“On March 1, Donald Trump finished first in Georgia’s Republican presidential primary with 39 percent of the vote,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“On Saturday, at gatherings of Republican activists meeting by congressional district, the billionaire may have lost most of the delegates that were supposed to come with that March victory.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders won a decisive victory in Colorado, taking a majority of the national delegates with a stronger-than-expected showing at a divided state Democratic convention, the Denver Post reports.
“The Vermont senator captured 41 delegates from the state’s 78-member delegation, inching him closer to front-runner Hillary Clinton in what the campaign suggested is a larger shift in the presidential race. The margin gives Sanders a clear hold on Colorado — enough to overcome Clinton’s advantage among the state’s dozen superdelegates.”
“In his ever-escalating fight with the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump warned Saturday that party leaders should reform its system for selecting a nominee or face a ‘rough July’ when it holds its convention in Cleveland,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “The Republican National Committee, they’d better get going, because I’ll tell you what: You’re going to have a rough July at that convention. You’d better get going, and you’d better straighten out the system because the people want their vote. The people want their vote, and they want to be represented properly.”
“The balance of power in the Republican Party has suddenly shifted to delegates, many of whom are entering the national spotlight for the first time,” The Hill reports.
“Delegates say their lives have been turned upside down by the possibility of a contested convention in July, where their votes could decide whether Donald Trump, or another candidate, is the party’s presidential nominee. The delegates say campaign officials, the media, friends, family and even neighbors are hounding them with questions about where they stand, with many seeking to sway their decision.”
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus “has privately urged members of the party’s rules committee not to make changes to the guidelines governing the presidential nominating process, an effort to avoid the appearance that the party is seeking to block Donald J. Trump from becoming its nominee,” the New York Times reports.
“Separately, a group of influential rules committee members held a conference call Thursday to prepare for the meeting and reached a consensus that they would derail any attempt at the gathering to make changes to the how the convention is conducted, according to a committee member on the call.”
“Just because someone doesn’t like the kind of rules in particular states, doesn’t necessarily mean that the rules are rigged. It just means that they wish the delegates were awarded a different way.”
— RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, quoted by CBS News.
Politico: “Trump is well-positioned for a resounding victory in West Virginia’s May 10 primary, but his win will be accompanied by a delegate selection process stacked in favor of people with last names at the beginning of the alphabet — rather than his most committed supporters.”
“It’s a quirk of West Virginia’s mind-bogglingly complex delegate election process that has the Trump campaign on red alert and seems likely to leave the mogul with weaker support at the national convention than he’s expected to earn in the state’s primary. It’s yet another convoluted primary system likely to add fuel to Trump’s complaints that the rules of the Republican nomination process are rigged.”
New York Times: “Jewish Democrats, like the rest of the party, have been struggling for years over the appropriate level of criticism when it comes to Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. But that debate burst onto a big national stage this week thanks to Mr. Sanders, the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in history.”
M”r. Sanders’s comments, in the de facto capital of Jewish American politics, buoyed the liberal and increasingly vocal Democrats who believe that a frank discussion within the party has been muzzled by an older, more conservative Jewish leadership that is suspicious of criticism of Israel.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders “privately met with Pope Francis at the pontiff’s residence in Vatican City on Saturday morning before the pope left on a trip for Greece,” Politico reports.
“Sanders thanked the pope for his leadership on issues including the ‘moral economy,’ the struggle to help the marginalized, income inequality, and climate change, telling the pontiff his encyclical on the matter had made a large difference to public attitudes, according to Sachs.“
“Donald Trump has been trying to step up his game when it comes to corralling delegates for the Republican National Convention, but his efforts are likely too late to avoid another defeat Saturday, in Wyoming, scene of the next test of strength among GOP presidential candidates,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Sen. Ted Cruz is favored to win, as Wyoming’s GOP will finish picking its 29 convention delegates just a week after the Texas senator swept a similar event in Colorado to pick up 34 delegates.”
“The Republican National Committee is expected to debate a proposal next week that would dramatically shift the balance of power at this summer’s convention — and impose a new rulebook for selecting the party’s nominee,” Politico reports.
“The proposal… would fundamentally alter how the convention is conducted, further empowering the delegates to determine the course of the proceedings. It amounts to not just a changing of the rules but of the rulebook itself, with far-reaching implications, potentially impacting whether party insiders will be able to draft a so-called ‘white knight’ — someone currently not running who would play the role of savior at a deadlocked convention.”
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) “signed into law a bill that will allow members of some churches in the state to undergo training to carry guns inside houses of worship for protection, in response to last year’s massacre at a South Carolina church,” Politico reports.
“Look, we’ll take money from anyone.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz, quoted by Politico.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said that he and his wife cast their ballots early for Ted Cruz, even though he hasn’t made a formal endorsement, Politico reports.
Said Sasse: “Happy to report that Melissa and I just early-voted for Ted Cruz… Time for conservatives to unite here in winner-take-all Nebraska.”
Amy Walter: “Moreover, if Republicans think that denying Trump the nomination will solve their problems, they forget that the guy is neither a magnanimous winner nor a gracious loser. Forget about Trump running as an independent in the fall. He won’t have the organization or time to get on the ballot in most states. But, he’s got something more important than ballot access: Twitter and TV. He will be happy to continue his campaign against the GOP via social media. Do we really think that if Trump loses he’ll go underground never to utter his views again? Do you think that if he loses a floor fight he’ll warmly embrace Ted Cruz? I doubt it.”
“Trump’s success has been driven almost exclusively by his ability to frame the narrative of this campaign. While he may get outmaneuvered on delegates and floor votes, and continues to show only millimeter deep grasp of issues, he has been able to run circles around his opponents on the PR front.”
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.