A state party staffer from a
large Northeastern state passed the entry codes for a conference call of five
Republican chairmen from significant states this past Saturday. The topic on
the table? Stopping Donald Trump. I had to listen in.
These hard-boiled pols know the nomination will be decided not on
the first ballot, but in a series of procedural votes by the entire convention
to adopt the rules of the convention as recommended by the Rules Committee and
the seating of the delegates as recommended by the Credentials Committee. Those
key committees are made up by two members from each state. The bosses have been
quietly planting establishment regulars in these spots.
The Trump camp has been inattentive to this process. The party kingmakers
may have the votes to knee-cap Trump in the rules and credentials committees,
as they did Congressman Ron Paul in 2012. The kingmakers have
planned to steal
the nod from Donald Trump.
Now they party insiders want to make sure they have a working majority on
the floor for the passage of their “license to steal.” Republican state chairs
are planting Trojan Horse delegates into slots won by Trump on the first ballot
to vote with them on procedural votes to pass the Rules and Credentials Reports
that will seal the “Big Steal.” This is going on in Texas, New York,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, North Dakota, and other states.
Though these “Trump” delegates will be bound by national and state rules to
support Trump through the first ballot at the convention, they are free to vote
against Trump’s interests on the adoption of Rules and the seating of
delegates. It’s entirely plausible that a state could seat delegates pledged to
support Donald Trump who have open affiliations with other candidates. In
California, Cruz and Paulistas are signing up online via CA’s GOP website as
Trump delegates.
The RNC’s rules committee tightened the rules governing the allocation of
pledged delegates: The proportion of pledged delegates actually sent to the
convention must align with the proportion actually won by a candidate in states
that are not winner-take-all. Republican operatives are secretly working to
stack the delegate selection process. They want as many reliable stooges as
possible to identify as pledged “Trump” delegates. That way, those men and
women can vote to break Trump’s back with hostile rules and by unseating Trump
delegates if necessary,
The power brokers short-term game is clear: Stall Trump just short of the
magic number of delegates needed to be nominated on the first ballot with the
knowledge that many delegates bound on the first ballot by Trump primary and
caucus victories are ringers who would be unbound on a second ballot. Much in
the way the RNC stacked the galleries with anti-Trump partisans in the last two
debates, anti-Trump quislings are be planted in various delegations that will
be free to betray Trump on procedural matters and subsequent ballots.
Kidnapping is a real possibility. What happens if a pledged delegate decides
not to show up for the first ballot? The alternate replacing them may not be
for Trump.
Get ready for Armageddon.
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