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Ok, I’ll give it a shot to answer, but I realize we may not see eye to eye on this, as many Cruz supporters and the entire GOPe doesn’t see it the way the AVERAGE American sees things. Sorry this is long.

I’ll use hypothetical numbers. And whenever I use the word “Party”, think of the word “Club”, as in, something exclusive that you are not in.

There is “fair” and “just” and “moral” and “right”, and then there is “legal.” The Trump supporters believe in “fair.” The #NeverTrump people don’t seem to care what is fair, and will do anything in their power to thwart Trump, saying that it’s “in the rules” and therefore it is “legal.” Legal doesn’t always equal fair, just, moral, or right.

When Trump wins a primary, he is awarded either all or a majority of the delegates for a given state. Let’s say Trump wins a state and is awarded 30 delegates, and Cruz comes in second and is awarded 25 delegates.

The Average American (AA) thinks Trump needs to win 1237 delegate votes to win the nomination. Nevermind that the AA doesn’t even understand the difference between a popular vote (primary win) and a delegate.... But even if the AA did understand what a delegate is, the AA believes that those delegates are voting as representatives of the People. So they believe that if Trump wins their state, those delegates will be voting for Trump. For the AA, that is the end of the story.

But for the PARTY (aka the CLUB), that is just the beginning of the story. Only SOME of these delegates are bound to vote according to “the will of the people”, and they are only bound to do so on the first ballot. The Average American doesn’t know anything about this behind-the-scenes stuff. So when Trump wins a state and he is awarded 30 delegates, and Cruz gets 20 delegates for coming in second, that should be the end of it — in the eyes of the Average American. But it turns out, the state GOP rules have these other 15 delegates set aside that THE STATE PARTY LEADERS can assign — without regard to the will of the People. As it turns out this year, most of the Party insiders are #NeverTrump people (as in Colorado). So the state GOP leaders meet and vote to give all 15 of their Party delegates to Cruz. So now we have Trump with 30 delegates, and Cruz with 35 delegates total. So Trump wins the state in the popular vote, but Cruz wins the state in delegate count.

Next: The individual human being who actually goes to Cleveland to cast these votes, as delegates, are not chosen by the general public (in most cases). The individual delegates are chosen by “Party people” (i.e., CLUB MEMBERS). Party people are not the General Public, not the Voters — they are people who participate in the local meetings and caucuses, the county meetings and caucuses, the district meetings and caucuses, and the state meetings and caucuses. The Average American isn’t doing all of this, because the Average American is working, raising families, and living their lives. Keep in mind that the Average American thinks their VOTE counts. Anyway... All these Party people tend to be fairly like-minded; after all, they are all “in the Club.” And since it has been shown that a majority of Party people are #NeverTrump, they are inclined to nominate and seat CRUZ supporters (and even #NeverTrump people) in the positions of Delegates. These are people whose loyalties are with Cruz. Although they may be legally bound to vote for Trump on the first ballot (and maybe more), as soon as their legal obligation to vote for Trump is removed, they will be voting for Cruz — regardless of the will of the voters of their state.

Next: It turns out that it’s perfectly legal to “woo” these party leaders and delegates. Keep in mind that the word “woo” = bribery. It is perfectly legal to pay for the travel expenses of these delegates to go to Cleveland (10,000). It is perfectly legal to give them gifts: Season tickets to their favorite sports team ($50,000), a golf club membership ($200,000), a guided hunting trip in Montana ($30,000), an envelope full of “walking around money” for their time in Cleveland ($5,000), etc. It is also perfectly legal to say, “If I can count on your vote in the second round of voting, I will donate $10,000 to your favorite charity.” It is also perfectly legal to say, “Hey John, you know that brother of yours who is serving time in prison? If you vote for me on the second ballot, and if I get elected, I will get your brother out of jail” or “You’ll be on the invite list to the White House Christmas Party.”

Many states have delegates who are NOT bound to vote for a certain candidate on the first ballot. If a state doesn’t even hold a primary, then those unbound delegates have no way to know what is the “will of the people” of their state. So the Cruz campaign comes along with their SuperPAC money and offer that unbound delegate a golf club membership valued at $200,000 in exchange for voting for Cruz on the first and subsequent ballots, and they present the case that Trump’s negatives are really high, and Trump can never beat Hillary, etc.... and in the absence of state Primary data to say that the state voters would choose Trump, this unbound delegate agrees to vote for Cruz.

Or let’s say you have a state primary, and someone who is truly unbiased is seated as a delegate, and they are bound to vote for Trump in the first ballot. But along comes the Cruz campaign and says, “Trump will probably make it to 1237, so this probably won’t apply, but just in case it goes to a second ballot, that would indicate that Trump isn’t as popular across the country as he is in this state. And since our goal is to beat Hillary, we should probably elect someone like Cruz, because he is a true Conservative. So we’ll pay for your trip to Cleveland, and we’ll give you $5000 in walking-around money for the Convention, if you’ll agree to vote for Cruz on the second ballot.” And that delegate — who is a TRUMP DELEGATE — agrees to become a Cruz delegate on the second ballot.

Thus, the Average American thinks their one vote at the ballot matters. When the Average American finds out that their vote doesn’t matter, the Average American feels “robbed” of their vote. When the Average American finds out that the PARTY controls who the Nominee is, the Average American feels “swindled” by the whole process. The GOPe may (rightfully) say that the rules have been written for all to see, and there is nothing illegal taking place. But that doesn’t change how the Average American FEELS about the farce that is the entire process.

To the Average American, if a candidate wins a state, they should get the majority of the delegates. That is “fair” in the minds of most honest people. If the Party comes behind and awards additional delegates to the second-place finisher, giving the second-place finisher a higher number of delegates than the winner (as in Louisiana), that isn’t “fair” in the minds of most honest people — even if it is ALLOWED AND IS LEGAL within the RULES.

To the Average American, if a candidate wins 30 delegates in a state, those delegates should vote for that candidate. That is “fair” the minds of most honest people. If the Party comes behind and inserts delegates who HATE (#NeverTrump) the winning candidate, that isn’t “fair” in the minds of most honest people — even if it is ALLOWED AND IS LEGAL within the RULES.

To the Average American, a delegate should vote as a representative of their state’s voting population, so they should vote for the winning candidate in that state. That is “fair” the minds of most honest people. If the second-place candidate’s campaign comes behind and BRIBES those delegates to switch their vote as soon as they become unbound, that isn’t “fair” in the minds of most honest people — even if it is ALLOWED AND IS LEGAL within the RULES.

So when most Trump supporters use the word “steal,” they mean using these underhanded tactics — which are all apparently legal — to award delegates to Cruz without being proportional to the will of the people, to insert delegates who hate Trump, and to bribe unbound delegates to vote for Cruz, regardless of the will of the people in their state.

Sorry this is so long.