RNC Prepping for 'Chaos' at Convention

The Daily Beast ^ | January 17, 2016 | BETSY WOODRUFF

[VitacoreVision]

A 2012 rule change made to help the establishment may come back to bite the party if Donald Trump does well in key states.

Charleston, South Carolina - Every presidential election, the Republican Party's elected leaders get together to agree on rules over how to run their national convention. Their internal debates-usually hashed out behind closed doors over byzantine, obscure issues-rarely draw attention.

But this year, a rule-tweak from the last election cycle intended to boost the Republican establishment just might backfire on them and end up helping someone many see as Republican enemy #1: Donald Trump.

It started in 2012, when establishment Republicans changed a rule to make it harder for insurgent candidates (like then-Rep. Ron Paul) to challenge a presumptive GOP nominee (see: Mitt Romney) on the convention floor.

The new rule required a nominee to win outright in at least eight states-up from five states-to be nominated at the convention.

While the rule gives the frontrunner a big advantage, it's safe to say the RNC establishment didn't have Donald Trump or Ted Cruz in mind when it was crafted.

This year Republican establishment candidates are finding themselves in a situation that feels a lot like Ron Paul's in 2012-candidates like Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Bush marginalized underdogs hoping to use obscure rules to get traction on the convention floor if things get crazy. Because their establishment allies raised the bar for being nominated in 2012, things could be a little trickier for them if the Republican convention goes off the rails this summer and the party picks its nominee at a floor battle.

And that has Diana Orrock excited. Orrock, the Republican committeewoman from Nevada, is one of Trump's only avowed allies in the RNC.

"I like a lot of what Mr. Trump is saying," she said. "I'm throwing my support behind him because he appreciates my endorsement."

As far as the rules, Orrock sees an upside for Trump and other grassroots candidates in the high threshold. Though in 2012, Republican establishment voters coalesced behind Romney while grassroots voters failed to team up with one or two favorite candidates. So the high threshold lessened their clout. However, this year represents a near-perfect inversion of that, with establishment voters scrambling to pick a favorite from a host of likable candidates, but grassroots voters mostly settled behind Trump and Ted Cruz.

Thus, Orrock said, the high threshold benefits conservative, Tea Party-friendly candidates this time around.

"It was a huge loss in 2012, she said, wryly. "It wouldn't necessarily be a big loss this time around."

A huge loss for the grassroots-and a huge fiasco for the Republican Party.

"It caused a huge uproar on the floor of the convention, screaming and yelling," said Virginia RNC Committeeman Morton Blackwell, recalling the Paul fans' very public and profane protest on the convention floor.

Blackwell didn't want that to happen again. And he wanted the RNC's Rules Committee to formally recommend the party to revert to its pre-2012 nomination process. But after spending more than an hour in a windowless room on the second floor of a swanky hotel in downtown Charleston, making his pitch to his fellow committeeman, he was rejected.

"I'm appalled," Blackwell, who backs Ted Cruz, told The Daily Beast afterwards. "I'm appalled." Another Cruz backer, former Michigan Republican Party chairman Saul Anuzis, wasn't peeved about that particular rule.

"I don't think there's anything bad about it," he said.

In fact, he had his own different and perhaps scarier rules-related qualm. And that's the worry that no candidate will actually crack the eight-state threshold and that the convention rules committee won't fix it in time.

"Then you have chaos," he said. "Then you have to change the rule on the floor." But other RNC members were perplexed as well. And one, Curly Haugland of North Dakota, argued that the entire controversy was a bit of an exercise in nihilism, as the convention's rules can be changed at the convention.

"All this binding crap ends before we get to Cleveland," he said. "That's the part that's missing. Nobody's getting it." And he said the likelihood of chaos is high.

"And frankly, most of the people that are talking to the press are either being dishonest or they're withholding some of the important parts of this conversation," he said. "I don't know what you're hearing, but I know what I'm reading."

[Angels27]

Good, I love when crooks plans backfire on them. It looks like right Trump may win all the primaries. He’s very far ahead.

[Squeako]

So the RNC tries some tricks, Trump says “They didn’t treat me fairly”, runs third party splitting the Republican vote, Hillary or Bernie wins. Did I get that about right?

[biff]

“because he appreciates my endorsement”. Now that is one hell of a way to choose your candidate!!! The republicans deserve to lose with delegates like that.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

The RNC “IS” chaos!
I’ve never seen a sorrier, more incompetent bunch of Republicans in my life and I’ve been around them for decades.

Status-climbing losers, prima donnas, and backstabbing bastards.

Otherwise they are a nice bunch of political eunuchs.

[Nailbiter]

Pray tell what do you really think about the RNC? LOL nice description

[DoughtyOne]

RNC: Fingers crossed, open convention...

[Hugin]

Trump will have it locked up by April. There won’t be a “crazy” convention.

[NTHockey]

Don’t count out Sanders running third/fourth party. He is an independent, not bound by any notion of party loyalty.

Four candidates for President: Communist, Empress, Businessman, Conservative.

[Tax-chick]

This is just silly. They talk about a “brokered convention” every election cycle, BEFORE anyone’s even voted in a primary.

[Graybeard58]

“because he appreciates my endorsement”. Now that is one hell of a way to choose your candidate!!!

*****************************************************

I caught that too, more than a little bit stupid.

[Cboldt]

-- I love when crooks plans backfire on them. --

Hoist on their own petard. The convention won't be chaotic if there is a clear winner.

[Yosemitest]

Definition: Socialism is a political term applied to an economic system in which property is held in common and not individually, and relationships are governed by a political hierarchy.
Common ownership doesn't mean decisions are made collectively, however.
Instead, individuals in positions of authority make decisions in the name of the collective group.
Regardless of the picture painted of socialism by its proponents, it ultimately removes group decision making in favor of the choices of one all-important individual.

Socialism originally involved the replacement of private property with a market exchange, but history has proven this ineffective.
Socialism cannot prevent people from competing for what is scarce.
Socialism as we know it today, most commonly refers to "market socialism,"
which involves individual market exchanges organized by collective planning.

People often confuse "socialism" with the concept of "communism."
While the two ideologies share much in common -- in in fact communism encompasses socialism -- the primary difference between the two is that "socialism" applies to economic systems,
whereas "communism" applies to both economic and political systems.

Another difference between socialism and communism is that communists directly oppose the concept of capitalism, an economic system in which production is controlled by private interests.
Socialists, on the other hand, believe socialism can exist within a capitalist society.

Pronunciation: soeshoolizim

Also Known As: Bolshevism, Fabianism, Leninism, Maoism, Marxism, collective ownership, collectivism, communism, state ownerhsip

Alternate Spellings: none

Common Misspellings: none

Examples: "Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality.
But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
-- French historian and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville

"As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents."
-- author George Orwell

So how would YOU define someone who LOVES and USES "EMINENT DOMAIN" to acquire property to build his Hotels ?


Let us remember ...

"You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept Communism outright.
But we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism
until you finally wake up and realize you already have communism.
We won’t have to fight you;
we’ll so weaken your economy
that you will fall like over ripe fruit into our hands. "


Nikita Kruschev, Former Soviet Premier

[Cboldt]

-- I love when crooks plans backfire on them. --

I suspect the plan was for Cruz to accumulate some delegates, and then the GOP would, at the convention, find Cruz unqualified and free up those delegates to go the to GOPe insider, Rubio, about a chance on a million Jeb, etc.

Trump's primary performance might blow big holes in the plan.

[PapaBear3625]

"Then you have chaos," he said. "Then you have to change the rule on the floor."

The Supreme Court decision in "Bush v Gore" declared you cannot change election rules after ballots have been cast.

This may or may not apply to party primaries, but trying to change the rules to disadvantage Trump will guarantee a messy court fight.

The RNC is not worried that nobody will get a majority in the minimum 8 states. They are scared to death that Trump will be the ONLY candidate to get a majority in 8 or more states, and they thus will HAVE to hand him the nomination at the start of the convention.

[PapaBear3625]

I suspect the plan was for Cruz to accumulate some delegates, and then the GOP would, at the convention, find Cruz unqualified and free up those delegates to go the to GOPe insider, Rubio, about a chance on a million Jeb, etc. Trump's primary performance might blow big holes in the plan.

I suspect you are right.

[jmaroneps37]

Don’t worry GOPe it will be an order coronation of Trump.

[ConservativeWarrior]

“’because he appreciates my endorsement”. Now that is one hell of a way to choose your candidate!!! The republicans deserve to lose with delegates like that.”

My thoughts exactly, but I think it was supposed to read: “becau$e he appreciate$ my endor$ement.”