If you’re following this year’s primary season, you have no doubt heard the accusations made by the Trump campaign about how Ted Cruz is “stealing delegates” — a lie being fueled by much of the mainstream media and conservative talk radio. This accusation exploded this past weekend following a clean sweep by the Cruz campaign of Colorado’s 34 available delegates.
Unfortunately for “The Donald,” the facts prove that his accusations are without merit.
Colorado is one of ten states and four territories that use the caucus system instead of holding a primary to select delegates. The only difference in Colorado is that caucuses are used to elect delegates to attend a series of county assemblies and congressional district conventions.
On March 1, 60,000 Colorado Republicans attended 2,917 precinct caucuses to elect delegates to the county assemblies and congressional-district conventions that convened during the following weeks. The district conventions send 21 delegates to Cleveland; and at this weekend’s state convention, more than 600 people chosen by the county assemblies competed to be one of Colorado’s 13 statewide delegates.
This isn’t unfair or stealing. It’s how the Colorado delegate selection process works. A concept, apparently, lost on Trump since he had no presence in the state until last week while Cruz had his organization in place since August, 2015.
Trumpster has structured his campaign as “The Outsider.” But as Rush Limbaugh explains, that is likely the reason for his recent delegate failures:
You know, being an outsider, it has benefits, but it has drawbacks, too, and knowing the rules inside out and outworking the competition is not cheating. If you happen to be more knowledgeable of how things work and are able to work it to your advantage, that’s just hard work. That isn’t cheating.
By the way, following his humiliating defeat in Wisconsin last week, Trump himself had this to say about the rules:
I don’t care about rules, folks.”
None of the information about the delegate selection process in Colorado–or any other state for that matter–was concealed from Trump. His loses are the result of ineptitude or arrogance — not thievery.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” David is also a contributor to RedState.com.
His daily commentary is nationally syndicated via Salem Radio Network.
