The Big Steal is on – trust me.
The Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Romney, Ryan, McConnell faction has united and is moving into high gear to steal the nomination from Trump. The immediate plan is an all out bid to deprive Donald Trump of victory – and the delegates – in Wisconsin.
Governor Scott Walker, long reliant on Koch money, will endorse Cruz. A victory in Wisconsin for Cruz makes the big steal possible. A loss there makes the big steal much more difficult.
The power-brokers’ short term game is clear; stall Trump just short of the magic number of delegates needed to be nominated on the first ballot with the knowledge that many delegates bound on the first ballot by Trump primary and caucus victories would be unbound on a second ballot. Much in the way the RNC stacked the galleries with anti-Trump partisans in the last two debates, anti-Trump quislings are being planted in various delegations that will be free to betray Trump on subsequent ballots.Some Republican state chairmen, for example, in Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Connecticut, North Dakota, and other states, are planting “Trojan Horse” delegates into slots won by Trump on the first ballot. The second part of their audacious plan is to use procedural votes to adopt rules for the convention as recommended by the Rules Committee and the seating of the delegates as recommended by the Credentials Committee, neither of which will favor Donald Trump in any way. Those key committees are made up of two members from each state and the conspirators have been quietly placing their establishment stooges in these positions. This poses the gravest danger to Trump.
Trouble in Texas
Rick Perry has visions of a Vice Presidential nomination and has joined with forces loyal to George P. Bush, the Texas Land Commissioner and Ted Cruz to pack the Texas delegation – including the 40% delegates pledged to Trump who will be hard-core Trump opponents free to vote for rules that make the Big Steal from Trump possible or to unseat Trump delegates to help the big steal in Cleveland.
Lubbock County Chairman Carl Tepper, the respected chairman of the Texas Republican County Chairmen’s Association has been shut down in his demand for Trump supporters in the delegation. There will be no Trump delegates from Texas even though party rules require 40 delegates vote for him on the first ballot.
Stealing New Orleans style
Trump won Louisiana’s Republican presidential primary by almost 4% points, but Cruz is trying to grab 10 more delegates from the state than Trump. Mr. Cruz’s supporters also seized five of Louisiana’s six slots on the three most important committees that will adopt the rules and platform at the Convention and decide who gets to vote this summer in Cleveland.
Trump and Cruz each won 18 delegates apiece based on the Louisiana results in the primary on March 5. But the five delegates awarded to Rubio are now free agents because he dropped out and they will swing behind Mr. Cruz. The state’s five unbound delegates—who are free to back the candidates of their choice—are “regulars” who will vote for Cruz, GOP insiders told me.
The kingmakers snuffed the Trump people easily delegates met to decide who will represent Louisiana on the three important convention committees gathered at a March 12 state convention to elect two members to each panel. Five of the six-committee members are Mr. Cruz backers and the sixth is uncommitted to a presidential candidate. Louisiana is the first state to name delegates to serve on the three committees.
Palmetto State ProblemsThe big steal is in full swing against Donald Trump in South Carolina where Trump won the primary last month. Bush, Cruz, and Rubio forces are aggressively mobilizing allies to recruit and elect their own stooges to the Republican National Convention — scheduled for late July in Cleveland.South Carolina’s potential delegates may be drawn only from the 925 party insiders who attended the state’s GOP convention in 2015. It’s a pool of party veterans with few Trump supporters. The South Carolina delegation may have no Trump supporters. The GOP bosses plan to use their majority to elect Trump hostiles to the crucial rules and credential’s committees as well. New York Rumble
Trump has problems in his back yard where GOP state chairman Ed Cox has declined to endorse Trump who has the backing of more than 36 of the state’s 62 county leaders and expects to release a list of endorsements today. Trump is killing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the New York primary by 64-12 percent, according to a March 17 Emerson College poll. Trumpites and GOP Insiders are already fighting to grab the state’s 95 delegates. The primary is a month away and delegates are selected in two months.
Buffalo developer Carl Paladino who routed the GOP Primary in 2014 and Trump staffer Mike Caputo have networked with GOP county leaders, who ultimately name the delegates. The Trump team boasts commitments from more than 36 of the state’s 62 county leaders and expects to release a list of endorsements in the coming days. ‘We need some kind of loyalty oath by these delegates that they will reflect the will of the voters” Paladino told me. Even party leaders who lean toward Trump today are loose “I have no deals with anybody and I’m not married to anyone,” said Nassau County GOP chair Joe Mondello. “I think Mr. Trump right now is the guy.”
The Big Steal will shift into high gear when more states, including Arizona, Colorado and North Dakota, begin selecting their convention delegates, using methods including statewide and congressional district conventions, meetings of state party leaders and county-level votes or caucuses.
Badger State Show Down
Wisconsin appears to be the battleground for the GOP cabal to take Trump down. Sources tell me $25 million from Cruz and Cruz related superPACS as well as three different anti-Trump PACS funded by Romney backers will flood the state. Trump himself told me he won’t be out-campaigned in the Badger State.
This is ground zero for Cruz. He must win it to have any shot of stalling Trump. Trump can sustain a loss but it will be costly.