As each day passes, the chance dream of a contested Republican convention becomes more real. Or, put another way—rioters, start your engines:
Madrid’s [senior aide to John Kasich] visit to South Dakota on Saturday marked one of the earliest signs that the shadow campaign for the Republican nomination has begun. Kasich and Cruz are scrambling to secure commitments from bound delegates to break off on a second-ballot and vote against Trump. In many cases, that means asking delegates to buck Republican primary voters in the name of settling on a nominee.
As it turn’s out, Kasich’s aide was unsuccessful, but “it’s not Kasich that threatens to steal Trump’s delegates in Cleveland — it’s Cruz.”
Either way, Kasich or Cruz, after years of honing their skills at disenfranchising communities of color and young people—aka reliable Democratic voters—the Republican Party appears to be spreading its wings and preparing to go after their own, as they hope and pray that Trump falls short of the 1,237 delegates he would need to capture the nomination. So, for example, even if Trump wins South Dakota’s primary:
... It's very, very much a Cruz delegation." [...]
"There’s a strong resistance to Trump from a number of these people," said Lance Russell, a delegate and state representative from Hot Springs. [...]
"Most of the people in the room felt that it was not going to be a convention where the candidate would be decided. They are all ready – they’re prepared to do their duty if it does go to a second vote," Roberts said.
So the Party’s elite are ready to “do their duty” and vote for whoever they want on a second ballot, which means not-Trump—despite the fact he will come into the convention with a clear and commanding delegate count. So, what do Republican voters think their party’s delegates’ duty should be under those circumstances?
A new Bloomberg Politics poll finds that 63 percent of Republican voters nationwide think that the winner of the most delegates should get the GOP nomination, even if he does not win an outright majority.
Disenfranchisement sucks, eh? Welcome to our world, Republican voters.