Posted on 04/16/2016 6:27:13 AM PDT by LS
Why are the effects of the Colorado convention still lingering, and why have they taken on a life of their own?
It's certainly not because of "Trump's whining." If you believe that every criticism of every campaign event by ANY side is "whining," well, yeah, Trump "whined" (just as Cruz's supporters seem to be "whining" about the NY dinner). If you want to take that line, why has this seemingly touched a nerve that Trump's "whining" about so many other things did not?
History is replete with instances where the specific developments were badly misunderstood, misreported, or didn't happen at all. The entire Indian Mutiny of 1857 was caused by the introduction of a new cartridge that Indian Nationalists claimed (to Hindus) was coated with cow fat and (to Muslims) was coated with pig fat---when it was coated in a non-animal vegetable oil. What the symbol of the new cartridge meant was that for the first time both Muslims and Hindus united in their opposition to the British, and they could not for the time being be played against each other.
The Tea Party was portrayed by Sam Adams and others as imposing new taxes on Americans, who were being denied their "rights of Englishmen," when in reality the Tea Act lowered duties (but greatly increased enforcement). So the actual impact was to lower taxes but increase the burden. That didn't sound as good as "imposing new taxes," though and there had been many, many other actual taxes imposed without the consent of the people. A "tax on tea" was good enough---it captured the disgust and final frustration with the British mercantile system.
"Let them eat cake" supposedly sparked the French Revolution, but there is no record that Marie Antoinette (if anyone) ever uttered the phrase. Yet it perfectly captured the tone-deafness of the Bourbon monarchy to the poverty of the French people.
"I am afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." No, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto did NOT say that. There is no record, from any of his staff, of him uttering such words after Pearl Harbor. Rather, So Yamamura, the actor who played Yamamoto, said that in "Tora, Tora, Tora," the 1970s movie about Pearl Harbor. . . . but the SENTIMENTS were 100% accurate. Yamamoto had lived in America, had traveled extensively across the country, had visited Wright Field in Dayton, OH. He knew Japan couldn't win and that's why he was shipped out to a sea command---so that his contrary opinions wouldn't get him assassinated in Tokyo.
"We were cheated. Colorado was rigged." The vote in CO occurred perfectly within the rules of the Colorado Republican Party as adopted back in August of 2015 (it should be noted, specifically to stop Trump). The convention selection of delegates took place more or less within those rules. (Some Trump delegate credentials were ignored, some state ballots were not properly printed, so there were a few minor exceptions). In the best of outcomes for Trump, he might have come away with 3-4 delegates.
And that's irrelevant, because the perception of what happened in CO is what many, many conservatives have been screaming about for years, namely that the GOPe party organizations rig the votes in advance to impede and destroy the chances of any "outsider." Since Ted Cruz was the beneficiary of these rules structures this time, the only sound you hear from them on this is crickets. The old "ox being gored" thing.
But to those who don't live politics 24/7, but who do want to feel a part of the system, this was one more affront to their participation. Again, we're talking perceptions, and the perception is, this was dirty, it was sneaky, and whether it was Trump or Howdy Doody getting the short end of the stick, it still stinks.
This brings me to a bigger point: in generic terms, liberals and conservatives alike moan about the lack of voter participation in elections. In 1819, for example, the state of Alabama had an astonishing 81% of eligible voters cast a ballot, and every state had over 60% then.
But today, we are lucky if half of all eligible Americans vote. Gee, I wonder why? Looking at CO, it's pretty easy to understand their apathy. And, no, you are NOT going to "explain the details of the rules process" to the great mass of people. They have neither the time nor inclination---rather, they see an abuse of the system. Perceptions are reality.
Trump intuitively grasped this immediately. I don't think he planned in advance to write off CO then take advantage of the outcry. I just think he planned to write off CO the way he wrote off ID, SD, and UT. In a campaign that is funded at the most economical of levels, the money and resources have to be focused on the most likely targets. However, when he saw the level of concern, he listened.
A piece came out a couple of weeks ago in New York Magazine saying that from 2012 til 2015, Trump and his team regularly LISTENED to talk radio and got a sense of what was really bothering people. Imagine that---a leader who actually listens to average people! So his listening skills on the most basic level are very good.
In "whining" about CO, Trump is "whining" the way Sam Adams "whined" about the tea tax, the way the Indian Nationalists "whined" about the cartridges. He used an event as a symbol to show what we all (including Cruzers, up to this election) have complained about---the "rigged" and "stacked" system. And it's more than just "getting in and changing the rules." I witnessed first hand the Tea Party's efforts in OH to change the OH GOP from within, only to have it shut out.
This is the stuff revolutions are made of. Sometimes they start due to a misunderstanding or mistake, but the passions these kinds of events represent are real. Ted Cruz is on the wrong side of this particular wave. The best thing he could have done would have been to meet with Trump to call for a new, re-vote before the convention and throw it back on CO to handle it. That would have exposed Trump's organizing weakness and kept Cruz from looking (once again) like part of the system.
The Colorado Republican Party is a festering pile of fly-infested Obamastuff.
They exist only to keep themselves in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.
They are a dead party.
Well written
Then Reince Priebus comes out and says nobody cares about Colorado. His reaction couldn’t have been better for Trump.
His opponents in the party know that he (and Manafort) have not surrendered Colorado - the Trump campaign only retreated from the first pass of delegate selection. Delegate selection is not final until the time for challenges has passed.
Mr. Trump was just on with Fox ‘n Friends addressing Colorado and answering questions about Colorado.
He said that he knew about the August changes in their rules and that he knew CO’s GOP big masters had changed their rules to prevent him from garnering delegates.
Mr. Trump went onto to state that he elected to bypass CO because he is a businessman and he couldn’t see a beneficial return for the expense that would have been incurred wining and dining party bigwigs dead set against him and his candidacy. He believes that voters deserve to choose their presidential candidate, not a small group of party leaders.
I’m almost certain a video will be available soon.
the perception of what happened in CO is what many, many conservatives have been screaming about for years, namely that the GOPe party organizations rig the votes in advance to impede and destroy the chances of any "outsider." Since Ted Cruz was the beneficiary of these rules structures this time, the only sound you hear from them on this is crickets.
But today, we are lucky if half of all eligible Americans vote. Gee, I wonder why? Looking at CO, it's pretty easy to understand their apathy. And, no, you are NOT going to "explain the details of the rules process" to the great mass of people. They have neither the time nor inclination---rather, they see an abuse of the system.
In "whining" about CO, Trump is "whining" the way Sam Adams "whined" about the tea tax
CO is a distraction from the real issues this campaign should be about.
The size and role of the federal government.
National and border security.
Economic growth.
Like it or not, there are two private political parties operating in our federal republic. They allow each sovereign state to run their primary as locals see fit. Have for over 100 years. I don’t want national parties to dictate how states conduct primaries any more that I want the national government dictating how the states feed school children.
You figure that's enough to continue to convince all of Trump followers that he's perfectly justified in whining even though he should have known the rules and didn't even show up to fight for delegates?
I’m always interested on your take on things. Thanks for the post.
I direct the curious and yet still uninformed to read the books by The Donald. Therein you will see the methods and tactics used for his past successes and the ones he is now using. Worth your time.
Yes, DON Corleone Trump, who received ~35% of the republican primary votes has been able to STEEL ~65% of the delgates. With all the threats, all the dead horse's heads in Colorado bedrooms, Colorado Americans still stood up to the Businessman who came calling with his mob?? How surprising
"The vote in CO occurred perfectly within the rules of the Colorado Republican Party as adopted back in August of 2015 (it should be noted, specifically to stop Trump)."
That tells me Trump doesn't do his homework very well and doesn't play the long game very well, either. He's whining to take the attention away from his poor organization in Colorado.
A representative republic cannot survive a Godless society. In many aspects, the vision of the founders has been corrupted by leftist ideology so that it cannot function properly. The model is valid, those in power? Not...
I don't know that Trump had any "organizing weakness" to expose, when he clearly had made the strategic choice not to waste his time and money in a state that had changed its rules to block him out. But the Cruzers trying to promote the narrative of Trump's supposed ineptitude vis-à-vis Colorado are only making a bad situation for their guy even worse.
A week has gone by, and Cruz has not, to my knowledge, distanced himself from the CO debacle. Thus, he shows that he approves of it. The longer he waits to distance himself--if he does decide to go that route--the less sincere he will appear. He has already made quite an image problem for himself, in engaging in sleaze "win at any cost" tactics.
Trump, however, is showing an amazing ability to make lemonade out of lemons. This incident is the perfect vehicle for highlighting the corruption of the system, and Trump is using it. He shows himself to be a man of the people. The more I see of him, the more I like him. And the more I am driven to cliché use, apparently.
Sorry but your guy is losing, get over it. And stop whining.
Now that my “F&F/Trump report” is out of the way, I will thank you for your informative essay!
You’re dead bang right about Cruz and that made me laugh because his supporters here love to write that “Cruz plays chess while Trump plays checkers.” LOLOLOLOL.
NOT hardly.
Thanks to the extremely arrogant Senator Cruz, blinded by his zealous ambition, he has gifted Mr. Trump with an issue tailor made for his campaign that has also captured the positive attention of Bernie’s followers and Mr. Trump has already gained their approval.
P.S. He also mentioned WY.
He’s ignoring WY too.
Same reason - not worth the monetary expense.
I still say, Colorado was a huge win for Trump.
Cruz won 34 delegates. Trump won verification of his
claim(s) of unfairness, cheating and general perfidy in the Uni-party.
At this point, maybe the biggest win of the primary season. .
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