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Establishment Mouthpiece Tells GOP, ‘Reject Trump Even If He’s Nominee’

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maxresdefaultBy George Will. Donald Trump’s damage to the Republican Party, although already extensive, has barely begun. Republican quislings will multiply, slinking into support of the most anti-conservative presidential aspirant in their party’s history. These collaborationists will render themselves ineligible to participate in the party’s reconstruction.

Ted Cruz’s announcement of his preferred running mate has enhanced the nomination process by giving voters pertinent information. They already know the only important thing about Trump’s choice: His running mate will be unqualified for high office because he or she will think Trump is qualified.

Hillary Clinton’s optimal running mate might be Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a pro-labor populist whose selection would be balm for the bruised feelings of Bernie Sanders’ legions. Running mates rarely matter as electoral factors: In 2000, Al Gore got 43.2 percent of the North Carolina vote. In 2004, John Kerry, trying to improve upon Gore’s total there, ran with North Carolina Sen. John Edwards but received 43.6 percent. If, however, Brown were to help deliver Ohio for Clinton, the Republican path to 270 electoral votes would be narrower than a needle’s eye.

Republican voters, particularly in Indiana and California, can, by supporting Cruz, make the Republican convention a deliberative body rather than one that merely ratifies decisions made elsewhere, some of them six months earlier. A convention’s sovereign duty is to choose a plausible nominee who has a reasonable chance to win, not to passively affirm the will of a mere plurality of voters recorded episodically in a protracted process. (Read more from “Establishment Mouthpiece Tells GOP, ‘Reject Trump Even If He’s Nominee'” HERE)

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Eyeing an Indiana Victory, Trump Says, ‘It’s Over’

By Steve Holland and Valerie Volcovici. Front-runner Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will have essentially sealed the Republican U.S. presidential nomination if he wins Tuesday’s contest in Indiana, where he holds a big lead over chief rival Ted Cruz.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist opinion poll showed Trump with a wide lead in Indiana, 49 percent to 34 percent for Cruz and 13 percent for a third candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Trump, a 69-year-old billionaire real estate developer, sounded confident in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” when asked whether Indiana would basically end the long-running Republican race in his favor.

“Yes, it’s over,” Trump said. “It’s already over.”

The poll showed the depth of the challenge facing Cruz, a conservative U.S. senator from Texas who is trying to prevent Trump from winning the 1,237 delegates needed to seal the nomination. (Read more from “Eyeing an Indiana Victory, Trump Says, ‘It’s Over'” HERE)

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A Decisive Night in GOP and Democratic Nomination Races

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24251018661_04b1c1a19b_bWith 172 Republican delegates up for grabs and another 384 at stake on the Democratic side, Tuesday’s presidential primary elections added some distance between the two parties’ respective front-runners and the challengers who remain in the race.

After Republican Donald Trump was reported as the projected winner of three states — Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania — just minutes after polls closed in those states, news outlets followed up a short time later by projecting he also won the other two state primaries of the night, adding delegates in Delaware and Rhode Island.

Polling prior to the Northeastern primaries showed Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton poised to win the majority of delegates on Tuesday night. Both front-runners have faced their own controversies throughout the election cycle, though The New York Times’ Alexander Burns pointed to Tuesday’s election as “their best chance before June to gain a final, decisive advantage over their opponents.”

While Trump seems to have succeeded in expanding his lead, the results were less decisive on the Democratic side. Though front-runner Hillary Clinton was quickly named the projected winner of Maryland’s race, taking home 46 of that state’s 95 possible delegates, challenger Bernie Sanders earned 17. (Read more from “A Decisive Night in GOP and Democratic Nomination Races” HERE)

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2016 Election: Donald Trump Sweeps Five US States

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25244866965_78feeaa81c_bDonald Trump has won presidential primaries in all five US states that voted on Tuesday, while Hillary Clinton triumphed in four out of five.

Mr Trump called himself the Republican “presumptive nominee” after victories in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

The results bring him closer to the number of delegates he needs before the party’s national convention in July.

For the Democrats, Mrs Clinton was denied a clean sweep by Bernie Sanders.

The Vermont senator won in Rhode Island and vowed to fight to the end of the primaries process. (Read more from “2016 Election: Donald Trump Sweeps Five US States” HERE)

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Polls Show GOP Nomination Picture Becoming More Clear After Upcoming Primaries

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With new polls showing Donald Trump forging a lead in Indiana and receiving more support in California than his two rivals combined, the GOP front-runner is closing in on a number that a few weeks ago seemed out of reach.

“The latest polling numbers show that Trump will easily hit the 1,237 delegate threshold,” The Gateway Pundit boldly reported Saturday.

A Fox News poll in Indiana shows Trump with 41 percent support, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at 33 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 16 percent. A Fox poll in California showed Trump at 49 percent Cruz is at 23 percent and Kasich at 20 percent.

Trump also leads in the states that vote Tuesday, according to polls cited by The Business Insider . . .

As Trump gathers more states, he becomes harder and harder to deny as the nominee regardless of the delegate math, wrote Brian Beutler in the New Republic.

“No matter how short of 1,237 Trump falls, his argument at the convention will be simple, and completely intuitive: I might not have won in a way that requires the Republican Party to give me the nomination — but I won a moral victory. It’s in your power to deny me the nomination, but woe betide the GOP if you do,” he wrote. (Read more from “Polls Show GOP Nomination Picture Becoming More Clear After Upcoming Primaries” HERE)

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#NeverTrump Movement Crumbles as Pressure on Cruz to Concede Builds

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16652895246_87247deddb_b (2)By Jen Lawrence. Republican National Convention delegates from the District of Columbia who are bound to or supportive of Sen. Marco Rubio tell Breitbart News that they are open to supporting Donald Trump instead.

Some are making the pitch that they want Trump to pick Rubio as his vice presidential candidate, but nonetheless the warm comments many of these Rubio delegates are making about Trump—instead of about Sen. Ted Cruz—is perhaps a sign of a turning tide in the delegate game after Trump captured at least 89 delegates in New York last night.

“I think him choosing Marco [as vice president] would make me more inclined to support him, in a more positive way, a more active role in campaigning because I really love Marco,” said Teri Galvez, a bound delegate from D.C. who the D.C. GOP says is bound to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in an interview with Breitbart News this week.

“I am going to support whoever the nominee is because I’m Republican first and foremost, and it would be very hard for me to ever support a Democrat,” she said. “When I was single I never even dated one. I don’t get excited about Trump. He is the one candidate that I get excited the least about. Again, if Marco was chosen as VP I would warm up to the idea more.”

Even though she’s bound to Kasich according to the D.C. primary results, Galvez is much more of a Rubio supporter. And she’s hardly the only D.C. delegate and Rubio supporter open to backing Trump at the convention. (Read more from “#NeverTrump Movement Crumbles as Pressure on Cruz to Concede Builds” HERE)

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The Nuclear Option: Ted Cruz Fails to Heed Own Advice, Get out of Race He Can’t Win

By Charles Hurt. Mere weeks ago, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas pressured Ohio Gov. John Kasich to get out of the race for the Republican nomination because he had no mathematical chance of winning.

“If you want to stop Donald Trump, there is only one campaign and only one candidate who has done so repeatedly and who has any plausible path to do so,” Mr. Cruz told a local Utah television station before that state’s contest last month.

“For Kasich, it’s mathematically impossible,” said Mr. Cruz, curling himself into a pretzel that has since hardened and just crumbled into little pieces this week.

That is because now the exact same thing can be said of Mr. Cruz and his hopeless campaign.

As of this week, it is mathematically impossible for Mr. Cruz to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination. His only hope at this point is if he can sway enough unpledged delegates to his camp. (Read more from “The Nuclear Option: Ted Cruz Fails to Heed Own Advice, Get out of Race He Can’t Win” HERE)

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New York Primaries Deliver Huge Victories for Primary Front-Runners

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23691565882_46f5873d66_bCruz must rely on contested convention

By FoxNews.com. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton regained their stride in the presidential race Tuesday night, winning their respective primaries in New York — and sending a message to their rivals that their campaigns are back on track after recent stumbles.

Trump, in his home state, notched what appeared to be his biggest victory yet. Speaking to cheering supporters Tuesday night at Trump Tower, he declared: “We don’t have much of a race anymore.”

“[Texas] Senator [Ted] Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated,” Trump claimed. “We’re really, really rockin’.” Indeed, Cruz’s poor showing left him with no mathematical chance of clinching the nomination before the Republican convention in July, though Trump could still end up short of the needed 1,237 needed to seal victory before the gathering. . .

In the Democratic race, Clinton soundly defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in her adopted home state, which she represented in the Senate for eight years. Despite the Brooklyn-born Sanders’ hard-fought attempt at an upset, the former secretary of state successfully staved off that possibility Tuesday night. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 58 percent to Sanders’ 42 percent. (Read more about the New York Primaries HERE)

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Trump the “Runaway Winner” in New York Primaries

By Scott Kelnhofer. As expected, Donald Trump is the runaway winner in today’s New York Republican primary.

Within minutes after the polls closed, CNN projected the real estate mogul as the winner. With more than 40 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had more than 62 percent of the vote. Ohio Gov. John Katich was second with 23 percent of the vote, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has only 14 percent of the vote.

The question coming into the night was not if Trump would win his home state primary, but rather by how much. The margin would be important in determining how the state’s 95 delegates would be allocated.

CNN not only projected Trump would win the state, the network also projects Trump would win more than 50 percent of the vote across the state’s congressional districts, which would give him all of the state’s delegates.

It was a dramatic turnaround from just two weeks ago, when Cruz picked up a double-digit win in Wisconsin and so-called establishment Republicans hoped they were seeing the beginning of the end of Trump’s dominance.

No such concerns were being raised after Tuesday’s win. (Read more from “New York Primaries Deliver Huge Victories for Primary Front-Runners” HERE)

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Former New York Mayor Gives His Recommendation on a Winning Republican Ticket

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477145681_1ee6571a50Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has given his recommendation for a Republican presidential ticket he feels “could win the election” . . .

Continuing the interview, Giuliani said, “Look, what have the Cruz, Trump, Bernie Sanders voters told us? They don’t trust Washington. Now Sen. (Mitch) McConnell, who is Washington, is coming in and saying, ‘I want an open convention so I can pick the nominee.’ We’re going to lose the grassroots of this party.”

Giuliani suggested that in the event of such a scenario, Trump could make a deal in order to get the necessary delegates. He also cautioned the other candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, saying, “Cruz step back, Kasich step back and give him the extra 20 to 30 because if you don’t, you’re going against the will of 65 percent of the Republican Party, maybe 70 percent of the Republican Party.”

Later, Giuliani said the voters are the people who elect the president, not the people in Washington. He then said, “And if this election season has told us anything, what it’s taught us is the people of this country, Republican and Democrat, are disgusted with the party bosses.”

Finishing, Giuliani said, “If they want to win the presidency, they have got to elect a guy with the most votes of anybody during the Republican primary. And Trump has the most votes. Trump-Kasich ticket could win this election.” (Read more from “Former New York Mayor Gives His Recommendation on a Winning Republican Ticket” HERE)

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Cruz, Hannity Spar Over Delegates [+video]

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12986871745_dd2ce9af53_bBy Ian Hanchett. GOP presidential candidate Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz and talk radio and Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity engaged in a testy exchange over the delegate process on Hannity’s radio show on Tuesday.

Hannity began the interview by asking, “I think the number one question on the minds of Republicans right now is what is going on with the delegates. For example, if you can explain to people that your campaign, that you have every right, within the rules, to talk to candidates, that are pledged on a first ballot, to candidate A or candidate C, you being candidate B. And that — tell us what that process is.”

Cruz answered that isn’t what people are concerned about, and are instead concerned about policy issues and beating Democratic candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Cruz further stated that “the media loves to obsess about process. This process, and this whining from the Trump campaign is all silly. It’s very, very simple –.”

Hannity then cut in to say, “I’m on social media, with millions of people. I have 550 radio stations. And I have the top-rated cable in my hour, all across the board. And I am telling you, that people are telling me, that they find this whole process confusing.” He further stated that this wasn’t a “process question. It’s an integrity of the election question. And everybody’s asking me this question. So, I want — I’m giving you an opportunity to explain it.”

Cruz responded, “Sean, the only people asking this question, are the hardcore Donald Trump supporters.” Hannity again cut in to ask, “Senator, why do you this? Every single time you…you’ve got to stop. Every time I have you on the air, and I ask a legitimate question, you try to throw this in my face. I’m getting sick of it. I’ve had you on more than any other candidate, on radio and TV. So, if I ask you, Senator, a legitimate question to explain to the audience, why don’t you just answer it?” (Read more from “Cruz, Hannity Spar Over Delegates” HERE)

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Cruz Slams Trump: Campaign Seems Incapable of ‘Running a Lemonade Stand’

By Hannity.com Staff. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is dismissing charges from the Trump campaign that his recent delegate victories in states like Colorado and Wyoming are a result of an unfair and arcane primary system. In a interview on The Sean Hannity Show, Cruz accused the Trump campaign pushing a narrative that claims that the primary system is rigged . . .

Cruz credited his grassroots support with his recent string of successes. He also explained that Trump’s loss is not a result of skulduggery on the part of his campaign, but on a lack of organizational skill from Trump’s.

“Donald Trump’s campaign does not know how to organize on the grassroots, and so when the delegates are elected the real conservative activists show up, they elect delegates and we are winning those elections over and over and over again,” Senator Cruz explained to Sean. “I cannot help that the Donald Trump campaign does not seem capable of running a lemonade stand.” (Read more from “Cruz Slams Trump: Campaign Seems Incapable of ‘Running a Lemonade Stand'” HERE)

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Ted Cruz Wins Wyoming Republican Presidential Nominating Contest

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8004836220_c1f6e2b257_bBy Ginger Gibson. Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Ted Cruz won all 14 delegates at stake on Saturday in Wyoming, besting rival Donald Trump, who made little effort to win the rural state, and further narrowing the gap in the race for the party’s nomination.

Cruz is trying to prevent Trump from obtaining the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination at the July convention in Cleveland. By continuing to rack up small wins, Cruz is gaining ground on the New York real estate mogul, who has thus far failed to shift his focus on the local-level campaigning necessary to win delegates.

Trump has been critical of the process, again on Saturday calling it “rigged” while speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York. He has repeatedly complained about Colorado, which awarded all 34 of its delegates to Cruz despite not holding a popular vote.

Trump said his supporters are becoming increasingly angry with states such as Wyoming and Colorado . . .

While Trump has won 21 state nominating contests to Cruz’s 10, the billionaire leads the Texas senator by only 196 delegates (755-559). That means he must win nearly 60 percent of those remaining before the party’s political convention in July. (Read more from “Ted Cruz Wins Wyoming Republican Presidential Nominating Contest” HERE)

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Trump Campaign: Cruz Staged ‘Attack’ in Georgia to Steal Delegates…’Not Grassroots Activism’

By Patrick Howley. The Donald Trump campaign is accusing the Sen. Ted Cruz campaign of staging a coordinated “attack” in Georgia that led to pro-Trump delegate candidates being challenged and deposed in every corner of the state, which Trump had won resoundingly in the primary.

“Private backroom nominations committees producing ‘recommended’ slates, county delegations voting in blocs, floor motions made targeting our supporters,” Trump national delegate director Brian Jack claimed, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “This is the machine politics we read about in school, not the grassroots activism our campaign encourages.”

Trump supporters walked out of the district convention in Buford Saturday after a Cruz-Sen. Marco Rubio alliance bumped all of the potential Trump delegates off that district’s slate. But the chaos in Buford happened everywhere at Saturday’s district conventions, with Cruz supporters isolating and targeting pro-Trump delegate candidates in order to reverse Georgia’s votes on a potential second ballot at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

“Within an hour I knew this had happened all over the state of Georgia,” Thomas Deen, senior data analyst for the Trump campaign in Georgia, told Breitbart News. “I am aware of instances in all fourteen of our congressional districts. (Read more from “Trump Campaign: Cruz Staged ‘Attack’ in Georgia to Steal Delegates…’Not Grassroots Activism'” HERE)

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

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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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