(from the diaries by streiff because wishful thinking isn’t a bad reaction to impending doom)

The Media have declared Donald Trump has gained the required number of delegates for nomination, plus one: 1238. This is a misstatement, because he is not officially nominated until 1237 delegates vote for him at the convention. So not only has the fat lady not sung, she’s still in her dressing room, deciding who she’ll sing for.

Thing is, many of the Trump delegates—in their hearts—support Ted Cruz. In fact, informed sources indicate that, were they allowed to vote their consciences on the first ballot, delegates believe they have sufficient votes to nominate Ted Cruz at the convention. (Numbers difficult to confirm at this time.)

Trump strikingly unfit to be president

Those sources also said that delegates live in fear of death threats from Trump supporters, and threats from Roger Stone to release delegate’s hotel rooms—something the craven GOP has done nothing about, to their shame. In social media, Trumpers even threaten people who refuse to vote for Trump in November!

His incitement of these types, and refusal to call them off is but one indicator that Trump is unsuitable for the Oval Office. We’ve also seen neo-Nazis launch loathsome anti-Semitic attacks against a Jewish writer whose GQ profile displeased “Empress Melania,” as they call her. DT refused to condemn the assault, when confronted by Wolf Blitzer.

Shockingly, other Jewish journalists have been similarly attacked by Trump followers. It is with great regret that I quote leftist outlets, but our media are busy worshipping the Golden Calf.

We must ask: Has the GOP lost its sanity? How can it field such a candidate? This Trumpian madness is already being used to paint all GOP candidates.

Convention delegates have the power – and the duty to choose the best candidate

Most state rules dictate that delegates are bound, or pledged to vote for their designated candidate on the first ballot; some on the second also. But all-important is the first ballot vote: if Trump wins 1237 delegates on that ballot, he is nominated. But if he doesn’t, ballots continue until someone does get 1237. That was the system that nominated Lincoln and that is the system today.

I’ve written several times that rules committee member Curly Haugland has repeatedly declared the delegates are free to vote their consciences on the first ballot. In a letter to the RNC membership, in March he said:  “Delegates have been bound only once in the history of the Republican Party: In 1976.”

He cites a 2006 statement by Tom Josefiak, of the RNC Counsel’s office:

“‘One of the important rules changes over the last 50 years has been the unit rule prohibited…that change was made so that an individual delegate can vote his or her conscience.’ (transcript, RNC Standing Committee on the Rules, January 19, 2006 pp 93-94)”

“That’s right,” Mr. Haugland wrote, “Every delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention is a completely free agent, free to vote for the candidate of their choice on every ballot at the convention in Cleveland in July. Every delegate is a Super delegate!”

Haugland refers to Rule 38:

“No delegate or alternate delegate shall be bound by any attempt of any state or Congressional district to impose the unit rule. A ‘unit rule’ prohibited by this section means a rule or law under which a delegation at the national convention casts its entire vote as a unit as determined by a majority vote of the delegation.”

He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that:

“‘The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,’” He said. “The political parties choose their nominees, not the general public, contrary to popular belief,” he added.

“The United States Supreme Court has held several times that political parties enjoy protection from both the First and Fourteenth Amendments as they pursue their political objectives. The Republican Party is free to choose whether or not they want to be governed by state laws,” Haugland argued in a written statement.

“RNC spokesman Lindsay Walters told CNBC that delegates are not free to vote their consciences on the first ballot: “‘Delegates are bound according to the rules written by the state party.’” But: a CNBC study found these SCOTUS decisions support delegates’ right to vote as they choose:

“RNC rules or not, a political party has power over the states and could override their binding rules, according to two Supreme Court rulings: Cousins v. Wigoda 1975 and Democratic Party v. Wisconsin ex rel. La Follette, 1981.”

Therefore, the primary vote—much bragged about by Mr. Trump—does not give him the nomination; the delegates at the convention do. Indeed: his claim to be supported by “the people” is false: the total he got so far, is only 42% of GOP primary voters, including crossover Democrats:

Total votes:     27,900,288

Trump:            11,606,701 = 42%

Non-Trump:    16,293,587 = 58%

So where are we, the 58% who voted against him, represented? If events proceed unchecked, we will have been silenced by a minority of the party, and a clearly unfit candidate will be nominated.

Three  sources confirm Curly Haugland’s opinion

Okay. What is the corroboration for Curly Haugland’s assertion that convention delegates have the right to vote their consciences on the first convention ballot, even if bound to a candidate?

First, in 2012 that is precisely what happened at the GOP convention. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that:

“During a roll call of the states to nominate Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential pick, Paul delegates refused to vote for Romney as required under binding rules of Nevada’s GOP presidential caucus, which the former Massachusetts governor [had] easily won on Feb. 4.

“Instead, … they followed their consciences with 17 voting to nominate Paul and five more abstaining. Five Romney-loyal delegates voted to nominate him as planned.”

Second, you can read the official results on the Green Papers, in the two columns on the right. The “Hard Total” column reflects the “count of the National Convention delegates as they are formally allocated … under the rules governing the selection of such delegates in each state.”

It shows that, of the 28 total Nevada delegates, 14 were bound to Romney and 5 to Ron Paul. But the “Floor Vote” column shows that Romney got only 5 votes on the convention floor; 17 voted for Ron Paul. Mr. Haugland told the writer that happened in other states as well.

Third: Three months before the 2012 convention, Examiner.com wrote:

“In 2008, the RNC Legal Counsel legally interpreted the RNC rules and concluded that all delegates, regardless of state party rules, could vote for whomever he or she chooses at the Republican National Convention.

“The significance of this legal interpretation by the RNC lawyers is that all delegates are free to vote for any candidate regardless of any such “binding.” Because the RNC was the organization that conducted this legal examination, their ruling trumps all state GOP rules.

“In the past, ‘bound’ delegates have attempted to vote for a candidate they were not ‘bound’ to and not once have they been disallowed. Not only is there credible legal interpretation of this scenario, it has been found that there has never been a ‘bounded’ delegate forced upon his or her will to vote for a ‘designated’ candidate by his or her state GOP party.” [Emphasis added.]

The RNC legal counsel, in 2008: “The RNC does NOT recognize a state’s binding of national delegates, but considers each delegate a free agent who can vote for whoever they choose.”

The situation in 2012 was similar to that today, in that a number of delegates bound to Mitt Romney were in fact Ron Paul supporters. Haugland also told this reporter that the vote is by secret ballot, and that delegates should insist that secrecy be preserved. So delegates need not fear reprisals from Trump supporters.

The delegates need your support. Contact Reince Priebus and tell him we demand a viable nominee:

Twitter: @Reince | email: [email protected] | phone: 202-863-8500 <7>