{"id":23136,"date":"2016-07-20T12:18:41","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T19:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=23136"},"modified":"2016-07-20T12:18:41","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T19:18:41","slug":"presumptive-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/20\/presumptive-no-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Presumptive No More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump is presumptive no more.  I did not watch it, as there are only a few billion barf bags in the world. Last night at the Rectumite Rampage, most of the fools in attendance made it official.  Delegates who had hoped to dump Trump were not even allowed to cast their votes as determined by their states voters, and they were not happy about it.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0720donald-trump-nominated\"<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, the Republican National Convention blasted the opening bars of Sinatra\u2019s \u201cNew York, New York\u201d and fireworks flashed across the arena\u2019s jumbotron as Donald Trump officially became the Republican Party\u2019s presidential nominee. But the moment that should have signified party unity was broken by shouts of dissent and demands for a recount as multiple delegations had their votes changed against their will. <\/p>\n

In the delegation from Washington, D.C., ten were assigned to support Rubio and nine to Kasich, based on how D.C. Republicans voted in the primary. But, relying on arcane party rules<\/a>, the RNC overruled them, and assigned all 19 votes to Trump\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Minutes after the vote, first-time D.C. delegate Kris Hammond told ThinkProgress he felt insulted and excluded by his party and its nominee. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow is [Trump] going to listen to us if he\u2019s elected president, if he\u2019s not listening to us now?\u201d he fumed. \u201cHe\u2019s not allowing dissent. He\u2019s not going to allow anything other than subservience to Donald Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n

Though D.C.\u2019s Republican Party does have a rule<\/a> allowing for such a vote change at the National Convention, Hammond and other delegates said party leaders promised them they could vote for Kasich and Rubio. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not surprised,\u201d Hammond said of the surprise switch. \u201cIt has reinforced my previous conception that you cannot trust this party to do the honorable thing and act in a responsible manner.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told all along that this is not the way the rules would be interpreted,\u201d D.C. delegate Chip Nottingham added. \u201cTo just be insulted like that is outrageous. It\u2019s petty. The [Trump] campaign didn\u2019t need our 19 votes. They didn\u2019t ask for our 19 votes. They never earned them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not going to allow anything other than subservience to Donald Trump <\/p>\n

Three states also had their votes changed to back Trump against the will of the delegates, using provisions in the party rules of those states. But some, including Alaska, rose up in protest, demanding a recount. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was very unhappy when they announced our vote,\u201d Cruz delegate Larry DeVilbiss from Palmer, Alaska told ThinkProgress. \u201cBack in our state it looks tacky because we had a preferential poll, and we had our delegation proportionate to all those votes. I\u2019m upset. I know [voters will] be upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Alaska delegate, Glenn Clary, asked if the party will also overrule his state in November. \u201cIs Alaska going to vote and then the RNC is going to change those votes?\u201d he asked. \u201cWe don\u2019t know. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

After an extended musical interlude, RNC chairman Reince Priebus overruled them, and the nomination of Trump proceeded. <\/p>\n

But some delegates refused to go down quietly. Hammond, a civil rights attorney, said he is considering resigning from the local Republican Party Committee and casting a protest vote for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson<\/a>. He told ThinkProgress that he wants his fellow DC Republicans to join him… <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From <Think Progress<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Here’s an  example:<\/font><\/p>\n