Gaslighters who support Republican presidential nominations that are determined by primaries have previously coined the terms “money primary”, “invisible primary” and, a new media creation this year, the “shadow primary”.
2024 is the beginning of the new “PRETEND PRIMARY”.
This NPR gem from our last post is a great example of how the “Pretend Primary” works:
PRETEND: “Of course, Trump doesn't have to win a majority in the primaries to win the nomination again. He just has to win a plurality, as he did in many of the early 2016 primaries.”
And gaslighters continue to:
PRETEND: That the Republican nominee for president does NOT need to earn the vote of the majority of the permanently seated delegates at the Republican National Convention in 2024.
PRETEND: That primaries choose the Republican presidential nominee; not the Republican National Convention.
PRETEND: That what happens first (convention) happens last.
PRETEND: That the Republican National Convention is NOT the highest authority of the Republican Party.
PRETEND: That the delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention are BOUND to vote according to results of 2024 primaries.
PRETEND: That the 2016 Republican National Convention was NOT the most recent Republican National Convention.
PRETEND: That there was a Republican National Convention in 2020.
PRETEND: That the RNC Executive Committee can create a Rule 37(e) Republican National Convention.
PRETEND: That a Republican National Convention adopted official Rules of the Republican Party in 2020.
PRETEND: That the RNC had an official meeting April 14, 2022.
PRETEND: That the current occupiers of the Republican National Committee had the authority to amend the Rules of the Republican Party at a training session April 14, 2022.
PRETEND: That the current occupiers of the Republican National Committee have authority to exist, much less authorize “binding” primaries in 2024.
PRETEND: That the Rules of the Republican Party that create the Republican National Committee and the Rules for the Republican National Convention run concurrently.
PRETEND: That the media reporting on all aspects of the Republican presidential nomination process will be accurate.
PRETEND: That the individual delegates to the Republican National Convention of 2024 will NOT have the unfettered right to vote a secret ballot for the candidate of their choice to be the nominee in 2024.
PRETEND: That the individuals who have made a personal decision to join the Republican Party and win election to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention would, thereupon, vote to surrender their right to choose the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 to voters of any or no political party who voted in the PRETEND PRIMARY.
PRETEND: That all delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention will be elected by Republicans participating in party caucuses or conventions.
PRETEND: That the First and Fourteenth Amendments do NOT protect the rights of individual members of the Republican Party.
DISCUSSION OF THE RULES OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
This discussion is to offer further clarification of the implications of the “technical amendments” that reordered the Rules of the Republican Party in 2000 as told in the previous post on primary fraud.
As purportedly adopted by the 2020 Republican National Convention August 24, 2020 and purportedly Amended by the Republican National Committee on April 14, 2022, such complete Rules of the Republican Party can be found on the GOP.com website.
Keep in mind, these are not NOW the Rules of the Republican Party that will govern the Republican National Convention in 2024 because that convention will adopt its own rules in 2024.
Whether you read the rules based on the Preamble from the current RNC website or the Preamble from the 1996 Rules of the Republican Party, the effect is identical.
When the currently printed Rules of the Republican Party are adopted in 2024, the Preamble will read: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the following be and hereby are adopted as The Rules of the Republican Party, composed of the rules for the election and government of the Republican National Committee until the next national convention,(2028) the rules under which delegates and alternate delegates shall be allotted to the respective states in the next national convention,(2028) and the rules under which such delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected and under which contests shall be considered, and the rules of business of this national convention.(2024)
It, of course, makes much more sense if the Preamble is worded as it was in 1996 before the lawyers manipulated the wording and re-numbering as described in my previous post.
If adopted as in the 1996 Rules of the Republican Party, the Preamble will read: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the following be and hereby are adopted as The Rules of the Republican Party, comprised of the RULES OF BUSINESS OF THIS national convention,(2024),the rules for the election and government of the Republican National Committee UNTIL the NEXT(2028) national convention, the rules under which delegates and alternate delegates shall be allotted to the respective states in the NEXT(2028)national convention, and the rules under which such delegates and alternate delegates shall be ELECTED and under which contests shall be considered.
So, here we are in 2022 with our thoroughbreds chomping at the bit in anticipation of a primary horse race to see who the Republican nominee for President of the United States will be in 2024.
As we can see, the current occupiers of the RNC have purported to make rules, as recently as April 14, 2022 at a “training session only”, to conduct a horse race which includes provisions to “bind” delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention forcing them to cast their votes according to primaries held PRIOR TO the 2024 convention.
For this exercise, without changing a single word, we present the two conflicting “binding” provisions contained in the current version of the Rules of the Republican Party; however, we present them in the order of their application at the time they will be presented to the NEXT Republican National Convention.
Keep in mind that Rule NO. 12 will not be effective unless and until the 2024 Republican National Convention adopts it and Rule 33 can only pretend to effectively bind delegates because it is part of rules that are only in effect UNTIL the next convention (2028).
The two different rules that purport to “bind” delegates to vote according to primary results are currently NO. 16 and NO. 37. Properly numbered however, they would be NO. 12 “Roll Call” and NO. 33 “Election, Selection, Allocation, or Binding of Delegates and Alternate Delegates”.
RULE NO. 12 (Rule 37)
Roll Call
(a) Upon all subjects before the convention requiring a roll call, the states shall be called in alphabetical order.
(b) In the balloting, the vote of each state shall be announced by the chairman of such state’s delegation, or his or her designee; and in case the vote of any state shall be divided, the chairman shall announce the number of votes for each candidate, or for or against any proposition; but if exception is taken by any delegate from that state to the correctness of such announcement by the chairman of that delegation, the chairman of the convention shall direct the roll of members of such delegation to be called, and then shall report back the result to the convention at the conclusion of balloting by the other states; however, that in any event, the vote of each state for the nomination for President shall be announced and recorded (or in the absence of an announcement shall be recorded) in accordance with the results of any binding Presidential preference vote or direct election of delegates bound or pledged pursuant to these rules, state party rules, or state law.
RULE NO. 33 (Rule 16)
Election, Selection, Allocation, or Binding of Delegates and Alternate Delegates
(a) Binding and Allocation.
(1) Any statewide presidential preference vote that permits a choice among candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in a primary, caucuses, or a state convention must be used to allocate and bind the state’s delegation to the national convention in either a proportional or winner-take-all manner for at least one round of balloting, except for delegates and alternate delegates who appear on a ballot in a statewide election and are elected directly by primary voters or delegates bound to a candidate that withdraws from the presidential race. States wishing to unbind delegates pursuant to this rule must specify the criteria for doing so in the filing submitted to the Republican National Committee in accordance with paragraph (f)(1) of this rule.
It is embarrassing to point out that according to the differing time frames during which these rules apply, the following section of this rule directs the Secretary of the Convention to perform a function in 2028, not 2024.
Incredible incompetence comes to mind.
(2) The Secretary of the Convention shall faithfully announce and record each delegate’s vote in accordance with the delegate’s obligation under Rule No. 16(a)(1), state law, or state party rule. If any delegate bound by Rule No. 16(a)(1), state party rule, or state law to vote for a presidential candidate at the national convention demonstrates support under Rule No. 40 for any person other than the candidate to whom he or she is bound, such support shall not be recognized. Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule No. 40 regarding formally placing a name in nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States, the votes of all credentialed delegates properly cast according to Rule No. 16(a)(1), state party rule, and state law shall be reported by the state delegation chairman or his or her designee and repeated by the Convention Secretary. Except as provided for by state law or state party rule, no presidential candidate shall have the power to remove a delegate.
WHY ARE THERE CONFLICTING BINDING PROVISIONS IN THE RULES?
Prior to the most recent Republican National Convention, there was no conflict. As we previously explained here:
“In the preface to UNBOUND, published prior to the 2016 Republican National Convention, we wrote “so long as the 2016 Republican National Convention…does not substantially change Rule 37 (b) and Rule 38, then the freedom of delegates to vote their conscience will be preserved.”
The Trump campaign believed us.
And with the able assistance of the Trump campaign, and most notably attorneys William McGinley and Don McGahn, the 2016 convention amended Rule 37 (b) to add the following:
however, that in any event, the vote of each state for the nomination for President shall be announced and recorded (or in the absence of an announcement shall be recorded) in accordance with the results of any binding Presidential preference vote or direct election of delegates bound or pledged pursuant to these rules, state party rules, or state law.
Thus, in 2016, we forced the Trump campaign to recognize the need to include “binding” in the convention rules just as the Ford campaign did in 1976; the only other time in the history of the party that delegates voted to bind themselves.
So, when the delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention arrived in Cleveland, they were not bound.
But, RNC Chairman Reince Preibus allowed the Trump campaign to take over the operation of the convention rules committee.”
The one-day 2016 Convention Rules Committee meeting was adjourned immediately after the Amendment to Rule 37(b) was adopted which precluded the elimination of the conflict contained in Rule 16 that was approved earlier in the day.
We are now in the same situation we were in prior to the 2016 convention. Future delegates to the 2024 convention will be UNBOUND, unless and until they VOTE TO BIND THEMSELVES!
The lack of a convention in 2020 has left the Republican Party with no rules to govern the delegate selection process for 2024. A mid term convention of delegates convened specifically to create such rules would eliminate uncertainty.
In the alternative, we are left to PRETEND there is a Republican Party.
Stay tuned!