Posted on 04/09/2016 8:30:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In Colorado and South Carolina, the GOP's embattled front-runner had another very bad day.
Donald Trump’s struggle to win loyal delegates to the Republican National Convention grew even more desperate on Saturday, with crushing losses in Colorado and South Carolina that put victory at a contested convention further from his grasp.
Trump, who handed the reins of much of his campaign this week to strategist Paul Manafort in an effort to shore up his operation before the nomination slips away, was swept out of delegate slots up for grabs at Colorado’s state convention. Adding to his woes, he picked up just one delegate of six on the ballot in South Carolina. The most painful result, though, may have been Trump’s failure to capture two of three slots in his strongest South Carolina congressional district.
In fact, Trump lost five of the six delegate seats on the ballot in South Carolina’s 3rd and 7th congressional districts. Ted Cruz nabbed a delegate in the 7th district, while another, Alan Clemmons, remained uncommitted despite Trump’s dominant finish there in the state’s Feb. 20 primary. (The Manhattan billionaire won 43 percent of the district’s vote, to Cruz’s 20 percent and Kasich’s 6 percent.) Cruz also won two of three delegates in the 3rd district, while a third — Susan Aiken, a supporter of Marco Rubio — will go to the convention as an uncommitted delegate.
At the same time, Trump so far has been swept in Colorado, which unlike most states chooses its delegates indirectly, through a series of caucuses. Cruz, who has had a team working the state for months, received a thunderous ovation in Colorado Springs at Saturday afternoon’s chaotic GOP assembly as he announced his preliminary delegate haul while Trump’s bare-bones operation struggled to get organized.
After firing the organizer initially put in charge of Colorado last week, Trump’s team hired Patrick Davis, a GOP operative from Colorado Springs, to put together a slate in an effort to win some of the delegate slots to be elected by just fewer than 4,000 party activists at Saturday’s assembly. Heading in, Cruz had already swept the seven assemblies held in the state’s congressional districts, each of which elect three delegates, giving him 21 of Colorado’s 34 elected delegates – a majority – before ballots hit the floor at the state convention.
"We have beaten Donald Trump," Cruz told supporters packed into the World Arena.
Trump’s last-minute organizing effort did not go well. The leaflet his campaign handed out listed a slate of 26 delegates. But in many cases the numbers indicating their ballot position — more than 600 delegates are running for 13 slots — were off, meaning that Trump’s team was mistakenly directing votes toward other candidates’ delegates.
When the balloting results were announced Saturday evening, Cruz picked up the 13 statewide at-large delegates chosen during Saturday’s convention, with the final three appointed automatically by the Colorado Republican Party, giving him all 34 of Colorado's elected delegates (Trump did win six of the 34 alternate spots).
“Cruz had the crowd eating out of his hand when he spoke,” said Kelly Maher, a GOP operative based in Denver.
It’s an extension of a losing streak for Trump that threatens the mogul’s odds of winning the Republican nomination at what is increasingly likely to be a contested convention in July. Trump is close to falling short of enough support in the state-level primaries and caucuses to clinch the nomination outright, meaning his fate would be determined by delegates in Cleveland.
Yet Trump’s thinly staffed operations, even in the states he carried easily in February and March primaries, have left little organization behind to support delegate candidates. In addition to the congressional-district routs in South Carolina and Colorado, he’s been dealt setbacks in Indiana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Georgia. Massachusetts is also shaping up as a delegate battleground, despite Trump’s dominance of the popular vote there.
Trump has primarily lost delegate races to Cruz, whose superior organization, months of preparatory work and resonance among the GOP’s activist base has helped him consolidate support in the insider-oriented battle for delegates. Trump has begun mobilizing for a delegate push in recent days, empowering Manafort, a veteran of past convention battles, to lead his effort, but the 67-year-old lobbyist and political consultant is still playing catch-up.
Trump dominated South Carolina’s Feb. 20 primary in a much more crowded field, earning the obligatory support of all 50 of the state’s convention delegates on the first ballot at the national convention, set to be held in Cleveland. But if Trump falls short of clinching the nomination on a first vote, these delegates will become “unbound” on a second ballot, free to support the candidate of their choice.
Trump’s lone South Carolina delegate on the day, Jerry Rovner of Pawleys Island, said he’d stick with Trump so long as it looked like he had a shot to win the convention on subsequent ballots. But he said he’s open to backing Cruz as well, though he won’t consider any other candidate, even new entrants into the contest at the convention.
“The people that put the work in, that’s who I’m gonna support. I’m going to start with Donald Trump and I’ll stay with him,” he said.
Gerri McDaniel, who won an alternate slot for Trump in the 7th District, said she was frustrated to finish just outside the top three in voting and noted that she had been sick, preventing her from actively campaigning in the delegate fight.
“If I had not have been sick — this is my fourth day out of the house — probably the results would have been quite different," she said.
Trump was always poised to struggle to win delegates in South Carolina because the process favors party insiders who typically have rejected his brash, establishment-bashing style.
Early indications in North Carolina and Iowa suggested Trump had been routed in the hunt for another 30-plus delegates there. Cruz won the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1, but Trump bested Cruz in North Carolina on March 15. Still, Trump's efforts were essentially futile in both states.
Trump's lone bright spot of the weekend came in Michigan, where Republicans were also selecting delegates on Saturday. With a little help from John Kasich's campaign, Trump's team gave Cruz a dose of his own medicine, leaving the Texas senator shut out of the eight convention committee slots.
Kasich's delegates, whose votes Cruz was counting on, ended up voting for Trump behind closed doors after Cruz attempted to win all eight committee slots. Saul Anuzis, Cruz's Michigan campaign chairman, called it a "double-cross," even going as far as to tweet that the Ohio governor is "now openly auditioning for Donald Trump's Vice President slot."
Of the 59 delegates selected Friday and Saturday in Michigan, 25 spots went to Trump, while Cruz and Kasich each took 17 apiece. But the highly coveted committee assignments, especially on the RNC Rules Committee that could revamp procedures for the nomination battle, are of heightened importance with the increasing likelihood of a contested convention. If Kasich doesn't have any supporters on that committee, his rivals' backers could draft new rules that make it harder for Kasich to compete.
Every state gets two slots on the committee. Kasich backer Judi Schwalbach won the rules slot, and Trump supporter Matt Hall won the other, a rare double defeat for Cruz.
Cruz was also boxed out by Trump and Kasich supporters from any of the other convention committees. Kasich delegate Chuck Yob won a slot on the Convention Credentials Committee, which will rule on challenges to delegates’ eligibility to be seated in Cleveland. And Kasich delegate Yavonne Whitbeck won a spot on the Permanent Organization Committee, which — among other tasks — will elect a chairman to preside over the convention.
On Friday evening, as the scope of Cruz’s victory in Colorado was coming into view, Trump seemed to recognize his plight.
“Isn’t it a shame that the person who will have by far the most delegates and many millions more votes than anyone else, me, still must fight,” he tweeted.
That’s interesting. Everything I’ve seen on this forum is that democrats were crossing over to vote for Mr. Trump. That’s a new one on me.
Since the Democrats own most Wisconsin I find it amazing the Scott Walker won three contests there against democrats. But, whatever...
As I have said in another post what games are the GOPe playing? What rules are being broken?
And with regard to the GOPe Mr. Trump has now hired Paul Manafort. Mr. Manafort has worked for George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain, and Bob Dole. That’s establishment.
My concern is that we, the collective we, are only screwing ourselves by being blind to the positives of both candidates. Either one is good with me...and both CAN win the general...if we support them. Neither can win if we don’t.
No idea—you are the one who used the term “serious money,” but all last year you stated you had serious money on Cruz...all last year any time anyone said anything you did not like about Cruz....in your comments and in your tag line.
It was memorable because no one else ever used the term...
Caveat Taglinius. (Note the tagline)
“This genius, the man touted to be able to reform the vast bureaucracy of the federal government and especially the Veterans Administration, cannot manage even his own campaign. Donald Trump is exposing himself for the fraud he is.”
And you support a slimy, underhanded, sneakily deceptive, lying scumbag lawyer, Teddy Cruz. And by your support, you indicate your own moral turpitude, as you join the circle of GOPe RINOs willing to support delegates selecting your President rather than the people who voted throughout the Primary season for their candidate of choice. Shame on you.
Absolutely agree. But the rules now are the same. Must win eight states delegates by a majority. Must win 1237 to win the nomination. Those won’t change unless the delegates to the convention change them. If the majority of the delegates are for Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz why would they change them?
I just don’t see the subversion you are speaking of. As long as one of the two is the nominee which is what the current rules require I’m all in on whoever the nominee is.
> “It’s amazing these Freepers don’t realize they are ultimately helping the corrupt GOPe establishment or they don’t care because the ends justify the means.”
They know that Cruz is backed by the corrupt GOP establishment. It’s been told so many times on threads here. They are ignoring it.
They have been convinced that Donald Trump is a liberal and that Ted Cruz is a true conservative, even though the telltale sign of where the money comes from is known by them. They have bought the line and invested all their emotion, they can’t look at the telltale evidence.
They are like all losers who have invested so much in a losing stock, they keep coming up with excuses for the management, and are always blaming it on something else. They can’t sell and cut their losses because they already lost too much. If they were to sell, they wouldn’t have anything left to get into something new.
So the ends justify the means.
Any American who believes in Honor and Ethics will be called morons, low-information, kool-aid drinkers for Trump. They keep repeating their mantra that Cruz is playing by the rules, Trump is inexperienced; they will overlook that Trump won the votes, they will overlook that millions could be disenfranchised because most of those aren’t worth anything to them, they will overlook if Trump delegates and supporters are misled, lied to, duped and fooled, because to them any Trump supporter is a fool to begin with.
And yet they don’t see that they are killing themselves in the long term for foolish college-level pranks in the short term. They don’t see it. Ask them what they expect to achieve by what they do, and they won’t have much to say except that Cruz is a conservative or such. They don’t know what will happen in the future, what course will be taken and how they will treat the millions upon millions of voters that they have written off.
And they think they can win this way.
It’s pretty damn scary.
For me, I think Donald easily surpasses the 1237 threshold, but the Cruz delegates along with the Party of Romney will rewrite the convention rules so that 1st ballot delegates are unbound and they can vote for who they will. So there will be a 1st ballot which will not be decisive according to rules, and then there will be a 2nd ballot where the establishment inserts their preselected pick.
What will be interesting will be the media narrative by which the GOP establishment explains why they are justified in doing what they are doing. I am sure their script writers are already at work on that fiction. We already have a clue: Rules, Rules, Rules, there are rules and everyone must follow the rules. Sure, there was a popular candidate that didn’t make it but look how Lincoln got in or something (SQUIRREL!). Anyways, the Party of Romney, er ....the Party of (Insert name) is the nominee according to the rules adopted by the majority of the delegates all of whom were elected by the voters. Case closed.
Best post of the week.
That is a talking point direct from the crux campaign. Congratulations for your regurgitation.
I don’t understand this process. South Carolina had their primary a while ago, why are delegates being selected/elected/whatever now?
I need some mansplain’in here!
Delegates are normally picked at party conventions weeks after a primary.
There is a sworn affidavit that we can’t see from a witness that we can’t name that says this conversation happened. It’s on the internet so it must be true.
Don't "whatever" me, n00b.
You haven't even been here a year yet.
Since you're so "informed" about Scott Walker and his elections. why don't you explain something to us all?:
Scott Walker won his recall election in June 2012. Four months later, 0bama won Wisconsin in the general election walking away.
Shouldn't the "influence" of the Mighty Scott Walker have carried the state for Romney? LOL! :)
I was asked where it came from, not the name of the witness.
Ted is not an NBC. He is not going to be the nominee.
One may be free to believe what is documented at that link or not.
Alligators will feed themselves... or starve trying.
Bon Apetit!
Yeah that’s a real Freeper’s attitude. I’ll post what ever crap I find who cares if it’s true. That’s the spirit of FreeRepublic and how we keep our reputation. Yeah, that’s lovely.
Crickets.
It's exactly the opposite. The delegate selection rules we have today were put into place to avoid a longer primary process - to avoid what happened with Romney.
Trump benefits from the rules change from Romney. He would be worse off with the previous primary process.
Thanks for pulling the n00b card.
Interesting thoughts. Mitt Romney was a disaster. An absolute train wreck of a Presidential candidate. That is why he was absolutely destroyed in Wisconsin as well as most other states. No one’s influence could have changed that outcome.
There was no response the other substantive comments this n00b made. Wonder why.
So you're OK with millions of voters not having their votes count, as long as your guy wins? You're OK, with a rigged system, as long as it it rigged for your guy?
That's really is disappointing.
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