Posted on 04/15/2016 7:07:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Marco Rubio won Minnesota decisively on March 1, but the 17 delegates he was awarded are now up for grabs, free to vote for any candidate they like on a first ballot at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
In a hotly contested Republican primary that looks increasingly likely to culminate in a contested convention this summer, those delegates will be critical. The battle for them is essentially throwing states such as Minnesota, which have already held their nominating contests, back into play as they elect delegates at state conventions. And Ted Cruz’s campaign, which has run circles around Donald Trump’s in the behind-the-scenes battle to elect friendly delegates from states that aren’t holding primaries or caucuses, is also a step ahead in the fight for the Rubio delegates who will be free to give him an extra boost on a first ballot at the convention.
Minnesota hasn’t elected its delegates yet, but the state’s Republican-party chairman, Keith Downey, is already steeling himself for blowback from Trump supporters if and when Cruz emerges from his state with the lion’s share of the delegates.
“If somebody didn’t educate themselves on that process, or they weren’t very good at working through that process, so be it,” he says. “That’s life, and that’s politics.”
Of the 171 delegates Rubio won before dropping out of the race, the 17 he took home in Minnesota, the twelve in Oklahoma, and the two he picked up in New Hampshire are now free agents. In Minnesota and Oklahoma, Rubio’s delegates are obligated only to cast a ballot for him if he is formally nominated, while in New Hampshire they’re entirely unbound.
“Our state rules say if someone is not on the ballot, they are free to vote for whomever they choose,” Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard told NBC News. Cruz won Oklahoma handily on March 1, but Rubio also received twelve delegates for his third-place showing. A Cruz campaign aide says the team has mounted a “very aggressive effort” to win over delegates in every state, including Minnesota and Oklahoma. A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about its efforts on the ground in the two states.
Since both Minnesota and Oklahoma have yet to choose their delegates, they offer the campaigns fertile ground to rack up new supporters. Cruz is taking advantage of the opportunity. Jeff Johnson, who served as Rubio’s campaign manager in Minnesota but has since endorsed Cruz, says that much of Rubio’s organization in the state has mobilized behind Cruz, helping his campaign as it works to woo delegate candidates. “That organization is still in place, we’re just kind of adding to it,” he says of Rubio’s infrastructure in the state. “We’re joining.”
In both states, delegates will be chosen through a series of congressional-district conventions held over the next month and a half before a final convention in May. The elaborate process will benefit campaigns that have extensive, well-established statewide organizations — organizations that several state Republican officials say only the Cruz campaign possesses.
Minnesota GOP officials say the Cruz campaign is working to win over delegates, with a particular focus on those who are unbound. “There have been a number of people, either via e-mail or at [local] conventions, campaigning specifically to be a national Cruz delegate,” says Chris Tiedeman, the state’s Republican national committeeman. “And there have been a number of them going to other conventions, other than their own local convention, to start campaigning for those spots now.”
As it was in Colorado and North Dakota, which both elected unbound slates of delegates favorable to Cruz after forgoing primaries and caucuses entirely, it appears that the Trump campaign is being outmaneuvered on the ground in Oklahoma and Minnesota. Several Minnesota GOP officials say they don’t know who is leading the pro-Trump effort in their state, and Tiedeman says there’s little to suggest the real-estate mogul is doing anything to secure unbound delegates there. “That doesn’t mean it’s not happening, but I haven’t seen it anywhere I’ve been,” he says. “And I’ve been out and about quite a bit.”
There’s a small chance Rubio could bind Minnesota and Oklahoma delegates to him on a first ballot — that is, in the unlikely event his name appears on the ballot. But even if one assumes that the RNC’s Rule 40(b) is amended to place Rubio in contention, Rubio supporters say it’s still unlikely he will appear on the ballot. (The rules currently require a candidate to secure a petition featuring the signature of a majority of the delegates from eight states in order to be nominated, and Rubio won only four states and territories.) That’s because collecting the signatures of a majority of the delegates in the required number of states would take a strong, organized effort on the ground in Cleveland, and Rubio is unlikely to pull it off.
According to one longtime RNC member, “Just because you won a state doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have enough people in that delegate slate signing your petition. It’s a matter of high panic even when you’re Mitt Romney or George W. Bush.” It’s simply not something a non-candidate such as Rubio will do, he says, because, “Getting the petitions is still a pain in the ass and an uncertain prospect.”
“It’s not going to happen,” says Johnson, Rubio’s Minnesota campaign chairman.
Rubio himself tipped his hand for the first time this week about which candidate he’d like to see win the nomination. Though he stopped short of an official endorsement, he told radio talk-show host Mark Levin Tuesday that he wants a conservative nominee and that Cruz is the only candidate left who “fits the criteria.”
In a nail-biter, his delegates may help deliver Cruz the prize.
— Brendan Bordelon is a political reporter for National Review. Eliana Johnson is the Washington editor of National Review.
At best Cruz (Mr Personality) will be the crushed loser to Hillary and he causes conservatism to become the victim as the GOP blames that for the next 40 years.
Needs to be burned to the ground.
“Only a scumbucket like Cruz would try to deprive Donald of those delegates.”
Because the sainted King Donald of Orange has a divine right to those delegates??
Political logic: If Trump is over 1100 formal delegates when he gets to the convention, the others will go to him. Why? because Trump can get over with just unbound - so for political positioning the others know there is no return on investment politically to back-stab Trump at that point. They will kiss his ring.
Whine! Whine! Whine! Trump squealing “unfair” after being outmaneuvered and tripping over his own intellectual shoelaces by rules promulgated and distributed to each campaign months ago!!
Now the voters are finding out those rules. We are finding out that our votes are simply chess pieces in a game which only the establishment gets to play. You bet Im whining!
LMAO!!! Yet the National Enquirer, Gateway Pundit and Conservative Treehouse are legitimate publications, eh?
Why didn’t St. Donald make hay of this sooner?
Until it happens voters cant see for themselves. Now we see.
That Cruz is a man who was prepared to "work" for the nomination....and knew the roadblocks the GOPe would try to throw in his way. As such, he studied how Obama took office and spent years building a similar ground game, planning strategies for several nomination scenes, studied the rules of each state....and focused on what he needed to do....and is carrying that strategy out.
What it does not mean is he's flying by the seat of his pants like Mr Trump, who seems to have gotten up one morning and decided to play at being a nominee. Trump didn't plan to work for it....evidenced by the fact that he didn't hire experienced campaign people, he never planned a ground game and he wasn't willing to "loan" much of his money to his campaign.
I can see how it's a blast for Trump to give big "party like" rallies, throw out hyperbole so the media pants to talk to him....but show up for the boring job of talking to delegates at State Conventions? Nah.....
His insincerity continues to be in evidence when he whines about not being "given" the nomination should he miss the 1237 nomination requirement, because he is "better" and "more popular" than everyone else.....so the Republicans should just forget about those "unfair" rules.
Have you ever wondered why his children didn't register so they could vote for their own dad? They knew he wasn't serious, and the fact that people have taken his publicity stunt as a true campaign has taken them all by surprise. Now they are scrambling to figure out what to do next.
RE: At best Cruz (Mr Personality) will be the crushed loser to Hillary and he causes conservatism to become the victim as the GOP blames that for the next 40 years.
Needs to be burned to the ground.
_____________________________________
I don’t know where you’re getting that prediction from. But if the polls today are any indication ( and I hope they’re wrong ). Trump gets crushed by Hillary by MORE than Cruz would get crushed.
RE: Yet the National Enquirer, Gateway Pundit and Conservative Treehouse are legitimate publications, eh?
Speaking of the Enquirer, other than the two ladies they mentioned, who BOTH publicly denied their allegations, I’m still waiting for the names of the other three alleged Cruz mistresses.
Last time I asked for it ( which was over a month ago ), I was told that it’s coming....
RE: Cheat! Cheat! Cheat! Voters being disenfranchised by rules designed and created by the establishment for the sole purpose of manipulating the votes.
Whine, whine, whine.
Trump conspicuously refrains from complaining about how though he has won just 37 percent of votes cast in Republican primaries and caucuses, those votes have given him 46 percent of the delegates.
That happened because of the rules. Trump has benefited from winner-take-all rules in states such as Florida and Arizona. He has benefited from split opposition: In only one state (Massachusetts) has he won more popular votes than the combined total for Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
Anti-Trump candidates could have joined forces and encouraged tactical voting. When they didn’t (exception: Rubio advised his Ohio supporters to vote for Kasich, a favor not returned), Trump had no complaints.
But he did have complaints when Cruz operatives worked successfully to win technically uncommitted delegates in conventions, as they did in Louisiana and North Dakota. Trump’s response: “I don’t care about rules.”
It seems to run in the family. Trump’s son Eric and daughter Ivanka can’t vote for him in the New York primary because, as Trump explained, “They didn’t know the rules and they didn’t register (Republican) in time.” Even though the rules have been in force for years and are readily accessible online.
The Colorado rules Trump complains about were adopted last August and available online in September. If Trump’s team did not know about it it calls into questions the competence of the team he has assembled.
The Cruz campaign took note and started working to use them to maximum advantage. The Trump campaign didn’t. Whose fault is that?
You have the pollsters, GOPe conspiring, his campaign opponents and Democrats along with PACs from both sides going full gun at Trump.
If Trump grabs the nomination he will have the GOPe forced to drop out.
Meanwhile you have Cruz who has see personality with no ability to pull those crowds and cross overs like Trump who only gets Fox claiming he wins, the rest has Cruz being destroyed.
Cruz is the professor talking zzzzzzzzz.
Trump causes the buzz. Has a big personality many are drawn to.
I hope Trump can win outright, I think there is a great chance Cruz gets stabbed in the back and does not get his contested convention result.
If they DID allow Ted to win it would be as the token loser and Bookmark this: the GOPe then over the next 30 years blames right leaning conservatism for losing, not Ted being a dead fish to the Public.
Granted Trump is a very right conservative leaning populist, but I think he is patriotic and would try and do what he is running on, I don't see him being afraid to do anything for this country.
Now though I know Cruz is one of those lawyers we don't like, I think he loves the country as well, but the man possesses none of the dynamic skills at this time to win or get much done.
The best thing would be if Ted joined Trump IMO and that he tried to advise Trump wisely and prepare for the future elections for himself the way Bush #1 was under Reagan and got the bump to go get elected next.
I am really not about the flaming here, but though Ted has the ground game lawyer inside thing down, at this time he has near ZERO Pied Piper attributes. He has no crowds with tens of thousands and you need to have that this election to get passed the taker vote.
IMO Ted and Trump need to consolidate or Hillary probably wins.
Rubio has already endorsed Cruz Einstein.
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Funny, Rubio will definitely endorse Trump with what counts, his delegates, and why may you ask, politics is about winning, the winner by a long shot with voters and delegates is Trump. A non nuanced reality.
“Only a scumbucket like Cruz would try to deprive Donald of those delegates.”
Rubio got 17 delegate SPOTS at the upcoming convention. Those SPOTS are now open. The hundreds/thousands(?) of other delegates will be voting on who fills those spots. So the delegates elected from neighborhoods across the state will be voting on the delegates to send to the national convention.
So other than having a vote on who fills those 17 vacant spots, what would you propose?
You’re dreaming.
Look at my tagline and tell me if you think I’m a Trump supporter.
So I assume you have no respect for Abe Lincoln? James Garfield? Benjamin Harrison? Teddy Roosevelt?
So you are admitting Trump can't win unless the other candidates forfeit???
Looks like Trump maybe have been outmaneuvered again.
Or as trumpers would put it... cheated out of delegates.
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