Go ahead, Donald, get 1,237; it won't matter: RNC delegate

[AnybodyButaDem]

These GOPe hacks and some of their supporters are the biggest bunch of crybabies I've ever seen in politics.

Interview at link.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/22/go-ahead-donald-get-1237-it-wont-matter-rnc-delegate.html

Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee.

Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination.

"Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee," Haugland said. "The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention floor."

Haugland explained the primary number is really an estimate. That's because the eligibility of some delegates in how they are voted in could be questioned and their status may not be considered valid, Haugland said.

"Remember every state has a different delegate allocation process," he said. "Delegates are picked up in state contests that can be winner take all, open primaries, and remember there are seven states that allow the candidates to pick their own delegates. Until those delegate challenges are settled, there is no 1,237."

Haugland said he expects the delegates won in winner-take-all states to be most likely challenged.


Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee.

Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination.

"Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee," Haugland said. "The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention floor."

Supporters cheer for republican presidential candidates Donald Trump
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Supporters cheer for republican presidential candidates Donald Trump
Haugland explained the primary number is really an estimate. That's because the eligibility of some delegates in how they are voted in could be questioned and their status may not be considered valid, Haugland said.

"Remember every state has a different delegate allocation process," he said. "Delegates are picked up in state contests that can be winner take all, open primaries, and remember there are seven states that allow the candidates to pick their own delegates. Until those delegate challenges are settled, there is no 1,237."

Haugland said he expects the delegates won in winner-take-all states to be most likely challenged.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI).
RNC shoots down plan to shift power to the delegates
Hitting 1,237 in the primaries does not mean the candidate would automatically become the GOP presidential nominee.

"You become the presumptive nominee when you get 1,237 bound delegates," RNC spokesman Lindsay Walters told CNBC. "You officially become nominee when you have 1,237 votes on the floor of the convention."

Trump has been contesting the delegate appropriation methods, accusing the Ted Cruz campaign of stealing delegates in Louisiana and Colorado. The Trump campaign has said it is considering challenging the seating of the Colorado delegation at the July convention. In March, a Trump senior adviser confirmed the campaign was moving on its plan to contest delegates in Louisiana after Trump won the state's primary but received fewer delegates than Cruz.
 
The Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment about Haugland's assertions.

[HAPPY2BME]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/22/how-donald-trump-crushed-ted-cruz-kudlow-commentary.html

How Donald Trump crushed Ted Cruz

Larry Kudlow
April 22, 2016
16 Hours Ago

Donald Trump's landslide victory in the New York GOP primary was a game-changer. It ended his Wisconsin slump and set the stage for an across-the-board sweep on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Trump's vote count exceeded his pre-primary polling average by nearly 10 percentage points. Perhaps most important, the win gave him 89 more delegates for the RNC July convention.

So Trump is now the prohibitive favorite to win the GOP nomination, although there is still much dispute about this. But I believe, even if he comes up short of a majority 1,237 delegates, he will still get a first-ballot victory. There will be roughly 190 uncommitted delegates at the Cleveland convention. And Trump, with his art of the deal, can be very persuasive.

But what hasn't gotten enough attention following New York is how Trump did it, and how it will enhance his position in the rest of the primaries. My theory is this: Trump cleverly turned the tables against Ted Cruz in regard to the nationwide delegate fight, especially in Colorado. Trump outflanked Cruz.

"I believe, even if [Trump] comes up short of a majority 1,237 delegates, he will still get a first-ballot victory."

By calling the delegate-selection process "rigged," and arguing that Colorado had an election without voters, Trump turned a loss into a victory. Why? Because he put Cruz in the unenviable position of defending the status quo delegate-selection process.

Now, Cruz played by the rules in Colorado and elsewhere. And Trump was caught flat-footed, and to some extent was embarrassed by his own weak delegate-gathering team.

However, and this is the key point, Cruz argued time and again that the rules were the rules and that he simply played by them. And as Trump continuously attacked the RNC rules as being undemocratic, disenfranchising to voters, and creatures of out-of-touch Republican-party regulars, he put Cruz in the position of backing the establishment. A bad place for Cruz.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz and Donald Trump
Top Democrat salivates over Trump or Cruz matchup

Moreover, in attacking the delegate process, Trump was able to restore and even enhance his position as the anti-establishment outsider. The agent of change. That's precisely what GOP voters favor.

Now, Colorado was a bad delegate story to begin with. A planned direct primary vote was canceled. But a friend relates the disturbing story of his moderate Republican brother who owns a small railroad and who caucused for Trump. Trump won that local caucus by 60 percent. But as the process moved up to the county level, then the congressional district level, and finally the state level, Trump got zero delegates.

At a minimum, this process was wacky, convoluted, and opaque. At its worst, it was rigged against GOP voters.

Other states have produced similar horror stories. And Pennsylvania may be positioned to deliver the most ridiculous. Whoever wins the direct Pennsylvania primary next Tuesday gets only 17 out of 71 delegates. So no matter who wins, 50-something delegates will still be uncommitted. That's crazy.

Actually, I think the whole GOP selection process is crazy. Why not a simple, direct, winner-take-all primary election? The person with the most votes gets all the delegates. Nice and simple.

Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus might want to think about this progressive democratic reform. After 100 years or so, it's time for a change.

[AnybodyButaDem]

And Pennsylvania may be positioned to deliver the most ridiculous. Whoever wins the direct Pennsylvania primary next Tuesday gets only 17 out of 71 delegates. So no matter who wins, 50-something delegates will still be uncommitted. That's crazy.

I hope Trump wins in a landslide, yet Cruz is able to buy the 50+ delegates and says "hey it's the rules!"  It will blow up the party once and for all and I can be done with the anti-Trumps so far as being in the same party.

[Jazzhead]

I hope Trump wins in a landslide, yet Cruz is able to buy the 50+ delegates and says "hey it's the rules!"  It will blow up the party once and for all and I can be done with the anti-Trumps so far as being in the same party.

You don't want to win an election, you want to blow up a party.  Your "AnybodyButaDem" handle is a lie.   

[AnybodyButaDem]

You don't want to win an election, you want to blow up a party.  Your "AnybodyButaDem" handle is a lie.   

You've said you'd vote for Hillary.  I said I'd vote for Kasich.

Who is it that wants to blow up the party?  I'd say the Kasich people who think their dud candidate deserves the nomination after winning his home state, and only because he begged Democrats to vote for him in the primary.