Posted on 07/27/2015 7:27:14 AM PDT by conservativejoy
Supporters of Presidential candidate Scott Walker have gotten their way in the North Carolina General Assembly in their maneuvers to make the NC presidential primary a winner take all affair for the first time in the state’s history, something that does not go down well with many GOP activists in the state. The General Assembly had passed legislation in a previous session to set the primary for February, creating an RNC rule violation that would have led to punitive measures greatly reducing the size of the NC delegation. That set up a drive within the party to move the date to avoid that loss of delegates. The legislation to make the change created an opportunity to otherwise change the rules.
The legislation that passed in the General Assembly set the primary for March 15, but also made the change to a winner take all format.
Leading the charge for a winner take all system was State Senator Bob Rucho (R-Mecklenburg), a supporter of Walker who is a key member of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s leadership team, but who is personally ideologically to the left of the conservative Berger. As CBS News tells the story:
Sources told CBS News that the Walker campaign also made it known to allies in the state legislature — namely state Sen. Bob Rucho, a powerful state Republican — that a March 15 winner-take-all contest would be its preference. According to one source, Walker “put the squeeze” on Rucho to make North Carolina an early winner-take-all primary.
“The 15th was communicated to Senator Rucho as the preferred date by the Walker campaign,” said another GOP source involved in the maneuvering. “If you’re Walker, you’re not going to go to Florida – why would you spend money there? You got Kasich’s Ohio on the same day. You’re not going to put a lot of resources there. North Carolina is a big fish.”
Moving the primary to March marked a change of heart for Rucho, who was locked in a dispute earlier this year with national Republican officials over his desire to move the primary to February – showcasing the state early in the nomination process. But that would have been in flagrant violation of Republican National Committee rules protecting February for the first four voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
The Walker campaign declined repeated requests for comment.
Though multiple North Carolina Republicans said Rucho has been pulling the strings for Walker behind the scenes, Rucho denies being an outright supporter of the governor, despite heaping praise on him.
“I was very pleased to watch and see Governor Walker and see the message he put out,” Rucho told CBS News, praising Walker’s conservative record in Wisconsin. “My feeling is lot of people can talk about what they would like to do, but very few of them can actually achieve it.”
To see how a winner take all primary can distort the results from the Republican voters of North Carolina, one only has to look at the comments of Sen. Andrew Brock (R-Davie), a normally conservative legislator who co-sponsored the bill to change the primary:
“There is real opportunity here,” said State Sen. Andrew Brock, a co-sponsor of the bill moving the primary to March. “You can win with 15 or 16 percent of the vote. You’re going to have to run a campaign. And it doesn’t benefit one candidate or another in this race who is looking in our state.”
Get 15% of the vote and win ALL of the delegates? That is not the North Carolina way, and Walker faces a backlash among GOP voters as more learn why it is that our tradition of proportional representation has been destroyed. Some of the legislators behind this may also feel a backlash in their primaries, especially since more and more Republican activists are becoming disillusioned at multiple actions of the present legislature.
Unfortunately most of the other campaigns were asleep at the switch, as only Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 86%‘s campaign made any effort in the legislature to preserve the proportional representation in the presidential primary.
This is particularly a concern among Republican activists after a bid to close North Carolina Republican primaries failed earlier this year. Not only could someone with 15% of the vote win all of the delegates, but what puts them just above a rival with 14.9% may be extensive support by non-Republican voters. The state, under procedures that will be in place for 2016 could see support from non-Republicans push a highly unrepresentative presidential candidate over the top to get all 72 of the state’s delegates. Thanks a lot, Governor Walker, Bob Rucho, (and Brad Dayspring?)
You have to be stupid to think Walker has that kind of influence. This is a Bush/RNC deal.
The question is what happens to those national convention votes if the NC winner drops out before the convention?
I don’t know. Perhaps asking Cruz that question would make more sense. He seems to love America but nobody is sure he does.
So you're not sure that Ted Cruz loves America. But can anyone be sure that Scott Walker loves America?
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/02/walker-for-president-effort-hires-another-controversial-anti-conservative-in-brad-dayspring/
Uh, he’s so great he doesn’t dare stand in an open primary? This kind of crap is exactly what we’ve been fighting against for years. I’m happy to let any of my preferred candidates fight it out.
Walker team playinghardball with NC politicos.
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Oh, naps. Bless your heart. I feel for you...sincerely.
You can't even make a positive post about your guy without bringing Cruz in for comparison, and trying (unsuccessfully) to minimize Ted. You are eat up with Cruz, as we say in the South.
It's really kind of sad.
Please see my post #23
No solutions? You should take up comedy.
Why don’t YOU write Mitch and inspire him? All Mitch et al care about are big corporate donors. He is as corrupt as Obama. What is Ted supposed to do? Play ball with the criminals or stay silent? What do YOU suggest?
Mitch is not running for President. Why can’t Cruz inspire Mitch and others to his agenda? That is a problem for Cruz. Reagan had a Democratic Senate and House for his Presidency for the most part....House for sure. But he was able to pass his agenda. Cruz won’t be able to at all.
Many Democrats at the time were conservatives, more conservative than today’s GOP establishment. Reagan could not have prevailed legislatively today in the way he did in the ‘80’s.
I assume you are a young person. Bob
I hate that excuse. So you’re saying that Reagan today couldn’t get what he did done today......I don’t believe it. You have to be a leader to get things done. You have to be inspiring and Walker is, Cruz isn’t. Oh Cruz will complain all day long about what he wants America to be but if people just yawn, you don’t get it done. I was too young to vote for Reagan both times.
Please stop with the BS. Man, thread after thread. So this was Walker’s preference.
Check the record. This is the same crap the RNC has been pushing in all the primaries since Willard ran, just more of the Establishment plan to screw over Conservative Voters.
They go winner take all, push for open primaries then flood the airwaves with Ads pandering to the rats. See Mississippi for reference.
Nothing more than more shifty behavior from the Rats in RINO Clothing to keep the cabal in power.
Bump.
What has Walker done besides sign stuff handed him by a decidedly Republican legislature?
Oh, yeah, he funnelled state funds back to his major donors through some economic development committee.
Your boy is ethically challenged.
You are very naive. What could Brad Dayspring-led Scott Walker have said that would have inspired Mitch to change his mind? Get this point: Mitch is an evil person.
I am SURE if there was another candidate that Ted would have voted for Mitch as leader! *chortle*
Cruz was there and right dab in the firing line of those cowards. He can't inspire his fellow senators? He inspires his voters, and certainly inspired me.
Cruz took the heat.......opened the door, and his fellow COWARDLY Senators FAILED to back him. Not Cruz's fault, he knew it would be like that, yet he did it anyway. That there is TRUE leadership.
THREE Cheers for CRUZ.........you may not like him as a candidate, but you SHOULD admire him for what he is trying to do, isn't that what all our CONSERVATIVE speak on FR has been about?
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