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politics and politicians Title: These Penn. delegates could decide GOP nomination Pennsylvania could be of extraordinary importance in a contested Republican convention, given the way its delegates are allocated. While the state has 71 GOP delegates, only 17 will be handed out to the winner of the April 26 primary, with the remaining 54 delegate posts — three per congressional district — elected separately and unbound on the first ballot in July. "If the Republican convention turns out to be contested ... Pennsylvania would without a doubt be at the epicenter of every discussion, every phone call, every scenario, every possible action because the uncommitted or unbound bloc of delegates from Pennsylvania would be the largest in the country," said Charlie Gerow, a GOP strategist and candidate for delegate in the state's fourth congressional district. Gerow pointed to the state's role in the 1980 fight between Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, where Bush won the primary but Reagan won the vast majority of delegates as something that could happen again this year. A three-time delegate, the Harrisburg-based strategist is one of 16 people running for the three available slots. While Gerow plans to vote on the first ballot for whoever wins the fourth district, many have made their minds up to back a specific candidate. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, nearly one-third of potential delegates plan to support one of the three remaining candidates, with the remaining two-thirds backing the state or district winner. Lowman Henry, a candidate for delegate in the 11th district and head of the Lincoln Institute, plans to back Cruz despite who wins the state or district, while calling on others to back one of the candidates. "I can't imagine why anybody would vote for a delegate candidate who hasn't expressed a preference for a presidential candidate," Henry said. "If you go into the polling place, and you support a specific presidential candidate, why in the world would you vote for delegate candidates who may or may not vote for your presidential pick? Otherwise you are defeating your purpose. Every delegate candidate ought to make a pick and run on that pick. That's the purpose of the election." "It's a total copout," Henry said about those backing the state or district winner. "The worst thing somebody could do is to vote for any delegate candidate who does not express a preference." With Wisconsin now in the rearview mirror and Ted Cruz the winner, Pennsylvania will receive an unusual amount of attention from candidates. This will be only the second time since 1992 in which the Keystone State will carry weight, as it played a role the 2008 race between then-Senator Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Clinton won the Democratic primary that year. Last week, Cruz, Bernie Sanders and John Kasich all made stops in the state despite barnstorming Wisconsin for much of the week. Both Clinton and Sanders also are set to campaign in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, with Clinton holding rallies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Sanders stumping in Philadelphia in their first moves post-Wisconsin. Given the state's admittedly "confusing" delegate process, as Henry put it, some expect supporters of Donald Trump to cry foul over the allocation if he wins the state, just as they have after Cruz snared delegates from his grasp in Louisiana recently. "It'll be another layer in [Trump's] narrative," said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College. "The quirkiness in the system makes it hard to be transparent in terms of the voting process. If they win a solid win here in the [popular vote] and walk away with less than a plurality of delegates, they'll say it's just another example of a system that is not reflecting the will of the people. That charge, of course, has some merit in how we value voter input." According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Trump leads among Pennsylvania Republicans with 38.7 percent support over Cruz and Kasich, who sit in the low 20s in a battle for second. But that won't have much impact on most of the delegates. "All bets are off," Borick said of the delegate situation. "It's going to be a mess." Poster Comment: Yep, this steaming heap of a primary might easily determine the 2016 GOP nominee. It's happened before. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
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