Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes it is possible. The rules committee is working right now on the rules for the upcoming convention and there is a lot of talk about allowing delegates to "vote their conscience, thus unbinding them from any particular candidate.
Has it been done before on the first vote? I don't believe so, but there has never been a liberal democrat running for the GOP so I can definitely see why this may occur.
Okay so is it set in stone that it is very possible that the Republican Party can change the rules and allow delegates to vote whatever they want?
I just want to be crystal clear because I keep hearing some party leaders wanting to do this, but I haven't heard the logistics on how it is carried out. Perhaps that is not important, maybe it is just simple as changing some words on a document.
What is so great about Republican party or Democratic party? Both parties are rotten.
At least Republicans have the courage to dump the rotten establishment, and elect somebody who is neither conservative nor liberal.
How about people from the left? Bernie Sanders is a dude with such a big heart!. He is not a liar nor is he a crook. Yet, the people from the left have been saying he is an old communist, he is a sexist, he only appeals to white people. Yeah right. He is a Jewish white dude who loves people of all colors. Yet, his name has been trashed.
Hurricane Donald -- The Perfect Storm!
For all the talk about Trump's racist undertones, the Hillary-Bernie primaries subtly brought out the racism and flat-out conflicting interests that exist on the Democratic side. We saw hints of it in the '08 primaries, and it was dialed up a bit higher this time around.
How is Hillary Clinton not rotten? You almost make me cry.
Lily, I have no idea why you and so many believe the utter ridiculous lies that are perpetuated about the Clintons, but they just aren't true. This is what I'm talking about when I say the Republican Party is in such trouble because it threw out facts and reason decades ago. There is a shred of credible evidence for any of this nonsense.
Lily, I have no idea why you and so many believe the utter ridiculous lies that are perpetuated about the Clintons, but they just aren't true. This is what I'm talking about when I say the Republican Party is in such trouble because it threw out facts and reason decades ago. There is a shred of credible evidence for any of this nonsense.
Bill Clinton passed Nafta , not on merit , but bribed votes.. end of case.. they are global and will destroy this country.. and that is fact.
I don't think is going to happen, but here's what I see as a good way forward for the Republican Party. First, they'd have to change the convention rules of course and let the delegates vote for whomever. Then, they'd have to make it known that delegates can vote for anyone -- not just the 17 who declared their candidacy in the primaries.
They'd have to launch a massive PR campaign to remind people that America was never intended to be a direct democracy. This is key. Our forefathers foresaw a future where a demagogue might try to make base appeals to the people and trick them into voting for him. They put measures in place, such as the electoral college, to keep this from happening. For the most part, these measures have been ignored and we've gotten direct democracy anyway albeit through a twisted, convoluted process. (It's understood that electoral college voters MUST vote for the will of the people ... but in the theory, it doesn't have to be that way. People get to vote for electoral college voters, not the candidate. Also of course, senators used to be appointed by their respective governors, which if you think about it, is a huge restriction on the direct will of the people being enacted willy nilly in federal law.) Will this argument win the day? Probably not, but it's true and it is very conservative, so if it's going to play to anyone, it would play to the Republican voters.
Now, once a candidate is selected, it would be up to that candidate to articulate the party platform. The Republicans are in good shape in one respect. They have a cohesive set of policies. I presume this candidate would be about free trade, muscular foreign policy, strict constitutional interpretation on the Supreme Court, pro-life, etc.
The major point of disagreement is the one that fractured this party. And folks, I know you hate to hear we liberals say it, but it's racism. Good old fashioned racism. I've been saying for years on this forum not all Republicans are racist, but pretty much all racists (of the white variety) are Republican. Turns out there's a lot more than you all realized. Yes, I understand some Donald Trump voters aren't doing so for racist reasons, but if he lost all of the voters who voted for him on strictly racist grounds, he wouldn't have won the nomination.
So 2016 should be the Republican Party's first opportunity to promote a truly inclusive, multiracial platform. The candidate should actively seek minority votes. He (or she) should fully admit that many Republicans in the past have engaged in dog whistling to win votes. He should say that stops now. He should spend more time asking for Asian, Latino, Black, etc. votes than white ones. He should not compromise conservative values to do this. He should make the case that conservatism works for everybody, not just white people. Would he win? No, probably not. But this would be an extremely important first step toward the future of the party. The party can not survive as a whites-only club. That's over. Minorities would definitely vote for Republicans (some of them) if the Republican Party purged its racist elements. There are plenty of black conservatives, Latinos, Asians, etc. -- they just don't have a party because a party that harbors white nationalists is unacceptable. If the Republican Party truly cared about the black vote more than the white nationalist vote and acted that way, it would probably start getting 40 to 50 percent in three our four election cycles. Maybe even sooner. Look how quickly black Americans forgave the sins of the Democratic Party. It's time for the Republican Party to seek forgiveness too. And the good news is the GOP's sins are far fewer in this regard -- this racist cancer is a recent development. For most of the party's history, it has been proudly just and fair and has viewed all men as equals regardless of color. It wouldn't take much to return to this proud legacy if the GOP truly tried.
Ok, that's my two cents worth of unsolicited political advice. I'm sure the GOP won't take it.
All I can say is "wow" and I'm repping this post. I have tried to explain to people that the U.S. is not a direct democracy and that all countries with democratic forms of government employ a roundabout way of selecting the operating chief executive (in some countries a PM, others a President) for very good reasons. Donald Trump is "Exhibit A" on this.
Lily, I have no idea why you and so many believe the utter ridiculous lies that are perpetuated about the Clintons, but they just aren't true. This is what I'm talking about when I say the Republican Party is in such trouble because it threw out facts and reason decades ago. There is a shred of credible evidence for any of this nonsense.
Like you know them personally and everything that has gone on..NOT!
All I can say is "wow" and I'm repping this post. I have tried to explain to people that the U.S. is not a direct democracy and that all countries with democratic forms of government employ a roundabout way of selecting the operating chief executive (in some countries a PM, others a President) for very good reasons. Donald Trump is "Exhibit A" on this.
Based on the actual votes, only 44% of GOP primary voters preferred him to others. That's not even a "silent majority" of the GOP.
You think he is a "master speaker"? Entertaining, yes. Good speaker, nope.
Mick
Yes, I do think he is very good-certainly much better than Hillary and I have watched speeches by both many times.
People don't realize that most of Hillary's speeches historically have been carefully scripted.
She has no charisma and is very dull.
Her lifelong supporters and those who are afraid of Trump's platform will praise her but the moderates and "undecided" voters can be swayed.
I didn't watch Trump and his reality T.V. shows so have not been a lifelong fan but he clearly stole the show at the debates- this is even more impressive when you consider that the party machine has been attacking him nonstop and deliberately trying to trip him up.
I read numerous articles by "pundits" who have smearing Trump all the way and saying how poorly he did at the debates but polls showed otherwise- and that's partially why the constituents voted him in.
The fact that Hillary did so poorly against a unknown political hack like Sanders demonstrates just how weak she really is. She also lost to Obama, who was an unknown back in 2008.
Also, that 44% is very impressive when you consider that he had 16 other people running against him. Naturally the more people in the race the more the vote would be split. If the Republicans started with only 5 candidates (Like the Democrats did) then Trump's percentage would almost certainly have been higher.
We should absolutely dump him. Use the checks and balances put in place hundreds of years ago and be a fail safe against the public being deceived and making a stupid choice.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
