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
If this GOP crap doesn’t stop I will vote third party for Trump or anyone else. Tired of it.
Reince Prebius sent me a 2016 Congressional district census today. Everyone should see what it is asking. I am calling them tomorrow and telling the sonsabitches I am voting third party if this crap doesn’t stop. Get behind Trump. If they insist on giving us Cruz or Kasich then I will watch with glee when Hillary and minions tear Cruz apart. I am done being lied to. Trump may be a snake but then so are all of THEM.
Wrong. Cruz did NOT say he will not support the GOP nominee. Cruz actually said this: “I don’t make it a habit to support people who attack my family”. He left himself room to still support Trump if he wins. He could say, well I don’t make it a habit to support people who attack my family, but in this instance, when the alternative is Hillary Clinton, I will make an exception.
Cruznadians are smoking the good stuff!
All debaters know how to drop an implication
I'm no lawyer, but even I can see enough weasel words in that statement to drive several trucks through.
From Greenpapers SC page:
Each congressional district delegate ... shall be bound during the first ballot at the convention to the presidential candidate who received the greatest number of votes .... If the candidate who received the greatest number of votes in that particular delegate’s home district is not placed in nomination, a delegate must then be bound to the congressional district’s second or third place finisher in the presidential preference primary, respectively. If none of the top three finishers in the congressional district presidential preference primary are placed in nomination, delegates shall be unbound.
Each delegate-at-large shall be bound for the first ballot to the candidate who received the largest number of votes statewide in the presidential preference primary. If the candidate who receives the greatest number of statewide votes in the presidential preference primary is not placed in nomination, a delegate must then be bound to the state’s second or third place finisher in the presidential preference primary, respectively. If none of the top three finishers in the statewide presidential preference primary are placed in nomination, delegates shall be unbound. [South Carolina Republican Party Rules - Rule 11(b)(4), (5)]
He won them fair & square.
The pledge was non-binding anyway
That's when the code characters showed up in the edit (but not the preview) box for me. Can't get rid of them in this post - will check next post without those buttons.
"If the nomination is stolen by convention trickery from Trump, he runs 3rd Party and Hillary becomes president."
I think you left something out there. Trump may not win the nomination, not through trickery, but by not winning a majority of the delegates.
Yes, ‘cause Cruz is a sleazy insider, of course.
Or at least pepper sprayed.
RE: Yes, ‘cause Cruz is a sleazy insider, of course.
Actually Cruz is being tactical, within the rules of the convention of course.
RE: I can see enough weasel words in that statement to drive several trucks through.
Or it could be what he intended it to mean.
Thus, either Trump will be our nominee, or something perceived as trickery will be employed to deny the nomination to him though he clearly had far more delegates entering the convention.
I am just telling you for 100% certain that if Trump goes to the convention with the most delegates even if not an outright majority and doesn't leave the convention with the nomination. He will bolt and take his supporters with him and in the process hand the nomination to Hillary.
It's just that simple.
You may be right, he's certainly capable of it. But if he doesn't get a majority of the delegates going in to the convention then his supporters are mistaken that he's somehow entitled to the nomination anyway. That would be a case where a majority of the delegates were for someone else, and those delegates have a right to agree to pick one of their own candidates if that's what they chose to do. The contest isn't about just getting more delegates than everyone else, it's about getting a majority.
He’s still a sleazy insider! He can’t help himself.
It would save me from having to vote for Hillary, but I would still have to vote straight Democrat down ticket.
If the GOPe takes your attitude, watch the swing state and blue state congressional districts. Enjoy the rat House and Senate.
"But if he doesn't get a majority of the delegates going in to the convention then his supporters are mistaken that he's somehow entitled to the nomination anyway."
"If the GOPe takes your attitude, watch the swing state and blue state congressional districts. Enjoy the rat House and Senate."
This isn't my "attitude". It ought to be as uncontroversial as saying the sky is blue. The nominee is the person who gets a majority of delegates at the convention. It's called majority rule. It's not who gets the most, it's who gets a majority. If candidate A doesn't win a majority then that means a majority does support candidate B, or candidates B and C. If the delegates for B and C want to come to an agreement and vote for one of their candidates they have that right. To say otherwise is to say that a majority of the delegates (those for B and C) don't get to have a say, which is absurd.
This isn't trickery. It isn't stealing. It's simple majority rule. The only problem Trump has with it is that he may not win if he doesn't get a majority going in. So what? That doesn't make it wrong. And if it was one of the other candidates in his position he'd find no problem with the prospect of winning through making a deal with another candidates delegates.
That's terribly rational of you old chap. Enjoy the demise of the GOP. History in the making.
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