Posted on 04/05/2016 8:30:44 AM PDT by Lucky9teen
On social media you see a lot of people saying that this candidate or that candidate is “stealing delegates.” There is no such thing. First of all, it implies something illegal, or at best, nefarious. It is neither. Secondly, there is no way you can “steal” delegates.
When people talk about stealing delegates they are displaying their ignorance about how the system works. Just as Donald Trump displayed his ignorance when he claimed that he should be the candidate because he had more votes than any other candidate, but not a majority. Reince Priebus had to call Trump into a special private meeting so he could explain how the delegate system works and what the rules are for the Republican convention. Trump is no longer making that claim.
So here is how the delegate system works. In most states, delegates are selected by the campaign of a candidate. For example, I have been selected to be a delegate for the Cruz campaign in California. If Ted Cruz wins a majority of votes in my Congressional District, I will go to the convention as a Cruz delegate. In California, you are committed to vote for the candidate whose campaign selected you for the first two ballots. After that you are “unbound.” There are some states where the delegates are only committed to vote for their candidate for the first ballot. There are some states, like Colorado, where the delegates go to the convention “unbound,” and can vote for any candidate on the first ballot. By the third ballot all delegates are unbound and can vote for any candidate.
What some people refer to as “stealing” is a practice that has gone on since the formation of the Republican Party in the early 19th Century. Smart candidates who know the system will try to get delegates to vote for them after the first or second ballots. All delegates are typically contacted by candidates other than the candidate whose campaign selected them, and asked to commit that, if their candidate isn’t selected on the first ballot, or the second ballot, they will vote for candidate “x” on subsequent ballots. I am personally committed to vote for Senator Cruz for every ballot, no matter how many, so another candidate would be wasting his time trying to get me to commit to vote for him in subsequent ballots. However there are some delegates who do make those commitments. The mainstream media (read: the Democrat Party press) call this long-time political process “stealing” delegates. The fact that Senator Cruz has been successful in getting delegates from other candidates to commit to him on subsequent ballots isn’t “stealing.” The fact that the Trump campaign hasn’t been successful is because they weren’t familiar with how the system works. Trump hasn’t had a campaign staff that is really familiar with how to round up delegates, or the inner workings of the Republican Party.
You also hear comments that the “Establishment” is rigging the convention so that Trump can’t be the candidate. There is no way they can do that. Yes, there are some uncommitted delegate positions that the RNC, and State parties have who will vote the way they are told to, but they are a minority of delegates and couldn’t sway an election.
The way it works is that the candidate is not nominated by a vote of the people. The people elect the delegates. The delegates nominate the candidate. There is no way the election can be “rigged.” At the convention, 2,472 individual delegates will vote. If no candidate receives a majority of votes on the first ballot it will go to a second ballot, and to successive ballots until one candidate emerges with a majority. That candidate will be the nominee for the Party. The voting is transparent. It will be an above-board system which will fairly nominate a candidate for the Party who has the support of a majority of delegates.
Had not thought of this before.
Thanks for your testimony.
What about what is going on in Tennessee and Arizona (and possibly elsewhere) with the delegates being peeled off?
It’s not convention night yet, where they might have to vote again if nobody has the 1237.
So, why the shenanigans —at this time—?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417635/posts?page=92#92
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417635/posts?page=93#93
Well said mortman and fireman15 !!!
Y’all are hitting em outta the park!!
Whenifhow, hoosiermama
More for the pinglist!
PING!!
back to the thread
See #92 & #93
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417635/posts?page=92#92
Thanks, WildHighlander57
What year ???
How’d that poll work out for you?
The short answer to your question is that Ted Cruz is one screwed up individual.
The longer answer centers on Rafael Sr. Here is an abusive alcoholic with no known accomplishments. We were told early on he was a pastor. A pastor with no church. Just like Al Sharpton, the con man,
Despite his mediocre resume, Rafael Sr is a grandiose individual. If you believe him, he was chosen by God to sire the Anointed King. This is the same Anointed One who will theologize the government, plunder the wicked, and bring the spoils to the priests [despite the plural, ‘priests’ really translates into ‘Rafael Sr’.]
That’s heady stuff. For a person growing up in an alcoholic family, being told by the most grandiose member of the family that he’s divinely anointed, will inescapably have a profound effect. It causes the person to look at everything through the lens of his momentous and unique destiny. Anything that furthers that destiny is good; anything that impedes it is bad.
A brief side issue. Any Cruz supporters reading this and feeling skeptical, consider the following fact. Cruz says he is a committed Christian, but he admits he gave zero/nothing/bupkiss to his home church. [The one percent Ted and Heidi gave went to other causes.]
Now what Christian gives nothing to their home church? The Anointed King, that’s who. Christians owe HIM, not vice versa. [$5, $10, $20, whatever you can, whatever you can.]
There is no doubt how Cruz sees himself. And that is the key to his current behavior. Cruz is on his way to an appointment with divine destiny. Anything that stands in his path must be overcome. To do anything less would be to act unfaithfully to his divine calling.
So Cruz is pulling out all the stops to achieve that to which he’s been told for decades he is entitled. For an Adult Child of Alcoholics who defines his own morality, whatever he does to achieve the goal is good, end of story.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417635/posts?page=109#109
Thanks for the very informative post, fantasy writer;
Pingout for more background on croooze
Thanks!
Really? You know for sure that was Ted Cruz phone number in 2001? hahaha
A political party is a private organization, it doesn’t belong to “the People”, they act solely in the interests of the Party Elite.
Good question.
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