Exposed: GOP Leaders Considering Massive Rule Change That Could Fundamentally Alter Convention

images (90)By Alex Isenstadt and Shane Goldmacher. The Republican National Committee is expected to debate a proposal next week that would dramatically shift the balance of power at this summer’s convention — and impose a new rulebook for selecting the party’s nominee.

The proposal, which will top the agenda during a meeting of the Rules panel at the RNC’s annual spring meeting in Hollywood Beach, Fla., would fundamentally alter how the convention is conducted, further empowering the delegates to determine the course of the proceedings.

It amounts to not just a changing of the rules but of the rulebook itself, with far-reaching implications, potentially impacting whether party insiders will be able to draft a so-called “white knight” — someone currently not running who would play the role of savior at a deadlocked convention.

The proposal is the brainchild of Solomon Yue, an RNC officer and Rules Committee member from Oregon. It would replace the system used at Republican national conventions for decades, which mimic those used by the U.S. House of Representatives, with Robert’s Rules of Order, a design that’s often used to oversee civic and organizational meetings. (Read more from “Exposed: GOP Leaders Considering Massive Rule Change That Could Fundamentally Alter Convention” HERE)

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GOP Delegate: Primary Votes ‘Absolutely Irrelevant’

By Robert Fowler. Curly Haugland, a Republican National Committeeman for North Dakota, has asserted that once the GOP convention convenes in July, primary votes will be a secondary concern. This viewpoint could prove the undoing of current GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

On April 14, Haugland sat down with NPR to discuss the upcoming Republican National Convention and how party delegates will factor into selecting a nominee.

The committeeman has an interesting perspective on the convention process, stating that even delegates who are pledged to the candidate that their constituency voted for technically do not have to follow the will of the voters.

In Haugland’s view, the rules actually make primary votes “absolutely irrelevant.”

“No matter what the popular belief might be, there is no connection between primaries and the actual convention,” Haugland said. (Read more from “GOP Delegate: Primary Votes ‘Absolutely Irrelevant'” HERE)

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