Posted on 04/15/2016 5:20:33 AM PDT by bobsunshine
Yes, absolutely.
Both of those guys were elected by voters for the exact same reason. They were largely inoffensive candidates whom the majority of the party would support. They were not controversial, and did not alienate as much of the party as did more aggressive candidates.
The 2008 and 2012 primaries were like a game of Survivor -- rather than "the best" candidate being picked, voters essentially "voted off" the candidates they liked the least until there was one guy left standing.
The contest that ended up with all of the delegates being Cruz supporters. It began at the precinct level and ended at the state convention.
No argument from me on that.
It hasn’t ended yet. It’s still resonating with the public against Cruz. Great plan!
You make a good point, but here's the problem: if Republicans in the state don't like the state party rules, then the solution is to get more involved and change them. People like to complain about "party bosses", but the truth is that all those party bosses are elected by party members. The problem is that the vast majority of people really don't want to have anything to do with the party until it is time for election, when they show up to vote and then go home.
I'm as guilty as anyone else. Every election, my primary ballot includes positions for various GOP "committeeman" positions, and I never have any idea who these people are. So, I usually leave it blank. This election has woken me up, and I need to start paying more attention to that. Because I found I can look all of this stuff up online, see who these people are, their positions, etc.. I just didn't put forth the effort.
If we want the party to change, then we have to get more involved as Republicans. That's the price of living in a participatory democracy -- you have to actually participate if you want your voice to be heard. Complaining about it after the fact won't do a damn bit of good if we don't elect different people to party offices.
Anyway, all this complaining from the Trump campaign and his supporters has convinced me that he should have run as an independent, because that's really what he's doing anyway.
I do think Ted Cruz is a good person.
Over 2,000,000 voters have chosen Trump over Cruz and that number is going to explode in the next few weeks.
Somehow I suspect that you are very well know that states differ as to Winner-take- all; Proportional; W-T-M, or Proportional by CD. And that is completely fair and above board.
That’s not what is being discussed here. It’s party leaders selecting themselves, their friends and related business interested republicans to serve as delegates without any input from the citizenry.
Colorado had no election and ran a sham of a caucus where 6/10 of 1% of the registered republicans ‘thought’ they had selected some delegates. Each candidate had ten (10) seconds to speak!!
Actually the majority of CO delegates are the original delegates pre-slated for Jeb Bush. The current delegates are placeholders for the GOP’s pick at the convention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
Sorry Charlie, It’s a big Club and You Ain’t in IT!
No they were not elected by voters, they were selected by the Republican Super-Delagate scam that does what the Party wants.
If it was a Republic like its supposed to be, unbound delegates would not exist - Who serve no purpose but to protect the party. They do NOT represent the voters of their states.
Just with gullible Trump true believers. I’m not worried.
Mark
Exactly my thoughts. Trump is teaching us all that the people who show up and try end up running things.
Trump wanted to hijack the party because a third party run would cost him real money and there are barriers to get on ballots in 50 states that he gets automatically when on one of the major parties.
Imagine...K and J street buildings for rent and lobbies out of business.
Sigh
The delegates are unbound after the first ballot so they can select a nominee who has majority support. If no candidate has a majority of delegates, then there is no winner. Someone has to change their vote in order for someone to become the winner.
The delegates can't remain bound forever.
Ultimately, it is about the selection of delegates if it comes down to it. It matters. The delegates are selected by the process in each state determined by the state party. Party members have input on delegate selection
What would you have them do?
A very good friend entered the race for “committeeman” years ago.
He was inundated within days of submitting his name by “well meaning” friends. coworkers, neighbors and the like. Apparently no one had ever challenged Fred. They let him know that it had been Fred’s position for 20 years and they were very pleased with the job that Fred had been doing. No need to rock the boat. IOW, for Fred, it had become a lifelong committeeman appointment.
The current system is designed to lock out people from getting involved and fixing this mess, which is why we still have it. E.g., while reformers have been able to get majorities in some county-level assemblies to fix this, it gets block at the state convention level, where the insider and super-hard-core are concentrated.
Fortunately, it looks like it may be possible to end run the machine. Due to recent public outrage, a ballot initiative and legislation are now in the works (the latter probably being prodded along by the former).
Trump is teaching the Public the GOP party is the same as the Democrats that use Super Delegates to thwart the Republic. If we were a republic like its supposed to be we would not have unbound aka “super” delegates who do not represent their state’s voters but rather the Party. This is wrong. Its how we keep getting party insiders like McCain. Romney and Cruz.
There is NO legit reason in a republic for unbound delegates to exist but to protect the ruling class.
You don't know what you're talking about.
Reince Priebus was elected head of the RNC by the members of the RNC. The membership of the RNC consists of three members from each state, elected by that state's GOP.
The exact organization varies by state, but my state is divided into 33 districts, each of which gets to elect two representatives to the state central committee. And those two representative positions appear on my primary ballot.
Now, 20 minutes ago, I didn't really know that stuff in detail. I just read a Wikipedia article on the RNC, then googled Ohio Republican Party. And bam -- there it all was, right in front of me.
So if you don't like the way the party does things, then get informed and elect different people to be your representatives. The problem is that most people can't be bothered to do that.
Keep tossing the party line out. There is NO LEGIT reason for Unbound delegates but to protect the GOPe.This is supposed to be a republic.
That's because you don't have enough votes. You need to get more counties to elect like-minded delegates.
I'm not sure what people expect, to be honest. Those organizations generally run by majority rule, and if you can't get a majority, why should the rule be changed?
Anyway, I do get your point, and I prefer a primary to a caucus also. I just think it's lame to complain about it only after the caucuses are held. Had more people been paying attention/interested all along, it may have been fixed before this. Instead, people like you who are active can't get enough people to listen. That stinks.
The core problem is that most voters just don't pay enough attention because they believe they have better things to do.
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