, I’m asking. You keep saying this but have provided no explanation or detail; you just repeat it like its some sort of desperate mantra to which you cling.
Hey… don’t discourage people like him.
The more pissed off they make people, the better.
They do not hold all the cards; not by a long shot.
Tell you what I think, Tarheel… I think the estabs on both sides are nudging the poll numbers.
Actually, conservtarheel, it’s going to be a sad group of Republicans come election day. All the people you keep insulting, who have always voted Republican, always – are going to be happily sitting home.
Those downticket races must mean nothing to the GOP-E, but they’ll have deserved every defeat dished out.
I believe you are correct.
all the Carson supporters might not like
having their candidate called a pedifile.
Little Marco anyone
and of course the ever popular Lyin Cruz
all these people can hardly wait to vote
for Trump.
not
so Hillary is gonna have a Dem congress and Senate.
interesting.
I’m not sure there’s such a poll, but I would love to see the numbers on this, Lady Penguin.
While I suspect it’s true that a lot of Trump voters have always voted, at least in presidential cycles, I do wonder how many who have done are so invested in him that they’d stay home if he’s not the nominee. A lot of the more enthusiastic Trump supporters have been quite open and vocal about the fact that they didn’t vote for either McCain or Romney, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s amusing to me that they suddenly think that not voting (for Trump) is some form of sedition or idiocy or both.
I’m not convinced that all Trump voters are as die-hard as some of the ones we see here, and I’ve already met people (one just yesterday) who have already changed their tune on Trump and are not supporting him any longer. The die-hard ones, the ones who want the party “blown up” and don’t care about Trump’s record, flip-flops, and even current stances like that health care and education are among the top three responsibilities of the federal government are a shrinking minority within the GOP (though he does seem to be picking up some indies and a few Dems here and there).
These people don’t even really, truly support Trump–do you ever hear them defend him or his record, say anything positive about his presidential qualities or about his policy proposals or . . . well, anything substantive that one can take seriously in a presidential primary? They may talk about the wall, but he’s already said that’s completely negotiable; they may mention his “hard line” on Muslims, but he’s already back-peddled on that. The list goes on; there’s not one position that Trump began this current campaign on that he’s not himself either hedged or completely undermined.
Therefore, it’s hard not to conclude that his most ardent supporters don’t care about Trump or about a Trump presidency; instead, they are fired up at the disruption and the false promise of destroying the GOP. They’re like chanting peasants at a medieval public hanging. They don’t care about the person being hung, the charges against him or her, the hangman, or about anything but the spectacle and promise of more such hangings.
Yes. We know for a fact that there is a fair amount of Dems voting in most states for the sole purpose of trying to get Trump the nominee so he gets absolutely slaughtered by Hillary
They see Trump as the only way she can really guarantee herself a win, and are panicked about the possibility a true Constitutionalist will land in the White House.
Cruz gets in there and ends all the subsidies (the only candidate promising to do so) and all of a sudden the Democrats (and crony-RINO) gravy-train comes to a crashing halt.
…will be awesome watching so many of these corrupt pieces of garbage (who have for decades feed of the Big Government trough) having to figure out where they are going to be able to get their money for a change
Please post more often. You are correct, again.
And let’s be really frank about the situation. The more or less 2 party system we have gives the parties’ establishments for all practical purposes, a lock on our government. And all the ballot restrictions (I have previously run for office as a libertarian) do nothing more reinforce this lock.
It reminds me of what Ayn Rand wrote in “Atlas Shrugged” about unions, something to the effect that unions meant that employers couldn’t employ anyone without the unions and want-to-be employees couldn’t work without the unions.
So the unions make themselves the bottleneck and feed off both sides. Who died and made the GOPe gods? Why should I be shackled by people who don’t know me and don’t care about me? By rules they change on a whim. I’ve also played a Republican and I’ve seen at conventions how they run them. “Democratic” would not be the word to use.
What a bunch of garbage.
“Democratic” would not be the word to use.
…well we dont live in a democracy, so thats a proper assessment.
Democracy means Mob-Rule, and as stated by Marx, will always lead to socialism/communism
Luckily we live in a Republic, under a set of laws and rules, which ensure dictators will not easily ruin our success
Your condescension is unearned. By not democratic, I referred to the practice wherein they lost the vote, but pretended they did not.
State convention…. People there were pretty upset.
But I guess to you, if you don’t have the votes, but you control the parliamentarian, it’s a “republic,” and that’s that.
Find a new use for your arrogance; it’s unjustified on this thread.
First, youre one to talk about tone and arrogance…
Second, the problem is not the system, and rather those who dont bother learning about the system or bother to do anything to fix issues, yet still decide to endlessly whine and cry about issues they incorrectly perceive or dont understand
This “GOPe” boogeyman all you Trump-Cultists keep yelling and screaming about is not what you think it is, and it can be overcome with even a little bit of patience (apparently you havent been paying attention to any actual grunt politics the last ~8 years)
That said, we might never be able to get rid of the Establishment you hate so much if your Candidate gets his way – he desperately needs the Establishment to basically declare Marshall Law, grab ultimate power away from the Grassroots movement that has been kicking their rear as of late, and just up and hand him the prize he feels hes entitled too because hes rich and famous and is just supposed to win no matter how much the actual voters hate him with a passion (receiving only ~37% of the vote while being the guy with 100% name-ID and 24/7 news coverage saying he will be the nominee shows how little even the Republican voters what the buffoon, let alone Independents who despise the classless, immature fool)
So yeah, keep desperately trying to hand your Enemy the power you incorrectly ascribe to them now, and keep trying to do it for one of the single most corrupt and self-centered (yet totally incompetent and reliant on the same Establishment you hate) people to have ever tried to gain power – but youre merely showing yourself to be a gullible mark ripe for the taking
Sigh…
I have been to the conventions the last few years.
So, try again, Ace.
You’re not getting it, and it’s past my bedtime.
I will say this in my parting shot: when people express their fear of martial law vis-a-vis Donald Trump, as opposed to a fear of sharia law vis-a-vis muslim immigrants, it illustrates their incomprehension of our dangers.
Perhaps 50 years from now, when Europe cannot be a tourist destination any longer, and parts of America (such as is currently the case in towns where muslims run government here) can no longer be safely travelled by Americans, you will regret your inability to see the biggest threats against us.
Our biggest threats right now are demography and debt (Close THAT Fed!!!).
The current GOP primary/delegate system was originally set roughly 100 years ago due to complaints that the (then) existing system of back room dealing among party bigwigs disenfranchised Republican voters.
Now the current GOP primary/delegate system is under fire by Trump supporters due to complaints that the existing system disenfranchises Republican voters.
Under either system, the leadership of the GOP decides who the nominee of their party will be. By a somewhat different system, it is exactly the same in the Democrat Party. Their leadership decides who their nominee will be.
Though you’ll never hear one of them admit it, if the Trump faction took over leadership of the GOP, they would do exactly the same – dictate who the nominee will be.
We may rail all we want about it, but handling any opposition is cooked into the system.
The only way to change it is to win, take control, and maintain control of a party, GOP or Dems, for at least two or three four-year cycles. Alas, any faction that takes over seeks only to preserve their control, so the system formerly detested is used to maintain power.
This practice goes back a wee bit further than does American history. Think “Rome” or “Greece”.
Henry, are you suggesting it’s hypocritical for a currently ‘out’ bloc to complain about a system they’d eagerly employ once they got ‘in’?
Yup. Purty much.
Dude you kill me, lol. Bravo!
So, your position relies on mindreading into the future.
Right…
It is instructive that in a post where I speak of nothing but the history of seeking and maintaining power, you see it as reading the future. Um, OK. Excellent argument.
Another nothingburger.
I see not a shred of evidence for all this chortling. But I do see clear reasons for skepticism.
Consider a bit of speculation: I’m a delegate; my preferences, affinities, plans are unknown. Some annoying Cruz partisans circle around, demanding to know how I’ll vote. “You votin’ fer Cruz? Huh? Huh?” What to do to rid myself of these pestilential yappers? In the early days of the Republic I’d probably sic my dogs on them, but that’s frowned on nowadays. So I make some noncommittal noises, along the lines of a good firm “ummm … maybe.” And it works! The pests dash off to the press, bragging that they’ve racked up another one for their boy. And they leave me in peace. Success! Of course my vote, when it happens, will in reality be unaffected by any of this poncing-about.
So, what’s the alternative theory? That Trump, who’s made quite a career of maneuvering his way around practically everybody, is suddenly so obtuse that he’s missed a sleazy tactic which is so obvious that even the deadhead press knows about it? And to confuse things further, what Trump knows about it he’s not likely to trumpet publicly; he tosses the press pieces of chopped fish so the reporters will dance to his tune like trained seals, but he’s not going to tell them anything important. Or at least, he hasn’t so far; why start now?
So … either Cruz is outsmarting and outsleazing Trump, while simultaneously sticking it to the voters (hey, win-win!) …
… or …
Cruz and his Myrmidons are settling into a comfortable fantasy-land, and Trump is showing no signs of wanting to wake them up (… but no, that’s impossible, because Trump is an out-of-contol bigmouth who couldn’t possibly keep something important under that red hat of his … as we know because so many noisy people keep telling us so).
Were I a betting man, I have a pretty good idea where I’d put my money.
Finally, some thought-provoking analysis.
Thanks!
Wow, Tom, I NEVER would have predicted you’d step forward as one of the leading T-rump fantasists here…!!!
http://twitchy.com/2016/04/03/everybody-gets-a-trophy-corey-lewandowski-declares-north-dakota-a-trump-victory/
Some very entertaining fiction, especially that part about “sleaze” as applied to people who are using the rules.
That’s like calling a design engineer who creates something novel and functional “sleazy”…!!!
Shhh. They might catch on.