This afternoon the Republican National Convention opened in Cleveland. There was a dispute over the adoption of the rules, and now some of the media are declaring that the convention had "a rocky start" or that it is in "chaos". How ridiculous is that?
Let's put this all in context.
1. The dispute about the rules pertained mainly to items that deal with how the 2020 primaries will be conducted. Delegates who supported Cruz were trying to change the rules to improve his chances for that year. None of the disputed rules, however, would change the result of this year's convention. In other words, despite the involvement of the so-called Never Trump movement, the outcome of a Trump nomination would be unaffected no matter how the rules dispute turned out.
2. The people who want to change the rules presented their case in the Rules Committee last week. They lost by an overwhelming margin. Had these people been able to get 20% of the committee to back their positions, there would have been a floor vote at the convention. They couldn't even muster 20%.
3. The people who want to change the rules needed signatures from a majority of eight delegations to get the issue voted on by a roll call vote of the convention. They ended up with only a majority of five. That means that they lost big.
So why is this a convention in chaos? These delegates tried to change the rules and they failed. Indeed, they didn't even come close to success. All they did was make a lot of noise. It seems, however, that the media is trying so hard to find discord in Cleveland that we get massive coverage of a non-issue.
Let's put this all in context.
1. The dispute about the rules pertained mainly to items that deal with how the 2020 primaries will be conducted. Delegates who supported Cruz were trying to change the rules to improve his chances for that year. None of the disputed rules, however, would change the result of this year's convention. In other words, despite the involvement of the so-called Never Trump movement, the outcome of a Trump nomination would be unaffected no matter how the rules dispute turned out.
2. The people who want to change the rules presented their case in the Rules Committee last week. They lost by an overwhelming margin. Had these people been able to get 20% of the committee to back their positions, there would have been a floor vote at the convention. They couldn't even muster 20%.
3. The people who want to change the rules needed signatures from a majority of eight delegations to get the issue voted on by a roll call vote of the convention. They ended up with only a majority of five. That means that they lost big.
So why is this a convention in chaos? These delegates tried to change the rules and they failed. Indeed, they didn't even come close to success. All they did was make a lot of noise. It seems, however, that the media is trying so hard to find discord in Cleveland that we get massive coverage of a non-issue.
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