Funny how all the rules - excepting one - seem to be subject to change at the convention. That rule, of course, is the 1,237 delegate requirement.
If majority rule is such a bedrock principle to the RNC, why does it in essence disappear after the first round when many delegates no longer have to vote for who the voting public selected?
Change the rule to say that if no candidate gets 1,237 votes in the first round, unbound delegates (but not bound ones) will be allowed to reconsider their first round votes. The House and Senate do it every day. Call it Round 1(a) if need be to keep bound delegates bound.
The furthest thing from majority rule comes from past tales of released delegates being bribed to support another candidate. If that is allowed (and has been wildly celebrated by media idiots of late) what would be wrong with setting a threshold of, say, 45%, for the above rule to kick in? Or maybe releasing only delegates who voted for a candidate coming in below #2 in the 1st Round for a revote?
The whole thing is a charade anyway - while most delegates are legally bound, nobody on the rules committee is bound to any particular position. Anything more democratic than the existing 2nd Round free-for-all would improve adherence to majority rule.
Ben Franklin said the idea of taxation is to pluck the most feathers from the bird and get the least squawking. Well, this process is designed to give the best image of democracy in action while giving up the least power.
>>Ben Franklin said the idea of taxation is to pluck the most feathers from the bird and get the least squawking. Well, this process is designed to give the best image of democracy in action while giving up the least power.
Very good observation.