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Trump May Have an Unlikely Re-election Ally
The New York Slimes ^ | March 13, 2019 | David Wasserman

Posted on 03/13/2019 3:02:05 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Donald Trump’s low approval ratings have attracted a crush of Democrats vying to make him a one-term president. But he might have an unlikely ally in his re-election bid: Democrats’ mess of a primary system.

The most valuable commodity in a zillion-way presidential primary is attention: In 2016, much of Mr. Trump’s primary success owed to saying and doing so many outrageous things that none of the other 16 Republican candidates could compete for media oxygen against the more than $2 billion in free media his relentless antics generated.

But an overlooked key to Mr. Trump’s 2016 upset was the Republican primary system, which winnowed the 17-candidate field quickly and gave Mr. Trump a head start at jackhammering away at Hillary Clinton.

The party’s free-market-oriented rules give states the leeway to allocate all or most of their primary delegates on a winner-take-all basis. In 2016, this allowed Mr. Trump to build a commanding delegate lead with meager pluralities in many primaries. For example, he won about one-third of South Carolina’s primary vote but captured all 50 delegates at stake. Ultimately, he was able to avoid a convention fight and clinch the nomination in May — more than two months before Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Hillary Clinton.

By contrast, the Democratic Party’s egalitarian-minded rules allocate all pledged delegates to its convention on a proportional basis: A presidential candidate who receives at least 15 percent of the vote in any state or congressional district receives a corresponding share of delegates, making it difficult for a leading candidate to become a runaway train. In fact, had the 2016 Republican primary played out under Democrats’ rules, it would have almost assuredly resulted in an ugly, contested convention.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: trump2020

1 posted on 03/13/2019 3:02:05 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

What low approval ratings?


2 posted on 03/13/2019 3:03:44 PM PDT by Reily
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

What low approval ratings?


3 posted on 03/13/2019 3:03:57 PM PDT by Reily
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“...relentless antics...”

Yeah, like telling the truth about the vermin in the press, wanting to make America great again — you know, “antics” like that.


4 posted on 03/13/2019 3:03:59 PM PDT by Pravious
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Plus the sheer unweildy nature of having so many Dem candidates makes their primaries a practical nightmare -

Moderator: “Candidate #87 would like to ask Candidate #126 about her position on agriculture subsidies”

America: YAWN


5 posted on 03/13/2019 3:07:31 PM PDT by canuck_conservative
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To: Reily

I don’t believe the low approval ratings for our POTUS. Depends on how the questions are being phrased. For instance I know a lot of Trump supporters who say that they do not always like his rhetoric, but will still vote for him. Liberal poll takers would put that into a disapproval slot for DJT, whereas it is actually a positive thing as he is honest and has the audacity to illuminate the weaknesses of the Democrats and their policies.


6 posted on 03/13/2019 3:08:43 PM PDT by Gumdrop
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

All this ink spilled and not a word about how Trump ended up with nearly twice the number of votes (not delegates) as the nearest runner up whereas Hillary barely edged Bernie (who won 21 states outright) in both categories.


7 posted on 03/13/2019 3:10:40 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (The politicized state destroys all aspects of civil society, human kindness and private charity.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Donald Trump’s low approval ratings”

They only wish


8 posted on 03/13/2019 3:12:54 PM PDT by stanne
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

[[By contrast, the Democratic Party’s egalitarian-minded rules]]

Did they do away with Super delegates?


9 posted on 03/13/2019 3:15:25 PM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The Slimes is already coming up with excuses why their candidate lost - and we don’t even know who the candidate is yet.


10 posted on 03/13/2019 3:43:01 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Most of the delegates Trump won to establish himself as the front runner were proportionately allocated.

Only a few small/medium states were winner take all.

Proving the Slimes continues to earn its’ well deserved moniker.


11 posted on 03/13/2019 3:54:39 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: canuck_conservative

“Plus the sheer unweildy nature of having so many Dem candidates makes their primaries a practical nightmare -”

Worse, their internal Social Justice sensibilities force them to have every candidate on the main stage every single time.


12 posted on 03/13/2019 3:56:22 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Mariner
Ultimately, he was able to avoid a convention fight and clinch the nomination in May — more than two months before Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Trump clinched the nomination on May 26th.

Clinton clinched hers on June 7th.

If Bernie didn't want to acknowledge that for another month it's not really relevant.

13 posted on 03/13/2019 4:01:43 PM PDT by x
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Instructions before reading a New York Times article; Warning: Install BS protective filter before reading.


14 posted on 03/13/2019 4:13:59 PM PDT by antidemoncrat
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Hillary’s corruption is still paying us dividends!


15 posted on 03/13/2019 5:26:03 PM PDT by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
By contrast, the Democratic Party’s egalitarian-minded rules

Does this refer to Hillary's superdelegates, or to her rigging of the primaries via Debbie Wasserman-Schultz?

16 posted on 03/13/2019 5:28:58 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Donald Trump’s low approval ratings . . . “

The very first line - only the SLIMES could try something like this. Everything I’ve been reading for months says Trump’s approval ratings are anything BUT low. What a fraud that newspaper is.


17 posted on 03/13/2019 5:53:57 PM PDT by Old Grumpy
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To: headstamp 2

They don’t vote on the first ballot.
I would not expect it to go to two ballots, but...


18 posted on 03/13/2019 6:49:06 PM PDT by scrabblehack
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