Posted on 03/14/2016 6:15:16 AM PDT by shortstop
It feels filthy being a Republican.
Not because of Trump, but because of the way they're treating Trump.
He's not perfect, but he's a hell of a lot more popular than they are, and is drawing substantially more support.
And in a majority-rule country, that's what's supposed to count. Yet, in the Republican Party, the largest group of Republicans is being snubbed and condemned. It was one thing dealing with a president who hates you, now conservatives and patriots are finding that their party hates them as well.
As the Democrat brown shirts harass and hector Trump rallies and Trump supporters, the Republican brass stand up not to defend free speech and the right of Republicans to assemble, but those Republicans and the man they support are branded by the brass as “toxic” and “divisive.”
The establishment Republicans are acting a lot like Whigs and Know Nothings and Free Soilers and any number of other extinct American political parties. They seem intent on throwing an election and damaging the country, all to preserve their place atop the rotting hulk of the GOP. Apparently there is a hierarchy even among rats on a sinking ship.
And the supposed mainstream Republicans are all in on preserving that hierarchy.
Donald Trump has invited a broad swath of America to the Republican Party, and party officials are doing everything they can to bar the door.
It is immoral and wrong, two things America's political parties have long since learned not to care about.
So the fight is on.
It's Trump against all comers, and it's Trump's supporters against the Republican Party.
Which should turn everyone's attention to the rules and structure of candidate selection. Because somebody is going to die by the rules. It will either be Trump and his political prospects, or it will be the infrastructure of the Republican Party.
Somebody is going to win, and losing is going to be very, very ugly.
But both sides should remember that it is a rule-bound process, and the obligation is to play by all the rules.
Nowhere in the rules does it say or imply that the candidate with the most delegates after the primaries is the winner. The system is not designed to ratify a plurality, it is intended to forge a majority. Having the most delegates before the convention, or getting the most votes, is not a victory if you have failed to secure a majority – it is a failure.
And if Trump can't lock it up before the convention, there is no rule-based argument to be made that he is entitled to the nomination. The rules specifically say otherwise.
Because long before anybody heard of Donald Trump, the importance of majority candidates and the danger of splinter candidates were clearly known. So the rules add a second part to the selection process. Simply put, it is that there be votes taken – successive ballots – until one of the candidates has a majority. Numbers change with each ballot as deals and arguments are made, and lesser candidates are pushed out.
That is not a brokered convention.
That is not a stolen nomination.
It is as much a part of the rules as the Iowa caucus or the Florida primary.
If Trump goes into the convention without a majority of the delegates, he will need to be able to win over people who now oppose him, or the party bosses will have to find a way to flip Trump delegates. Either thing will be very difficult. But either thing will, according to the rules, be completely acceptable.
Probably deeply unsatisfying to many, but completely within the rules.
It won't be a robbery, it won't be a refutation of democracy.
I'm mostly a Trump guy, and I'm disgusted by the cowardice and duplicity of the party to which I've devoted my entire life. But I believe in the rules. All of the rules. Including the ones that very clearly delineate the process to be followed until one candidate has a majority of the delegates.
I hope Trump gets it. I hope he starts bringing home the big states. I hope he crams a majority right down the party's throat.
But if he doesn't, if Cleveland comes and the ballots start, the chips will fall where they may.
And nobody can say they were cheated.
Nope.
They DID NOT follow the rules fair and square.
You do not get to tar and feather a candidate with hundreds of millions of dollars and the media arm of the RNC and then tell me it was a fair fight.
Then have candidates openly violating the promise to support the nominee. The lies never end.
I’m not an idiot.
Mitt Romney is responsible for the destruction of the bench and the alienation and loss of Trump supporters should he be denied the nomination.
He has also been campaigning for Kasich and Rubio after outright attacking Trump and trying vote shenanigans.
Like father, like son.
Favorite local radio guy ping.
“Mitt Romney is responsible for the destruction of the bench and the alienation and loss of Trump supporters should he be denied the nomination.
He has also been campaigning for Kasich and Rubio after outright attacking Trump and trying vote shenanigans.”
It’s a political campaign and Trump is a big boy. If he’s “denied” the nomination is will be because he could not convince enough people to support him. That is the way it is.
We Stand With Donald!
Suggestion:
At Trump Rallies, why not sing the final verse (4th) of the Star Spangled Banner-the one that answers the query in the earlier verses. Nothing is more inspirational & patriotic:
Oh thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a Nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: In God is our trust.
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
William Flax
If Trump does not get the nomination, then I hope he’ll run as an Independent. He will have my vote. At one time I considered it but now I will not vote for Rubio, Cruz, Kasich or Romney.
They can’t (successfully) break rules at the conventions.
But they are going as far as possible before the convention in order to ensure they have a contested convention. With their favored candidate they’d be trying to wrap it up with a majority as soon as possible to keep from hurting the eventual nominee. Depending on who is doing what, this is just as bad as breaking rules at the convention.
Some people are trying to get us to accept “contested convention” and not call it a “brokered convention” (I prefer “divisive convention”). If it happens there WILL be back room deals, promises, and threats. Just because they call it “contested” doesn’t mean the same people working hard to ensure a “divisive convention” now won’t be working just as hard off camera at the convention to make sure Trump doesn’t become the nominee while they try to pretend it isn’t brokered with on camera “voting”.
In some ways this is necessary. 1000s of delegates with lots of passion will need leadership to come to an agreement that everyone can support. The question is whether the leadership helps the delegates agree on the will of the people or the will of the “leaders”. At this point I don’t see any way the will of the people will be a goal that the leaders help the delegates achieve.
They are fighting for their power and money. And it must be BIG stakes for them to act so muderously insane.
Why is denied in scare quotes?
In any case that is a tautological statement that simply means if Trump does not convince enough people to support him it's because not enough people were convinced to support him.
What it implies is that no matter how many convention delegates Trump convinces to support him, if he doesn't convince the handful of party bosses in the smoke-filled backroom, who actually control the nomination, he can be denied the nomination.
Yep, what he said is exactly what is going on and why this country is being so incredibly sold out and why Republicans as well as Democrats are acting so vicious towards Trump.
The Trump crowd is about 35 percent of the party. He’s the only Republican candidate who polls as losing to Hillary and the candidate with the highest negatives.
Hillary’s slogan against Trump could be , “Not as unacceptable as the other person.”
The eGOP will cease to exist as an effective party after this election.
They will try to play their games, Trump will go third party, and no Senator or Representative will be electable running as eGOP.
Hey Bob, news flash: It’s felt pretty filthy being a Republican for a long time.
we’re the hated majority
I sometimes wonder if the uniparty has committed crimes they are worried about being exposed by Trump.
I have had this feeling too, why are they so intent on winning? Why not take the majority Trump is building and nurture it for the party to succeed? At the worst, (if they are not likely to end up in prison) they will have a few years of economic growth?
The argument that he will not beat Hillary is foolish, he is pulling in voters of all stripes and taking them from Hillary’s base.
Majority rule is so, like, yesterday.
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