{"id":3585,"date":"2016-04-25T16:35:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T16:35:08","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-04-25T16:35:08","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T16:35:08","slug":"cruz_kasich_alliance_is_about_changing_the_narrative_to_stop_the_trump_train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2016\/04\/25\/cruz_kasich_alliance_is_about_changing_the_narrative_to_stop_the_trump_train\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruz-Kasich Alliance Is About Changing the Narrative to Stop the Trump Train"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: The big news, the big news, Kasich and Cruz forming an accord to try to stop the Trumpster. Let me tell you what this is all about. Everybody is trying to figure this out, and everybody\u2019s digging deep trying to get into analysis that nobody else has come up with. Everybody is trying to become the smartest the guy in the room. Let me explain to you what this is really all about. <\/p>\n

This is about narratives. Primarily Cruz, but Kasich as well, are convinced that they had to do something to change the narrative. The narrative is that Trump\u2019s already won this. That narrative is beginning to settle in. In many people\u2019s estimation, the narrative has set in. Trump\u2019s win in New York, even though it was expected, was voluminous. It was bigger than everybody thought. This has created in the media this narrative that now Trump is inevitable. And that means that it is over. <\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it interesting, by the way, when we discuss news, we don\u2019t discuss news anymore, we discuss narratives. And you know what a narrative is. A narrative is simply a story that somebody wants to tell and a story that somebody wants to tell that can dominate as though it is the news. That\u2019s why I say there isn\u2019t any news anymore; there\u2019s simply the advancement of agendas. <\/line><\/p>\n

Now, in this case, we have these Northeastern primaries coming up, and it is expected here that Trump is going to continue to do well and that Cruz and Kasich are not, and that\u2019s gonna further add to the narrative that Trump has it locked up. Where Trump still might run into trouble is out west. Washington state, California, and until this, you know, Indiana was something that was possibly up for grabs. <\/p>\n

So what is happening here is that Cruz and Kasich are — I don\u2019t want to say hail Mary, but they may think of it that way as a last-ditch effort to stop the narrative, to change the narrative that Trump has this wrapped up and that it\u2019s all but over and inevitable because neither Kasich nor Cruz can get to 1,237 before the convention. Their only hope is to see to it that Trump doesn\u2019t get to 1,237. <\/p>\n

So I think it\u2019s really no more complicated than that. It\u2019s not about intricate delegate math, although it might be, but you don\u2019t need add up numbers here to figure out what\u2019s going on. This is strictly about trying to change the tone of the news, and there\u2019s little offshoots of this that are fascinating, too. I know some people that were shocked today that Cruz decided to team up with Kasich. If Cruz is gonna team up with anybody, team up with Trump. You know, they both occupy the outsider position here in the campaign, they both staked out that position, and if you\u2019re gonna have any teaming up, team up that way, ice Kasich out, and then make it officially over. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not what happened. So it\u2019s the way this thing is falling out. And I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s anything really that\u2019s going to change this. We\u2019ll see if this has the desired effect from the Cruz and Kasich standpoint. <\/p>\n

Do you remember the delegate, the RNC delegate that we have quoted in the past on this program, a guy by the name of Curly Haugland is how it\u2019s spelled, H-a-u-g-l-a-n-d. And Curly is the guy that we quoted some weeks ago now as saying (paraphrasing), “You know, you people in the news media, you don\u2019t understand how this works. The voters don\u2019t choose the nominee; we delegates do that. The voters have nothing to do with it.” <\/line><\/p>\n

And it kind of snuck in under the radar out there. I mean, he didn\u2019t walk it back. It didn\u2019t cause a lot of controversy. It was just there. And some people paid attention to it, but not much. Well, little Curly is back. Now, this actually is dated April 22nd, so this goes back to Friday when I was out. It\u2019s on CNBC<\/a>; “Donald Trump may be the only Republican presidential candidate who can realistically hit the magic 1,237 number for the majority of delegates, but according to a senior Republican National Committee official that does not mean he will become the GOP presidential nominee.<\/p>\n

“Curly Haugland, a longstanding RNC official and an unbound delegate from North Dakota who will be on the convention rules committee in July, told CNBC that attaining 1,237 during the primaries does not secure the nomination.”<\/p>\n

Did this come up Friday, Mr. Snerdley? Oh, good. Okay. Here\u2019s Curly. “Even if Trump reaches the magic number of 1,237 the media and RNC are touting, that does not mean Trump is automatically the nominee,” Haugland said. “The votes earned during the primary process are only estimates and are not legal convention votes. The only official votes to nominate a candidate are those that are cast from the convention floor.”<\/p>\n

Now, this makes perfect sense. Obviously nobody\u2019s counting delegates yet but when you count the pledged delegates and the delegates that must vote the way they must vote on the first ballot, that\u2019s of course where the 1,237 comes in play. What Curly\u2019s saying is, hey, we run this show, and we can massage this, and we can do whatever we want to do here with this delegate count, first ballot, second ballot. <\/p>\n

“Haugland explained the primary number is really an estimate. That\u2019s because the eligibility of some delegates in how they are voted in could be questioned and their status may not be considered valid.” Well, let\u2019s pull that back and see what he\u2019s talking about. Let\u2019s just take Florida, for example, because Trump won it all and we\u2019re dealing with a solid number, 99 delegates. Ninety-nine delegates are pledged to Trump on each of the first three ballots in Florida. What little Curly is saying here, “You know, we might decide to challenge 50 or 10 or two or 20 of those delegates. We might try to say that they\u2019re not legal. We might try to say that they don\u2019t meet the threshold. We might try to say that their votes don\u2019t count because of some vagary.”<\/p>\n

When he starts talking about the eligibility of some delegates, how they are voted in, he\u2019s saying maybe they were not selected legally, maybe they weren\u2019t appointed legally. I mean, this guy is essentially shouting from the rooftops to anybody that wants to listen: “You all think you\u2019re choosing what\u2019s happening here, but you\u2019re not; we are.” What he\u2019s really talking about here is that the credentials committee can decide to take away the credentials from some states\u2019 delegates, and give them to another group. <\/line><\/p>\n

And, by the way, that happened in 2012. The credentials committee took away the credentials from Maine\u2019s delegates because they suspected them of actually being Rand Paul supporters, even though Romney had won the Maine primary. Do you remember that? (interruption) Would I make it up? (interruption) “Yeah, you said.” Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Now that I mentioned that you vaguely remember this.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the credentials committee at the Republican National Convention took away the credentials from Maine\u2019s delegates because they suspected them of actually being Rand Paul supporters who had snuck in there, even though Romney had won the Maine primary. So their credentials were given to Maine delegates. Curly said, “Remember every state has a different delegate allocation process. Delegates are picked up in state contests that can be winner take all, open primaries, and remember there are seven states that allow the candidates to pick their own delegates. Until those delegate challenges are settled, there is no 1,237.”<\/p>\n

Now, he said that he expected the delegates won in winner-take-all states to be most likely challenged, too. So here\u2019s the point. The establishment is not just going to roll over no matter what Trump gets going into this. Don\u2019t misread what I\u2019m saying. I\u2019m not saying… It\u2019s risky for me getting into this \u2019cause Curly\u2019s kind of out there on his own, but you have to know that the establishment\u2019s going to do everything they can here. I mean, they are. We\u2019ve heard that they\u2019re panicking, and they are. And they\u2019re gonna pull out all the stops. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s really getting bloody out there. Then we get Charles Koch and his own version of Operation Chaos. Charles Koch is upset that he can\u2019t find any Republican worth supporting. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: I kind of thought there might have been some derailing of the Trump train last week. It turned out not to be the case. But I really thought that Trump\u2019s comments that he\u2019s cool with boys in the girls\u2019 bathroom and vice-versa — and, by the way, by the way, Mr. Snerdley, I ask you: Do you think Trump walks this back? You remember the comments that he\u2019s okay with girls in the boys\u2019 bathroom, and vice-versa?<\/p>\n

I said, “Do you think he walks it back?” and you said, “No way,” and he did. I told you he\u2019d walk \u2019em back, and he walked \u2019em back by saying, “You know what? It\u2019s a state issue. Let\u2019s leave it up to the states.” Because he came out made it sound like it\u2019s no big deal and I had some people say, “Rush, you\u2019re forgetting your own advice. You\u2019re forgetting your own observations. This is Trump strategically appealing to left wingers as he attempts to expand his base. You know, girls in the boys\u2019 bathroom and vice-versa is a big deal to them; so he\u2019s not gonna come out and criticize it.”<\/line><\/p>\n

And I said, “Yeah, but this has a chance to backfire,” and I thought it might. But it didn\u2019t. And then when he came out and said he wanted to raise taxes on the rich, I thought, “That\u2019s gonna cost him blowback,” and it didn\u2019t. And then when he really made the point that he\u2019s gonna bring all these illegals back legally, the illegals are gonna come legally, I thought, “Three different chances there that Trump might have not destroyed the…<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t misunderstand. It\u2019s maybe given people pause, but that didn\u2019t happen. The Trump train rolls on, and so they have the momentum kept on. The narrative is established. Here\u2019s what I think has happened here. Again, just to explain this accord between Cruz and Kasich. Trump has gotten a boost, or has benefited from three things recently: That New York win — although everybody knew it was going to happen. The fact that he hit 60% and won that bigger than anybody thought, that creates momentum. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big, big plus. And I think Trump has succeeded… I can tell by the people who have called this program. As you know, late last week I spent a lot of time thanking various callers for helping me to learn things. And Trump has succeeded in convincing his voters that Cruz is disenfranchising them by interfering with the process out there and stealing delegates, even though it isn\u2019t happening. Trump\u2019s supporters think it\u2019s happening. <\/p>\n

Trump has been able to convince his supporters that it\u2019s happening, and that creates a negative for Cruz. “Cruz: Anti-democratic process! Cruz: disenfranchising voters!” The third thing is this… Well, you add those two together and you get this inevitability or it\u2019s over, and that\u2019s what I think they\u2019re trying to fight now. The effort here to beat that back is what he says is going on. Here\u2019s Kasich today. We have time to get this? Yeah, Kasich. Here he is in Philadelphia today. A reporter says, “Your collaboration with Senator Cruz smacks of desperation, sir.”<\/p>\n