Almost every person in America knows the preamble of the Constitution, or has at least heard it before. “We the people…” it begins, which means our country is based on the principle of popular sovereignty, meaning that the citizens of the country have the final say in their government. However, some delegates of the Republican National Committee (RNC), are trying to undermine this principle that our founding fathers fought for. This process they are trying to pursue is not only undemocratic, but could also cost the party the presidency. Currently, Donald Trump has 845 delegates, only 392 shy of the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. While this seem like a stretch, the closest candidate is Ted Cruz who needs a lofty 678
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The way they can do this is by holding a brokered convention. Such a convention can consist of many ballots voted on by the delegates of the party. However rule 40 of this process states that only candidates who have received the majority in the primaries in 8 states can go on the ballot, which only Trump and Ted Cruz have done. Also, rule 16 states that in the first ballot, delegates already pledged during the primaries are bound to vote for the same candidate again (Melber). Although highly unlikely, if neither candidate has the majority vote after the first round, those promised candidates are unpromised and can vote for whoever they want, which is fundamentally corrupt because they are no longer representing the people but rather their own interests. To top it all off, there is another rule that allows the RNC to change any rules or declare them null and void, which would let them introduce any candidate they want, like underdog John Kasich, even if they aren’t even close to having a majority of the public’s …show more content…
One supporter of John Kasich commented on the RNC’s actions by saying, “They want to control the election because they don’t like Trump, and I understand that. But you have to let the people speak” (Zelizer). This supporter, along with any logical thinking member of the party believe that the candidate who gets the majority public support and delegates should win the nomination, regardless of their opinions on the candidate. People are more interested in a fair democratic race rather than their candidate being chosen for them. A recent interview with a senior member of the GOP is one members of the party should take note of. In the context of the interview, the interviewer was asking the man, Curley Haugland (a RNC delegate from North Dakota) about the fairness of a brokered convention. The dialogue is as follows:
“Female Interviewer: We live in a democratic society and what you’re telling me is that it’s not a democratic society. Your votes don’t necessarily matter because it’s a democratic representation. Correct?
Curley Haugland: No. That’s not what I’m trying to tell you. What I’m trying to say is that we’re
The way they can do this is by holding a brokered convention. Such a convention can consist of many ballots voted on by the delegates of the party. However rule 40 of this process states that only candidates who have received the majority in the primaries in 8 states can go on the ballot, which only Trump and Ted Cruz have done. Also, rule 16 states that in the first ballot, delegates already pledged during the primaries are bound to vote for the same candidate again (Melber). Although highly unlikely, if neither candidate has the majority vote after the first round, those promised candidates are unpromised and can vote for whoever they want, which is fundamentally corrupt because they are no longer representing the people but rather their own interests. To top it all off, there is another rule that allows the RNC to change any rules or declare them null and void, which would let them introduce any candidate they want, like underdog John Kasich, even if they aren’t even close to having a majority of the public’s …show more content…
One supporter of John Kasich commented on the RNC’s actions by saying, “They want to control the election because they don’t like Trump, and I understand that. But you have to let the people speak” (Zelizer). This supporter, along with any logical thinking member of the party believe that the candidate who gets the majority public support and delegates should win the nomination, regardless of their opinions on the candidate. People are more interested in a fair democratic race rather than their candidate being chosen for them. A recent interview with a senior member of the GOP is one members of the party should take note of. In the context of the interview, the interviewer was asking the man, Curley Haugland (a RNC delegate from North Dakota) about the fairness of a brokered convention. The dialogue is as follows:
“Female Interviewer: We live in a democratic society and what you’re telling me is that it’s not a democratic society. Your votes don’t necessarily matter because it’s a democratic representation. Correct?
Curley Haugland: No. That’s not what I’m trying to tell you. What I’m trying to say is that we’re