Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Trump likely to win West Virginia but lose delegates

Think about what that represents... Ted Cruz stood on the floor of the Senate and called this man a LIAR, publicly and it went world wide.

And this man will still vote for Cruz rather than Trump.

After another 16 states, Trumps lead is likely to out pace their number combined. We can count up the votes on April 27 if you like.

The other thing about the rules is, it's a man vs man race at this point. Adding another candidates total to your own doesn't help Cruz any more than it helps Trump. Add Rubio's votes to Trump and where does that leave Cruz? Alongside Peter Pan in Neverland where rules are made up to suit the imagination, and voters show up in support after being screwed.

Starting on the 2nd and 3rd ballots, adding another candidate's total to your own CAN win it and often has in history.

All Trump has to do is walk in with 1,237 and this doesn't matter.

Cruz's plan is to walk in with 870 and start screwing over the republican constituents.

It's going to be very obvious to everyone in the country what his plan is after he's mathematically eliminated around 11pm eastern time tonight.

Cruz's plan is to talk in with as many as possible, and allow the delegates to vote. He'll follow all of the rules that are plainly laid out for all of the candidates to help his chances, but ultimiately it's up to the candidates.

Nobody wins with 40% of the vote. Participation medals don't count.

All he has to do is walk in with 1,237. Or get 1,237 to vote for him after the 1st ballot...

And how do you see that playing out with the voters? How do you see that working out for Cruz in the general election?

I think 50%+ of the voters will be thrilled, as opposed to 40% of the voters being thrilled if Donald gets it.

I think 50%+ of the voters will be thrilled, as opposed to 40% of the voters being thrilled if Donald gets it.

And I see it playing out better in November than if Trump gets the nomination. Right now Trump has made the campaign such a toxic mess with his talk and lies that I doubt anybody can win, but I'm sure Trump can't. You feel different, and we already know that the Trump followers here won't vote in November for anybody but Trump.

Wrong-not only on your numbers.
Do you pick the numbers of the other candidates to add to Cruz' numbers willy-nilly or do you go state-by-state? Say Ohio you add Kasich, in Virginia add Rubio? etc
Either way saying 50% if Cruz should get it is pretty comical.

I think 50%+ of the voters will be thrilled, as opposed to 40% of the voters being thrilled if Donald gets it.

But some Republicans, namely supporters of real estate mogul Donald Trump, are raising their eyebrows at the process and raising their voices to oppose what they see as unfair practices.

Among them is Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul, who attended the Wild Horse township caucus in St. Louis County. At that caucus, Paul said that former Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones also attended, despite the fact that he lives in the Meramac township on Wild Horse’s southern border. Paul said Jones brought a slate of candidates that supported second place Republican presidential candidate Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and eventually, Jones’ slate of candidates won.

While Paul recognized that Jones and his supporters followed the rules and procedures, the decision made at the caucus troubles Paul.

“Those things don’t pass the smell test,” he said. “We had a slate that we presented which was more a reflection of the will of the people, and their slate was filled with Cruz supporters.”

Those Cruz supporters could come into play at the national convention that eventually chooses the final nominee. Each state picks their delegates in their own way, as determined by the state party. In Missouri, a presidential preference primary is held. Trump edged out Cruz by fewer than 2,000 votes March 15, but he won in certain places to give him a favorable allotment of delegates. As the Missouri GOP site explains, Trump will receive 12 of Missouri’s 52 pledged delegates for winning the state and another 25 for winning five of Missouri’s eight congressional districts (five delegates per district). Cruz will get the other 15 pledged delegates for winning the other three congressional districts.

Those delegates are selected in two places: at the state convention and at congressional district (CD) conventions. The county and township caucuses select slates of delegate candidates to attend both the state convention and the CD conventions. Each CD convention will select three delegates for a total of 24 delegates, then at the state convention, 25 delegates will be selected.

The other three delegates are automatic delegates. Missouri COP Chairman John Hancock, National Committeewoman to the Republican National Committee (RNC) representing Missouri Susie Eckelkamp, and Missouri’s delegate to the RNC’s Rules Committee Lance Beshore are those three delegates.

So what does all of this have to do with Cruz supporters potentially stuffing county and township caucuses? The race between Cruz and Trump is relatively close at this point in the race, and national media as well as Republican party officials have mused on the possibility of a contested convention. At a contested convention, delegates must vote how they are pledged by their state’s in an initial round of voting, but afterwards, they may vote essentially as they please if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

If Trump does not hit the 1,237 delegate mark, who the delegates support rather than who states voted for could matter a great deal. Trump supporters like Paul are taking notice.

“This is shedding a negative light on the process of the delegates to a larger group of people, and they’re realizing ‘What’s the point of going to a primary and voting in Missouri when your delegates aren’t going to be appropriately’,” he said.

NBC's Hallie Jackson reports Cruz has changed his focus to Pennsylvania and making a play for the state's unbound delegates. Jackson, the network's Cruz correspondent, said even if Cruz has a third place finish in Pennsylvania's Republican primary, he'll win more than half the delegates.

"It's very telling that's Ted Cruz tonight is not in Brooklyn or Manhattan or any of the boroughs or state. He's in Pennsylvania," reported Jackson.

"He'll be in Philly for his watch party tonight," Jackson said. "That's indicative of where he and his campaign see this race going, to Pennsylvania, where they are looking to make a play for these unbound delegates. Even if they come in a distant third, a top campaign aide tells me, they will still, they believe, pick up more than half the delegates there."

"They're looking at more than 30," Jackson said.

Pennsylvania allots 71 delegates in the Republican primary; 54 of which are unbound.