Posted on 03/20/2016 1:47:32 PM PDT by reaganaut1
With the prospect of a contested convention looming over the Republican presidential primary, Donald J. Trump on Sunday complained about the party’s rules requiring a candidate to have a majority of delegates to clinch the nomination outright.
Asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” why he should be “guaranteed the nomination” if he failed to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to win it on the first ballot, Mr. Trump said that he might be unable to clear that threshold. But he blamed the number of contenders in the Republican field.
“If I’m a little bit short – and one of the reasons was we had so many candidates,” he said. “I mean, we started off with 17 candidates.”
He added: “There are so many candidates, so it’s very hard to get over that number. It’s very unfair.”
He said that denying him the nomination under those circumstances would “disenfranchise” people who voted for him.
But the party’s national chairman, Reince Priebus, appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” defended the system for how Republicans choose their standard-bearer as a “delegate-driven process.” He noted that his own floor battle to win the chairmanship went to the seventh ballot, and said that a plurality alone would not be treated as a majority.
“History would show, whether it be Walter Mondale, Gerald Ford, when someone’s a little bit short, you know, you let the process play out,” he said. “And generally if it’s that close, generally that’s what happens. But certainly what I would say is that the minority of delegates doesn’t rule for the majority.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Romney had 1473 of the 2286 delegates. He was way, way over the majority threshold.
Kasich is mathematically eliminated from reaching 1237.
Soon Cruz will also be mathematically eliminated.
If either drops out, Trump will easily exceed 1237.
If they stay in, it will only be to deny Trump the nomination. This would then be a hit job, not an election.
I don’t think Priebus understands just how pissed people are. I don’t think he understands how unglued people will become and what actions they will take to kill the republican party for good.
But I do think he doesn’t care because his future has been assured by the corrupt cartel.
What is problematic is the ‘elites’ plotting stop a single candidate.
What’s even worse is they are not openly supporting a candidate who is actually in the running.
They are looking for an opportunity to install a plan F or G or whatever version they are on now, and force on the party regulars a candidate who has possibly not even competed for the ‘prize’.
I understand that a plurality is not a majority. However, a plurality much more closely reflects the will of the voters than does a back room deal with someone who didn’t even have their hat in the ring through the grind, the endless debates, and most importantly, the voting.
I am hoping on one hand the GOP does not commit suicide through elitism, and on the other hand wondering if maybe it’s not about time we let them fall...
>> So these rules didn’t exist before Trump decided to run? <<
Silly question. Mr. Trump should not be bound by any rules that he doesn’t like, regardless of when they were put into effect. Only his strong willpower can make America great again.
As I recall those rules get changed often. Last time they were changed to prevent Ron Paul from getting to a floor fight with mitt
Yes, I knew what you referred to. My point is that Trump is spontaneous and wins supporters because of this, without regard to pleasing anyone for their delegates later. He may the price, or he may not; we shall see.
Say hello to president Clinton then
He’ll arrive with more than enough.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/rule40b/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/robertsrules/index
Perhaps when candidates drop out, the delegates they have should not count towards the frontrunners 50% quota. Or have those delegates subtracted from the 1237 value.
That would seem fairer and a way to deal with so many people running just to deny anyone a decent chance at 50% or 1237.
Not nominating the clear frontrunner is a big FU to the millions who voted for him. There will be long term consequences if it happens. But I don’t think it will.
He didn’t say it wasn’t fair to him. Trump said it wasn’t fair to his voters
And Reince can go pound sand. Delegates are elected by voters. If he wants to be that petty and snarky I am sure folks would be happy to have him replaced
Only to those who live in the first few states. The rest generally get an abbreviated ticket due to drop outs, which is bad enough.
Keep in mind I support Cruz, who could certainly have used the delegates other candidates (Rubio, Kasich) soaked up which I do not think would have gone to Trump because of the differences between those candidates and Trump.
It's funny, but for years I have said it would be nice to be in an election year where the moderate (elite) GOP had to hold its nose and vote for a Conservative.
I think that’s a good idea. For next time.
I have a few principled objections to changing rules mid-game.
Trump currently has Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Mississippi, Hawaii, Tennessee and Masssachussets, so he clearly has 8.
Cruz already has Wyoming, Texas, Idaho, Maine, and Kansas.
However, the number of states is determined by a certificate signed by the majority of delegates of the state submitted one hour before the nominations start. If Rubio’s delegates go for Cruz, he adds DC, Arkansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Louisiana, perhaps North Carolina as well, easily making the eight state threshold.
They keep talking about a brokered convention, but I just don’t see it.
Shortly after Trump started his campaign, he told the story of his early days as a boxing promoter. He liked to hold out-of-town matches because the purse was larger. But he also know that the referees favored the local fighter. So he told his boxers, “Win with a knockout or come home a loser.” Trump said that was how he was approaching his “fight” for the presidency.
He is on track to meet all of the first round requirements, but it is close. But if he is only close, the Trump will make a deal. Deal-making is his specialty, and he will not come up short.
Get use to “President Trump”!
These were the rules when he started...he didn’t say they were unfair then. He’s saying that now because he knows he’s not going to get 1237.
Sorry Charlie he needs to work the delegates now if he plans to be the nominee. Either he hits 1237 (which he can do) or he needs to wheel and deal on the delegate game to get that number. If he doesn’t like it he can endorse Ted Cruz and be Ted’s VP now so he doesn’t get his feelings hurt later.
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