Posted on 03/31/2016 2:10:49 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
So that’s why Cruz won’t give a straight answer when he’s asked if he’ll break his pledge over Trump insulting his wife. It’s not about proving he’s a “man of his word.” It’s because, as usual, he’s well-versed in the rules and Trump isn’t.
Hard to overstate what a big deal this would be if the challenge prevailed and Trump lost these delegates. By winning statewide and in every congressional district, Trump turned South Carolina into his fourth-biggest delegate haul of the campaign to date. He netted 50 there. If he lost those, his odds of getting to 1,237 on the first ballot would suddenly grow much more difficult, maybe prohibitively so. I wonder if Team Cruz and their loyalists in the SC delegation are really going to press this or if it’s just a way to needle Trump for being an idiot in undermining the pledge.
The Palmetto State was one of several that required candidates to pledge their loyalty to the party’s eventual nominee in order to secure a slot on the primary ballot. Though Trump won all of the state’s delegates in the Feb. 20 primary, anti-Trump forces are plotting to contest their binding to Trump because of his threat on the pledge Tuesday…
South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore gave credence to the anti-Trump claims.
“Breaking South Carolina’s presidential primary ballot pledge raises some unanswered legal questions that no one person can answer,” he told TIME. “However, a court or national convention Committee on Contests could resolve them. It could put delegates in jeopardy.”…
Those delegates would be bound to Trump on the first ballot according to state and RNC rules. The challenge, which could only be filed once delegates are selected, would seek to allow them to be free-agents on the first ballot, thereby keeping Trump further from the key 1,237 figure he needs to secure the nomination.
If you missed what he told Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night, watch below. Here’s the filing form Trump had to sign last year to qualify for the South Carolina primary. The top half is the statement of intention to seek the state party’s nomination for president and the bottom half is the pledge: “I hereby affirm that I generally believe in and intend to support the nominees and platform of the Republican Party in the November 8, 2016 general election.” Hmmm!
A secondary question is what would happen to the delegates if Trump was held to have violated the registration requirements by breaking his pledge. One possibility is that they all become unbound free agents, which would undoubtedly mean heavy defections to Cruz but would at least leave open the possibility that Trump could persuade some to stick with him. Another possibility, though, is that the delegates would then become bound to the second-place finisher in the primary — which was Marco Rubio, not Ted Cruz. Rule 11(b) of the South Carolina GOP’s nomination rules awards the state’s delegates to the second-place finisher in the state if the first-place finisher, for whatever reason, isn’t nominated at the convention. Trump will be nominated, but if he’s ruled ineligible for breaking the pledge, the South Carolina GOP could follow this rule as guidance and award his delegates to Rubio on the first ballot instead. Which, ironically, would be a worse outcome for Trump than if they were simply unbound and left to choose between Trump and Cruz. Remember, Rubio has been writing to state Republican officials to say that he wants his delegates to remain bound to him at the convention, precisely because he doesn’t want to let Trump have any chance of winning them over on the first vote. If South Carolina’s 50 are handed to Rubio, all 50 are gone for Trump’s purposes. And since the first ballot is effectively the only one he has a realistic chance of winning, that means they’re gone for good.
Two obvious questions for the convention Committee on Contests (or a court, which is where this would almost certainly end up). One: What does it mean to break this pledge? If Trump says tomorrow, “I changed my mind again and will support the nominee,” does that mean his 50 delegates are re-bound to him or is this a “once you’ve broken the pledge you can’t un-break it” sort of thing? Can he break it by saying the wrong thing in an interview or would he have to sign something affirming his intention to break it? The idea here, I assume, is that he committed fraud in running in the Republican primary when he had no intention of honoring the pledge — but what if he really did intend to honor it at the time? How is that fraud? Two: Where does it say that violating the pledge, if Trump violated it, will be punished with a loss of delegates? The party could sanction him in some other way, like with a censure. On the other hand, why should a court interfere with a private political party dispensing punishments for breaking its rules as it sees fit?
I assume Cruz is interested in pursuing this or else it wouldn’t have been leaked by his allies to Time. I’m also inclined to believe this is correct: “A Committee on Contests willing to unbind Trump’s South Carolina delegates is a Committee on Contests willing to do a lot of other things.” If the rules-makers at the convention want to stop Trump, they’ll find a way. If it isn’t this, it’ll be something else.
Update: The chairman of the SC GOP tries to quell a growing uproar:
Regarding delegate questions today: to be clear, no one is seeking to unbind ANY of South Carolina's national delegates.
— Matt Moore (@MattMooreSC) March 31, 2016
Update: The chairman of the SC GOP tries to quell a growing uproar:
Regarding delegate questions today: to be clear, no one is seeking to unbind ANY of South Carolina’s national delegates.
— Matt Moore (@MattMooreSC) March 31, 2016
Sought, and found.
Weirdest election ever, except for 1860.
so it should be for cruz and k sick on all their delegates
The people who support this nonsense need to be punched.
He had a meeting with Reince Priebus this morning.
Seems like he’s still on board to Reince and I.
So every other candidate can break their pledge, and if Trump responds in kind they negate the will of the voters? The GOP just reveals itself as sleazier and sleazier. At this point I’m ready to walk away from them forever.
Curz forfeited his South Carolina delegates, too - oh, wait... ROFL!!!
TOTALLY UNRELATED QUESTION
Why are these characters back? I see them on the Forums pages, but not on this specific thread.
So that’s why Cruz won’t give a straight answer when he’s asked if he’ll
I thought John had fixed this once and for all.
you people do realize there is NO scenerio where Cruz becomes president right?
If Trump gets the nomination, Cruz doesn’t become president.
If the nomination is stolen by convention trickery from Trump, he runs 3rd Party and Hillary becomes president.
Anyone pushing this kind of nonsense is actually trying to help Hillary be president.
It’s that simple folks.
And honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t even blame Trump for doing it, and would gladly vote 3rd party to register my disdain.
I’d vote a Trump 3rd party if this crap does not stop.
Regarding delegate questions today: to be clear, no one is seeking to unbind ANY of South Carolina's national delegates.— Matt Moore (@MattMooreSC) March 31, 2016
I don’t know how you can break a pledge if the nominee hasn’t even been chosen yet.
With that said, damn straight Trump should break that pledge if they GOP-e plays their little RINO games at the convention and gives us anyone other than Trump or Cruz. (and just Trump after Cruz can no longer win the nomination mathematically).
That’s right, Cruz will forfeit all 0 delegates he won in SC, which will be really tough on all those in the ZERO counties that he won.
Oh, the CruzManatee...
All these rules and then new rules recently made in one state or another, add Internet voting, all these people in NC registered in as many as 5 different counties and only about a dozen had been counted then makes one wonder if we have an election. It damn sure is crooked as hell and fixing it should be priority 1 before NOV.
There is a big ongoing legal battle about who holds the trademark for apostrophes.
Freegards
“Mr. Trump! Do as we say!” “Mr. Cruz! Do as you wish!”
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