Have We Ditched Democracy?

or

Was the Colorado Primary Rigged?

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CHAOS

Our Presidential Primary process is in chaos, it seems.

Donald Trump is claiming that the Colorado Primary was rigged.
Most of the Colorado delegate votes were assigned to Ted Cruz, without holding a primary vote. Yesterday, Wyoming assigned all 14 remaining delegates to Ted Cruz at their convention.

Slide1What’s going on?  What happened to democracy? Is Donald Trump right? Is our political system completely corrupt? Do our votes even matter? These are the questions that are running through people’s minds, as we negotiate the very complicated and confusing process of Presidential Primary elections this year.

Here are some of the questions my most respected, educated, Madisonian conservative friends and relatives are voicing:

  • I have always considered that my right to vote is the way I express my voice and opinion about how our country is run. Primaries are one of these instances. One of my hesitations with a brokered convention is that if the general public chooses by consensus a candidate, will 2,500 people whom I did not elect (the delegates) decide to go against what we think?
  • There is already distrust between the general public and politicians. If a brokered convention were to choose a candidate that has not been in the lead in the primaries, I fear that this distrust would grow even more within the Republican party.question mark
  • If a brokered convention has always been an option, why have we been fooled into thinking its the primaries that really matter?
  • If a brokered convention is held this year, will this become a normal thing and will primaries even matter anymore?
  • Should we trust these delegates? Are they true conservatives, dedicated to the party platform? Are they doing it for political gain rather than true motives?

The Short Answer

The short answer is that no, democracy has not broken down, the Colorado Primary was not rigged, and that our democratic votes are not wasted.

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(for Tracey!)

The simplest analogy is a sports analogy.  If two teams come in very close, in a tie, the game goes into overtime and the victory is determined during the last 2 minutes of the game, has the whole game been wasted?  Should the teams just have played for 2 minutes?  Is the entire game a farce?  No, no, and no.  When the game is very close, new rules kick in to determine the winner.

And so it it with the Presidential Primaries this year.

The difference is that the United States Presidency is too important to be determined by two points or two minutes of play. The founders of our country and of the political parties have instituted a complex system of rules to handle such situations where many teams are playing in the game, which require runoff voting at a convention that continues until one team (candidate) accumulates at least 51% support. A nation cannot function well without the backing of 51% of the people.  So Donald Trump’s 35+% support these days, although a plurality, is not a majority (51%), and has never been considered enough to win the nomination.

The Presidential Race is never won by a small margin, but is designed to choose a candidate that 51% of America is prepared to support.  For more information on brokered conventions, watch for the coming article, The Truth About Brokered Conventions or Media (and other) Efforts to Steer the Republican Nomination.

And if neither leading candidate can reach 51%, sometimes a compromise candidate can be found at the brokered convention that 51%  will agree to back. This might even be someone who did not run in the primaries, but whom both warring factions are prepared to settle for.

Why Nobody Can Get to 51% This Year

There is a serious split in the Republican Party in 2016, between progressive Republicans and conservative Republicans.  (Actually, the Democrats are suffering a similar split, but our primary subject here is Republicans). Republicans also had a glut of candidates, probably because conservatives have suffered so much disillusionment with elected Republican officials in recent years that many candidates are coming forward to throw themselves on the progressive hand grenade in the Republican Party, hoping to save the party and our nation from “progressive” destruction.  As a result of this serious fundamental discord within the Party, combined with the glut of candidates, no one candidate seems to be able to collect 51% support.Here Come the Swans

This is historically an unusual situation.  This is a Black Swan, or a rare unexpected event that has transformative potential for our future.  And that potential can turn out to be quite positive. Black Swan events are usually rare, but this 2016 election cylce is bringing in a veritable flock of Black Swans.  And primary among them is the surprising development of the Presidential Primaries.

But How Can A State Award Delegates Without Holding a Primary,
or
How Can Delegates Decide Not to Represent the People’s Vote?

The Primary system is very complicated.  Few of us understand the system because of the freedom each State has to run things completely it’s own way.  So the system really varies from State to State.  We also don’t understand because in most previous elections there was enough support for one Presumptive Nominee throughout the United States, and in those cases the details of how one eccentric state like Colorado chooses to vote become unimportant, and the details do not make the news.

But now we are in overtime, and those details become important.  As we try to understand them, we ask –

Who's in Charge?Why would an eccentric State decide not to consult the people’s vote?
And why would any sane delegate decide to go against the people’s vote?

If Republican primaries were limited to registered Republican voters, it would always make sense to hold primaries and it would always make sense for delegates to listen to the opinion of the voters.
But now in 2016,progressive Democrat governments have passed laws in 24 States, to allow ANYBODY to vote in ANY primary.  So now Democrats and Independents can vote in a Republican primary.  And progressive people like Mitt Romney and Donald Trump can run for office under the Republican banner.

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TNT

Democrats now routinely use unscrupulous Alinsky Tactics in warfare against Republicans, and Democrats have even bussed in people to throw off Republican primaries.  This poses a serious threat to the Republican Party.  The reverse, Republicans voting in a Democrat Primary is also possible, but Republicans, cherishing as they do traditional Judeo-Christian values in their platform, are less likely to, and have not been accused of using such dishonest tactics.

So, at least in 24 States, Primaries are routinely sabotaged. Just this year in the liberal New Hampshire Primary, voters from neighboring States like Massachusetts were bussed in to vote, and there is video documentary published February 10, 2016, of Out of State Voters and Non-Residents Offered Ballots in New Hampshire Presidential Primary.

So apparently, attempts to hijack the Primaries are in full force today. Is this the “people’s vote” that we want to protect?

Progressives Can Run as Republican Candidates?
Progressives Can Vote in Republican Primaries?

So what, you say?
Well, so this creates a serious conflict.
We end up with Republicans who are not Republican.
We end up with candidates who do not support the Republican Platform, a platform which is still conservative.
We end up with citizens like you and me who expect certain things from a Republican candidate, because we have learned over a lifetime what Republicans supposedly represent, and surprise, surprise, the “Republican” we voted for does not act Republican, does not vote Republican, and really makes us feel like our vote was betrayed.

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We end up with chaos in the Republican Party, which is exactly what the Democrats, who specialize in Alinsky Tactics, and who passed the legislation allowing anybody to vote in a Republican Primary, intended to accomplish in the Republican Party.

 

So What’s a Delegate to Do?

So what’s a delegate to do?
A delegate is torn between the democratic desire to represent his/her voters, and the democratic desire to support the Republican platform, on which many American voters rely.  Many voters are too busy to follow each candidate in great detail, and presume that a Republican candidate upholds Republican principles.

So how does a delegate serve democracy better?
By representing what random Democrats and Independents decided to vote for in the Republican primary?
Or by keeping candidates accountable to the Party Platform and to Republican principles?

When the Country is Functioning Well

When the country is functioning well, the decision of one State not to hold primaries, or the decision of a few delegates to stay faithful to the Party Platform instead of staying faithful to the voters in the Primary (who may have been bussed in from neighboring states by Democrats), these decisions do not make or break the will of the American people.  Our majority vote drowns out the noise of variation and irregularlity of individual State or individual delegate results.

When the Country is DividedSlide1

When the country or the Party is seriously divided, and nobody can get the very wisely chosen 51% that our founders specified, the race is won by a particular candidate via these very details.  The game is won during the last 2 minutes of play, and some feel that the system is unfair.
And that is where we are in 2016.

So Back to the Original Questions:

  • I have always considered that my right to vote is the way I express my voice and opinion about how our country is run. Primaries are one of these instances. One of my hesitations with a brokered convention is that if the general public chooses by consensus a candidate, will 2,500 people whom I did not elect (the delegates) decide to go against what we think?

The 2,500 people whom you did not elect (the delegates) are actually trying to represent the will of the people.  Just as we defer to experts in other spheres of life, to lawyers, stock brokers, doctors, accountants, the delegates are our Repupblican experts who actually do represent our votes.  Even when they are at war with each other, progressive Republicans against conservative Republicans, they are representing the conflict we Americans are fighting in our homes, high schools, work places and universities every day.

  • There is already distrust between the general public and politicians. If a brokered convention were to choose a candidate that has not been in the lead in the primaries, I fear that this distrust would grow even more within the Republican party.

Slide1There is a war on in the Republican Party.  Why should you trust the voters bussed in from Massachusetts more than you trust the delegates chosen by your local Republican Party?  The delegates who go to the convention are NOT Washington, D.C. elites, but are chosen in each State by Republican Party members.

  • If a brokered convention has always been an option, why have we been fooled into thinking its the primaries that really matter?

The brokered convention is only an option when no candidate can reach the 51% of Republican votes.  That has happened this year, so we need a run-off.  And you are right, if we allow ANYBODY to vote in a Republican Primary, they actually do become pretty meaningless, and we might be better off trusting the elected delegates to uphold Republican principles.  Some even say that primaries are driven by big advertising dollars, while fights at a convention are driven by ideas, so convention selection of a nominee is superior to primary selection.

  • If a brokered convention is held this year, will this become a normal thing and will primaries even matter anymore?

A brokered convention will only be held in a year when the Party is very split.  If the Party is united  during the next election, and one candidate can get their 1237 delegates or 51% of Primary votes, the Primary still remains primary, and no overtime is needed.

  • Should we trust these delegates? Are they true conservatives, dedicated to the party platform? Are they doing it for political gain rather than true motives?

Delegates are people who feel so strongly about our country that they invest massive amounts of their own time and resources to represent the Republican Party. They are not appointed out of Washington D.C., but are chosen by each State/Territory.
We can trust delegates as much or more than we can trust all voters, all politicians, or all parties.Building-Trust
The delegates will represent all the warring factions that States choose to send to the convention- there will be conservatives who defend the platform, there will be progressives who want to compromise Judeo-Christian values, and there will be people who have been bought off by monied interests.  We are at civil war.  But you cannot win a war by refusing to participate; that only ensures that you lose.  So everybody goes into the brokered convention knowing that there is a risk, that may not get what they want, but it’s worth the fight.

What Do You Think?

I think that the brokered convention is a Godsend, an opportunity for conservatives to work, pray for a Black Swan event, and take back the Republican Party to represent the present Platform, which protects religious freedom, protects life, protects traditional marriage, and advocates fiscal responsibility.

Those who fear conflict and who fear the brokered convention, cannot win the war.

Many in the media and in campaigns are exploiting the lack of knowledge that most of us have about brokered conventions.  For more on this topic, watch for the next article, which is almost ready for the presses- The Truth About Brokered Conventions or Media (and other) Efforts to Steer the Republican Nomination.

So What Do We Do?

We vote, become politically active, spend more than just your 15 minutes at the poll booth, PRAY, and help us retake this nation.
Above all, trust the process. Like all our other human institutions,  despite some human imperfections, with the help of God, it works.

God Bless America!