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Let’s get ready to Trumple!

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Illinois

* CNN teased this yesterday…

Allies of two GOP governors, Rick Scott of Florida and Bruce Rauner of Illinois, are said to be curious about how an open convention would work.

* Greg Hinz fleshes it out a bit today…

The increasingly bitter national fight over the loyalty of delegates to this summer’s Republican National Convention is showing signs of spreading to Illinois, which will select 12 at-large delegates and 12 at-large alternate delegates that the Donald Trump campaign would like to consider theirs. […]

In position to make the final call is Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is expected to not only attend the convention but chair Illinois’ delegation as the effective head of he state Republican Party. Stuck in the middle is Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who normally would be expected to attend the convention, too, but, as an elected at-large delegate would be bound to vote for Trump on the first ballot.

In the March primary, Trump won 37 of the delegates selected at the congressional district level, compared to nine for Cruz and six for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. They technically are bound to Trump only for the first ballot, but were hand-picked by the Trump organization and generally are considered loyal.

Not necessarily so are the 12 at-large delegates and 12 at-large alternates who will be selected at the state party convention in Peoria on May 20-21. The delegates to the state convention, in turn, will be selected at potentially contentious county conventions over the next month. […]

State party Chairman Tim Schneider, who was installed in his job by Rauner, says he’s “hoping” to avoid the sort of nasty fights that have occurred in other states. Specifically, a committee headed by former state GOP Chairman Jack Dorgan will nominate a slate of candidates that likely includes some who will back Trump, as well as some who support Cruz or Kasich.

Hoo boy. What a sticky wicket.

* I have generally avoided national party conventions over the years (I went to one when it was in Chicago). But I do believe I’m gonna attend this one, although wearing a press badge might not be the safest thing to do. Then again, being a delegate might not be all that safe, either…

More than three months before any ballots have been cast at the Republican convention, Roger Stone, Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again consigliere, has delivered the campaign equivalent of a severed horse head to delegates who might consider denying Trump the nomination. Trump’s supporters will find you in your sleep, he merrily informed them this week. He did not mean it metaphorically.

“We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal,” Stone said Monday, on Freedomain Radio. “If you’re from Pennsylvania, we’ll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them. You have a right to discuss this, if you voted in the Pennsylvania primary, for example, and your votes are being disallowed,” Stone said.

The Trump campaign later disavowed those statements.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 3:43 pm

Comments

He can deny a connection to white supremacists if he wants, but this is straight out of Cobb’s playbook. I will tell them where you live! bwahahahaha!

Comment by burbanite Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 3:50 pm
Stuck in the middle is Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who normally would be expected to attend the convention, too, but, as an elected at-large delegate would be bound to vote for Trump on the first ballot.

Huh? Can someone please explain this to me.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 3:55 pm
Ducky, I’m thinking Greg means the State convention in May in Peoria, and not the national convention in the Cleve.

Comment by Juice Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:01 pm
Funny how this is being marketed as an “Open Convention”. It is a Brokered Convention. I agree with Donald Trump, and he does have a certain point. Its obvious the party does NOT want him at the head of the ticket. Well they should have thought about that years ago. This did NOT just happen. Conservatives (not Republicans) have been targeting Old White Men for decades. Trump was just smart enough to capitalize on it successfully. And quite frankly this is what Bruce did with his 50 million.
I dont agree with them, but I appreciate the method.

And Rafael Cruz would be saying the same things if he were in the same boat, meaning if he were close to getting the number of delegates but Paul Ryan gets the nomination.

Comment by Jack Stephens Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:03 pm
===”We urge you to visit their hotel and find them.”====

Very smart. Sounds like the basis for a lawsuit if someone gets hurt or threatened.

Comment by Boone's is Back Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:15 pm
Does this mean BigBrain, CarWashKing and CommandoMakeItUp (one of favorite nick names) are bailin’ on Trumpster? Hey the results aren’t final yet.
Maybe we need to get lobbo Pat Brady? Not really he is still livin’ down his dopey ideas from 2012.
But a week of reports from CaptFax goes Cleveland would be priceless

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:16 pm
===CarWashKing===

lol

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:18 pm
Wait. Is Dorgan still the go-to guy on contentious issues?

Comment by walker Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:29 pm
Rauner on the convention floor: “Trump, I can’t support you unless you gut unions! Gut ‘em like a fish!”

Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:36 pm
(insert incendiary statement here) — “I disavow” Supporters hear the first, understand the second is for the rest of us.

Comment by Molly Maguire Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:51 pm
Bernie

Comment by downstate commissioner Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 4:53 pm
We cannot elect a person who so blithely invokes calls for violence against those who do not support him. We’ve seen Trump, as well as those close to his campaign, repeatedly endorse this type of violence. He is the first American politician ever to tempt me with Godwin’s Law.

Comment by RIJ Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 5:01 pm
Godwin’s Law - please enlighten me. Must have missed something in my PolSci classes at the UofI.

Comment by illini Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 5:29 pm
Google search (or Wikipedia) is always your friend:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Comment by Macbeth Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 5:47 pm
—
He is the first American politician ever to tempt me with Godwin’s Law.
—

Agreed — but if you invoke it, you lose.

Comment by Macbeth Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 5:48 pm
Ducky, according to the rules passed by the Republican State Central Committee, those at large delegates who are elected at the State Convention are “bound” in the first round to vote for the Presidential candidate who received the most votes in the Illinois primary election - which would be Donald Trump. However, if the RNC goes to a second round of voting, all delegates are “released” and are free to vote for whichever candidate they choose in those following rounds of voting.

Comment by Been there, done that Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 6:03 pm
Yeah, I could have done a Google Search. I was relying on the erudite commenters on this blog to enlighten me. Very Interesting. And I was out of College many, many years when this theorem was first postulated. Thanks for the reference.

Comment by illini Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 6:08 pm
ReTrumplican or Republicruz?

Comment by Amalia Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 8:53 pm
== I was relying on the erudite commenters on this blog to enlighten me. ==

- illini -, we would have ran afoul of Rich’s banning of certain words from the 3rd Reich

Comment by RNUG Monday, Apr 11, 16 @ 9:18 pm
“we would have ran afoul of Rich’s banning of certain words from the 3rd Reich”

When references to the Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 are outlawed, only outlaws will refer to the Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Tuesday, Apr 12, 16 @ 8:01 am