The GOPe makes one last stab at asserting itself:
The Republican nomination process may be flipped on its head if a proposed amendment is passed just days before the convention, an amendment that is showing some support among party members.
Curly Haugland, a member of the GOP’s standing rules committee, sent a letter to all GOP presidential campaigns and Republican National Committee members in November that he plans to present an amendment that essentially will allow any candidate who received a delegate to be placed back on the first ballot.
That means even candidates who have dropped out of the race could be considered for the nomination…
Haugland’s amendment would replace Rule 40, which was passed during the 2012 convention that made it mandatory for any candidate who sought the GOP nomination to have the support of the majority of the convention delegates in eight states or more.
So when it helped them install Romney, they changed the rules to what they are, and now that it won’t help them install a liberal, they want to change it back. This is the same character who is on record saying, “We choose the nominee, not the voters.”
Political parties, not voters, choose their presidential nominees, a Republican convention rules member told CNBC, a day after GOP front-runner Donald Trump rolled up more big primary victories.
“The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,” Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. He even questioned why primaries and caucuses are held.
Fortunately, Roger Stone, who is in a position to know, feels Donald has it locked up:
“By my calculation, Trump now needs about 500 delegates, or only 50 percent of those remaining to secure the nomination,” Stone said. “And this calendar is moving into some of Trump’s strongest states: Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, New Jersey. I expect a Trump sweep of those. They account for about 366 delegates of the 946 left to be selected, so Trump needs about 150 votes of the 580 proportional delegates left to put him over the top. He is very very close to be able to pull this off.”
My one fear with Trump was that he is a deal maker and he is loyal. Had the GOPe played this differently, I think they could have used his loyalty to get him if not on their side, at least sympathetic to their cause. With each passing day, I think any chance of that is disappearing, and as it does, the potential greatness of Trump’s Presidency is growing.
[…] The GOPe digs itself deeper […]