Thanks For Asking! -- 06/01/16

OK, I'm back. Hopefully my "screamed myself hoarse" sore throat will be gone by Sunday show time. Let's do this! This week's AMA thread and the podcast to follow are brought to you by Darryl W. Perry:




Ask me anything -- yes, anything -- in the comment thread below this post. I'll answer it in comments, on the podcast, or both.

A Way to Beat Trump at the Republican National Convention?

I was just reading through the Republican National Committee's convention rules -- I wondered how they compared to the Libertarian Party's -- and something struck me.

Unlike the Libertarian Party, the Republican Party has "bound" delegates for its first ballot. The rules say that if those delegates try to support anyone other candidate than the one they're "bound" to by a state primary or caucus, that support will not be recognized.

What I don't see in the rules is any requirement that any particular delegate actually vote at all.

And what I do see in the rules is this:

When at the close of a roll call any candidate for nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States has received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast [emphasis mine] in the convention, the chairman of the convention shall announce the votes for each candidate whose name was presented in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of this rule. Before the convention adjourns sine die, the chairman of the convention shall declare the candidate nominated by the Republican Party for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States.

It seems to me that delegates who are "bound" to Trump by the rules, but who don't want him to be the nominee, can simply stand mute on the first ballot rather than casting their votes at all. Since Trump has to get a majority of votes that could be cast, not just a majority of votes that are cast, he'll fail on the first ballot, and on subsequent ballots delegates would no longer be "bound."

I suppose I could be wrong on that, but it looks solid to me.

Libertarian National Convention: A Proposal for 2020

The Libertarian Party's next national convention is in New Orleans in 2018. That one's already pretty much set in stone. However, the 2020 convention hasn't been projected/planned yet, and I think we have an opportunity here.

First, we should have the convention in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Secondly, we should have the convention in late 2019, not in 2020 (the bylaws allow for it to take place any time after Labor Day of 2019).

My reasoning:

New Hampshire is one of the major centers of American political activity late in the year before an election year. Republican and Democratic presidential primary candidates will be thick on the ground, hectoring citizens for their votes.

Why not bring a thousand or more Libertarians into that mix, let them pick their nominee, then hit the streets of Manchester for rallies and vote-soliciting at a time when both personal and media attention is FOCUSED on presidential politics in that place?

Manchester is accessible (Southwest flies directly into town).

Manchester has convention facilities big enough to handle our needs (yes, I checked).

New Hampshire has a strong libertarian movement with organizations who know how to host events (e.g. the Free State Project). That would likely make organizing this thing easier.

The Libertarian Party hasn't had a convention in the northeast since 1989 (in Philadelphia). Conventions should be spread around geographically so that every so often each part of the country gets some Libertarian love.

Having the convention early would give our presidential ticket more time to campaign as the nominees. That's how we used to do it, and it makes sense.

Let's do this.