Is the Republican establishment moving to steal Tennessee delegates from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the event of a brokered convention?
While following this election cycle one thing has become perfectly clear: the establishment in both parties have more control in deciding who will win the nomination than we previously believed. I do not want to go into it again but you can read a more detailed account of the power both parties have in the primaries in this post which I wrote yesterday.
The latest example of this power might have been on display in Tennessee earlier today. Tennessee has what I would call a convoluted system for awarding delegates: according to this story there are apparently two tiers of proportionally awarded delegates based solely on the results of the vote, here is more:
Tennessee has a total of 58 delegates who will be attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July.
Fourteen of those delegates were elected proportionally statewide. Twenty-seven of those delegates were elected proportionally from the state’s nine Congressional Districts. Three of those delegates were automatically appointed under the party’s by laws: Party Chairman Ryan Haynes and the two members of the Republican National Committee from the State Executive Committee.
However, the Republican National Committee gets to pick the remaining 14 delegates and in a closed door meeting earlier today they did just that. It is being reported in the story I linked to above that the RNC might being appointing “Trojan horse” delegates for use in the event of a brokered convention in order to screw both candidates out of a possible nomination.
Both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz believe this is the case. They are claiming that the people who were chosen as delegates for the two candidates do not actually support the candidates and could switch votes at a brokered convention after the second ballot.
The 14 delegates appointed today as part of that overall allocation were designated as follows: seven Trump delegates, six Cruz delegates, and one Rubio delegate.
What has infuriated Trump and Cruz supporters alike is that several of the Trump delegates appointed today have gone on the record as vigorous opponents of Donald Trump.
As the Rocky Top political blog posted today:
At least two people on the establishment’s slate who would be assigned to serve as “Trump delegates” have trashed Trump on social media.
They are SEC members Melissa Gay and Ken Gross.
There are believed to be other “Trojan Horse” delegates who will try to be selected to represent Trump/Cruz, but who will instead vote with the party establishment on rules and credentials, etc. to hurt Cruz’ and Trump’s efforts at the convention.
Some of the Cruz delegates named today were also clearly not Cruz supporters.
Former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney, an ardent enemy of Tea Party causes and no friend of Cruz, was selected as a Cruz delegate.
These delegates are bound by the rules to vote for the candidate they are chosen to vote for but only in the first two ballots, after that they are free to vote for whomever they actually do support. I think is is pretty clear what is going on here…
The latest polls show Ted Cruz with a 10 point lead in Wisconsin and if the Texas Senator does end up winning this state it appears highly likely that we will see a brokered convention and that is what the Republican establishment is banking on.
The Republican establishment is actively working to ensure that neither Ted Cruz nor Donald Trump wins the nomination outright before the convention so they can nominate, as Karl Rove stated it, a “fresh face” (either Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney, if you can truly call either candidate a fresh face) at the convention. This is just the latest example but it is not the only one. I believe John Kasich is still in the race at the behest of the Republican party despite being mathematically eliminated in order to split the vote and I cite that as just one additional example.
You decide? I don’t think so…
Donald Trump’s, and to a lesser extent, Ted Cruz’s support does not come from their positions on the issue because both candidates are flawed, but rather their support comes from people who are sick and tired of the establishment dictating to the people the person they should support, people who want to send a message to the GOP. If the Republican establishment is successful in denying both of these candidates the nomination and in fact to nominate a “fresh face” it will be clear that they have not gotten the message.
I believe that if this happens the best way to send a message to the Republican party would not be to stay home because conservatives have tried that twice and it did not work. The best way to send a message to the Republican establishment will be to vote for the libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, in the upcoming election. Either way Hillary Clinton will be the next President but at least this way our voices will be heard and recorded while if you stay home you will just be silent opposition and by definition your opposition will not be heard, and history proves that point.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
America's Watchtower 
Open letter to the RNC: Hey assholes,we out here, the great unwashed, know that Hillary is your candidate and Mitt is the one you feel can definitely lose to the pant suited one while you are afraid Trump or Cruz may actually beat her. And how is it you don’t know that once she is the Oval Office she will destroy the republican congress from her bully pulpit and you’ll all be out on your collective asses along with the SCOTUS being lost forever? One final thought, shame on you for betraying all of your loyal supporters out here in the hinterland.
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Amen Peter!
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Enough said! Thanks, Peter!
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These young aspiring Americans don’t like Trump either.
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Nice, huh?
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What’s wrong in this country. We appear to be no better then some third world banana republic.
DEATH THREAT TREND
Since Nov. 11, 2015, Trump has been assigned permanent Secret Service protection due to threats he has received while on the campaign trail.
The threats began to gain steam and severity starting in July 2015. Below, TRUNEWS took a list started by Douglas Ernst of WND and finished it with other relevant examples:
July 12th – Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo threatens to kill Trump on twitter
December – Mass calls were made on social media for Trump’s assassination.
December – Walmart discontinued its sales of Rick Ross’ “Black Market” album after it was discovered the musician had called for Trump’s execution in the lyrics.
March 3 – Emadeldin Elsayed visa is revoked and is jailed in Orange, CA after threatening online to kill Trump.
March 3 – Rapper Chris Brown made a call on Instagram (now deleted) for 50 member black mobs to provoke Trump supporters at his rallies.
March 4 – Mormon talk radio host Glenn Beck threatens to stab Trump to death live on air.
March 11 – Thousands of Soros-funded Black Lives Matter supporters flood the streets of Chicago and force Trump to cancel his rally as the riot becomes violent. Ambulances were blocked, police were assaulted, and protestors fired guns into the air in celebration.
March 12 – Tommy DiMassimo attempts to charge the stage at a Trump rally in Dayton, Ohio before he is stopped by FBI agents and subsequently charged with disorderly conduct and inducing a panic.
March 15 – Hacking group Anonymous threatens through a YouTube video to wage a digital war against Trump.
March 19 – Demonstrators in Salt Lake City strung up and beheaded an effigy of Trump.
March 25 – Two Georgia teens were arrested for making death threats to Trump on social media.
March 27 – An effigy of Trump is burned in Mexico city during Easter celebrations.
March 28 – A tombstone with Trump’s name on it was discovered in New York City’s Central Park.
March 31 – Ted Cruz jokes about running Trump over with his car while appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show.
Read more at http://www.trunews.com/trump-under-siege-baltimore-thugs-add-to-death-threats-in-viral-video/#yWAWRvkaHkmmB3cW.99
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it appears, CJ, that Trump is a threat to “certain” people, doesn’t it?
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The left has been trying to criminalize political opposition for years and this is the result of it. Sooner or later all this is going to lead to violence but I think that is part of the plan. The left will then turn around and blame the right even though they are the ones who have been inciting it.
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Kind of like BLM participants pushing and shoving and then saying “don’t touch me” when they are doing all of it themselves…..Dems have a way of placing blame on the innocent. However, with this time I don’t see the establishment as being totally innocent. They have either changed OR are finally showing their colors. I think both parties have alot to answer to with the American people this time around.
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@CJ: Trump was entitled to US Secret Service protection from the moment he entered into the election process by his signature on the paperwork, however, for some unexplained reason, either his own reluctance or BHO reluctance to provide the service, Trump had gone without any US Secret Service protection. Trump, does carry a gun but, does he have any permit beyond New York City (and State), such as the 32 state reciprical? Another thing is, many people carry, though a good number of them, could not pull the trigger if they had to or, would seek to “wound”, rather than halt any aggressor. His history with ROTC and since, is paper. I do not know if he hunts or field dresses game, if he does hunt. Mindset. I hunted before going into the Marines, and humans that I had killed, were a bit different than deer, rabbits, or birds. The journey goes from thinking what you have done to another human to eventually hardcore, against an enemy. Not many can deal with it, so, it is probably best for Trump to avail himself to the protection but, as we have seen, people at times, get through the morose agents. Maybe the agents have booze and whores on their minds, who knows?
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Thanks for sharing this info, I was not aware that Trump was qualified to get SS protection and I certainly was not aware that he has not received it. Perhaps this was of his choosing but with the way the left is trying to incite violence I think if he is entitled to it he should probably take it because I fear there is going to be violence before this election is over.
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I too, have a feeling there will be violence, as the Left, is rabbid.
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It is sad but this is what it appears they want. Ordo ab chao…
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I guess everyone that has a vested interest in the status quo and does not want to hear that the system is rotten and corrupt. We have too many people in this country that have or do not want to integrate into what should be an American culture.
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Reblogged this on Rifleman III Journal.
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Thanks yet again for the reblog!
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You’re welcome.
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