DTT, Jr.’s comment is unnecessary and not helpful and reflects a lack of understanding of federalism.
He understands Federalism quite well. He’s very articulate and knowledgeable.
Federalism is firstmost a theory. Its application is imperfect. If it wasn’t imperfect, the history of federalism would have been much different.
The challenge of each generation is to make ALL components of a democratic-republic work, not just its federalist component.
The will of the people is theoretically expressed through a federalist structure. The federalist structure is necessary to preserve the rights of the minority, including farmers and ranchers, from being taken out by the will of the mob. There is a delicate balance which is made strong by a foundation of honor and ethics. Without this foundation, we get the likes of Romney.
The popular vote should in all but rare cases be reflected in votes of delegates or in the appointment of US Senators prior to the 17th Amendment. The history of the 17th Amendment goes back to the original Constitutional Convention where a hybrid design of federalism and democracy was established.
The same founding structure exists in the Electoral College. Only two times in the history of the United States has there been a disconnect between the electoral college and the popular vote, Rutherford B. Hayes and George W. Bush. And in both instances the popular vote difference was small and the EC votes were allowed to pass without popular uprising.
But the popular vote difference between Donald Trump and his opponents is not small. It is very large.
Donald Trump Jr. understands that with such large differences in popular will there must be an accompanying delegate expression. The poaching and preselection of delegates by #NeverTrump and its Romney minions are indeed an expression of corruption. Many of the Romney delegates of 2012 can be found as retreads in supporting Cruz and becoming delgate double agents for Cruz.
History repeats. The same breakdown in honesty and ethics preceded the 17th Amendment and led to the 17th Amendment. The 17th Amendment was actually an Article V grassroots-led effort although its formulation was quite different than what Congress eventually passed.
The grassroots effort was ignored until it became apparent that there were enough states to actually pass it. Within weeks, Congress wrested control of the Amendment effort and proposed the 17th Amendment and chose to send it to state legislatures who were the corrupt bodies that the will of the People were opposed to. Congress proceeded to damage federalism by writing an amendment that took a huge component of federalism out of the US Constitution. The result has been a massive concentration of power towards the federal government.
The long and short is that when there is an imbalance between the will of the People and its federalist heritage, enormous changes ensue and not all of them good.
Donald Trump Jr. is pointing out this imbalance. This is not a rare disconnect between popular will and delegate structure, it is a contrived imbalance based on corruption. The delegates that are standing in Trump won districts but are pledged to Cruz are people of deceit. The Party of Reagan cannot tolerate such people. They have to go and they will go out from the party.