Wednesday, April 13, 2016

What’s so hard to comprehend about Trump; he’s not winning w/o a majority

There are those people who are inclined to believe that Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is on to something when he complains about the rigged, disgusting, dirty system” that he says is about to deprive him of the GOP nomination in the November general elections.

TRUMP: Lead w/o majority means delegates pick
Personally, I think it’s just a matter of simple mathematics. Trump didn’t pay attention in school. Either that, or he’s just a whiny little wuss who ought to back out of the campaign sooner, rather than later.

WHAT’S AT STAKE is that the delegates being chosen in the various elections and caucuses held across the country in recent months will gather this summer at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

At that time, they will pick the party’s nominee.

Remember back to the time when there were more than a dozen candidates seeking the nomination? Many of those people have backed out so long ago we’ve forgotten they were ever in the running.

But we’re still not down to a head-to-head race between two people. There’s still a split. As of this week, Trump had 743 pledged delegates, but may fall short of the majority 1,237 needed to have a majority.

WHILE IT IS true that Trump, the New York real estate developer who knows little about the ways of electoral politics, has won many primaries and caucuses, he’s winning by plurality.

He’s getting more support than any other one candidate, but all the candidates getting support from people who want Anybody But Trump on the ballot come November out-total Donald’s support.

Now that we really are down to just a few, it seems the powers-that-be who don’t want Trump are willing to take seriously the idea of a Ted Cruz presidential campaign. Even though on the ideological nut-scale he’s more far gone than Trump is.

CRUZ: Won't wither away!
To some people, the proof that the Republican Party has lost touch with real people is the fact that its two most credible candidates at this point are Cruz and Trump. Out of that field of 18 or so that once was in the running, these two ideological loons are the ones who have a chance at actually winning the primaries.

THE POINT IS that if Trump were really as strong as he thinks we all ought to presume he is, he’d have the majority – or be well on his way to having them by the time of the nominating convention.

Because he’ll possibly fall short of that 50 percent-plus-one level of support, we may actually get to see a nominating convention which is more than just a pep rally meant to confirm the election results from across the nation. Those delegates (some of whom we chose directly and some of whom are the superdelegates whom we elected to other political positions) will wind up deciding.

RYAN: He says 'no,' but could he still be picked?
That’s the American Way!

Simple mathematics. Whoever gets majority support. And if Trump is truly the classic dealmaker he envisions himself to be, who’s to say he can’t sway delegates not now on his side to back him?

OR DOES TRUMP acknowledge on some level that he’s a con artist of sorts whom a majority of people in his own political party (along with everybody in the opposition party) wants nothing to do with? If Trump gets the math, he gets the win. If he doesn’t he loses. That’s only fair.

The same argument can be made on the Democratic side, where some people are complaining that Bernie Sanders isn’t making any gains despite his string of primary and caucus victories in recent weeks.

SANDERS: 'The Bern' won't incinerate Hillary?
Hillary Clinton still has more delegates and potential for large numbers of delegates that could push her into the majority that would turn the Democratic Nominating Convention in Philadelphia into a coronation, of sorts. A return of the House of Clinton (and be sure to hide the girls, because it means Bill’s back!).

Because in the end, Trump and Sanders seem to think their personalities ought to overpower the math – which says majority rules. That's the REAL American Way!

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EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ll admit that back when the Republican field of candidates was 18, the two that stood out in my mind were Donald Trump and Ted Cruz – they were the two who struck me as so far out there. The fact that they have prevailed over more rational candidates makes me realize why I could never be a part of the modern-day Republican Party.

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