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PaulSoHard
04-23-2012, 05:22 PM
I saw some talk about this over at the Daily Paul over the weekend...

Can delegates put out a motion to unbind all bound delegates on the floor? If they can do it at state conventions (like they might try to do in Nevada) I don't see why it would be different at Tampa.

Think of the number of delegates bound to Mitt Romney that could potentially be our people. Think of Santorum delegates that could be our people. Think of Gingrich delegates that could be our people. What if we could convince them, along with actual Santorum and Gingrich delegates to vote along with this motion to unbind every single delegate and put it to a vote.

I'm not quite familiar with the RNC rules, and if someone has the answer, can they please speak up?

PolicyReader
04-23-2012, 05:40 PM
I think it has to be done at the state level, but I'm not well versed enough to be certain of that. I'm interested to hear if anyone knows the technicalities on this. :)

ps ~ I hope your thread doesn't get spammed with people commenting on how likely the event is or isn't rather than addressing your actual question.

ninepointfive
04-23-2012, 05:44 PM
The speaker will most likely want to subvert that type of motion to preserve the horse they have in the race. Sounds more like a 2/3rds type of vote if it's possible.

Best place to start looking is here:

"The Rules of the Republican Party" adopted by the RNC 1 September 2008:
http://www.gop.com/images/legal/2008_RULES_Adopted.pdf.

and here: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P12/R

BKom
04-23-2012, 06:35 PM
I saw some talk about this over at the Daily Paul over the weekend...

Can delegates put out a motion to unbind all bound delegates on the floor? If they can do it at state conventions (like they might try to do in Nevada) I don't see why it would be different at Tampa.

Think of the number of delegates bound to Mitt Romney that could potentially be our people. Think of Santorum delegates that could be our people. Think of Gingrich delegates that could be our people. What if we could convince them, along with actual Santorum and Gingrich delegates to vote along with this motion to unbind every single delegate and put it to a vote.

I'm not quite familiar with the RNC rules, and if someone has the answer, can they please speak up?

Where does this nonsense come from? We are NOT going to do this in NV. In fact, it would be an error and counterproductive to do this in NV. Please stop talking about this as all it does is motivate our opposition. They read these boards and believe this nonsense. It will NOT happen.

tbone717
04-23-2012, 06:48 PM
Basically reading the RNC rules, if a state violates the party rules they are penalized their delegates. So from what I gather, if Paul's NV delegates tried to unbind or abstain, the state would be penalized the delegates.

To put it bluntly, it isn't going to happen. Win votes, win primaries, win delegates - that's how you win the nomination. Any other means than that purely exists in the minds of people who spend way too much time fantasizing about things that will never happen.

Paul still has a mathematical chance of forcing a brokered convention. It is an extremely small chance, but a chance nonetheless. It rests solely on his shoulders to start winning states, and to do so starting tomorrow. If he can do it, then a brokered convention is still possible - if he cannot win states then Romney will be the nominee.

PaulSoHard
04-23-2012, 06:58 PM
Ah ok, sounds fair enough.

RPit
04-23-2012, 07:29 PM
Basically reading the RNC rules, if a state violates the party rules they are penalized their delegates. So from what I gather, if Paul's NV delegates tried to unbind or abstain, the state would be penalized the delegates.

To put it bluntly, it isn't going to happen. Win votes, win primaries, win delegates - that's how you win the nomination. Any other means than that purely exists in the minds of people who spend way too much time fantasizing about things that will never happen.

Paul still has a mathematical chance of forcing a brokered convention. It is an extremely small chance, but a chance nonetheless. It rests solely on his shoulders to start winning states, and to do so starting tomorrow. If he can do it, then a brokered convention is still possible - if he cannot win states then Romney will be the nominee.

There is nothing in the RNC rules that bind delegates or delegate allocation. The RNC rules only say that no state primary can be winner-take-all prior to April otherwise they will be penalized like Florida was. There is absolutely no rule on how states assign delegates or the binding. Delegates are allocated per State rules and the RNC respects that.

opinionatedfool
04-23-2012, 07:38 PM
Basically reading the RNC rules, if a state violates the party rules they are penalized their delegates. So from what I gather, if Paul's NV delegates tried to unbind or abstain, the state would be penalized the delegates.

To put it bluntly, it isn't going to happen. Win votes, win primaries, win delegates - that's how you win the nomination. Any other means than that purely exists in the minds of people who spend way too much time fantasizing about things that will never happen.

Paul still has a mathematical chance of forcing a brokered convention. It is an extremely small chance, but a chance nonetheless. It rests solely on his shoulders to start winning states, and to do so starting tomorrow. If he can do it, then a brokered convention is still possible - if he cannot win states then Romney will be the nominee.

I've been reading quite a bit of the national rules and I don't think a state would be penalized for unbinding delegates if it wasn't explicitly banned at the state level. I'm not sure where you are getting this information. It seems to me delegates can be unbound if state laws don't prohibit it.

In the case of NV, I see nothing in the national regulations that would prevent Paul's NV delegates from unbinding themselves. Now, if the NV rules say they can't be unbound at a convention, then I think the state would be penalized. We need to try to keep this about the facts, not about presumptions of the facts.

RULE NUMBER 15 STATES:

(1) On or before October 1 of the year before the year in which the national convention is to be held, each Republican state committee shall adopt rules, procedures, policies, and instructive materials (prepared pursuant to Rule No. 14(a)) governing the election, selection, allocation, or binding of delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention to convene during the following year and shall certify and file with the secretary of the Republican National Committee true copies of the same and of all statutes governing the election, selection, allocation, or binding of such delegates and alternate delegates.

If the rules created in each state on or before October 1 of the year before the year in which the national convention is held do not explicitly state that delegates cannot be unbound at a state convention, I think it is entirely possible to unbind them without penalty.

J_White
04-23-2012, 09:54 PM
interesting.