Delegate system gives Trump a 22 percent bonus, despite complaint

The hot topic in regards to politics the last couple of days has been the GOP/DNC rules within their parties on how delegates are voted-in/chosen. Claims of "shenanigans" have been tossed around and many say that Trump is getting the shaft due to the GOP rules.

Well, it appears that Trump is actually benefiting from the GOP delegate process, well beyond the natural support he has.

Donald Trump blasted the GOP’s delegate rules Sunday, saying a “corrupt” system is denying him delegates in states he won. According to a new NBC analysis, however, Trump has benefited far more than Ted Cruz under the party’s arcane rules for allocating delegates.

Trump now leads the Republican field with 756 delegates — or 45 percent of all delegates awarded to date. Yet he has won about 37 percent of all votes in the primaries, according to the NBC analysis, meaning Trump’s delegate support is greater than his actual support from voters.

For each percentage point of total primary votes that Trump has won, he has been awarded 1.22 percent of the total delegates.

In other words, as a matter of Republican Party math, Trump has been awarded a delegate bonus of 22 percent above his raw support from voters.

By contrast, Cruz has been awarded about 1.14 percent of the delegates for each percentage point of votes he has won — a delegate bonus of 14 percent above his raw support.

But that is not what people are talking about. Many, including Trump, are trying to play the victim of what is described as corrupt party process'.

It is Trump, however, who is leading the charge against how delegates are awarded. “We’ve got a corrupt system. It’s not right,” Trump said at a Sunday rally in Rochester, New York. “We’re supposed to be a democracy.”

The complaints come as Trump’s campaign has struggled to win delegates at local party conventions, where Cruz has proven better organized, and as both campaigns gird for a potential open convention this summer.

So it appears we have a candidate, and many of his supporters, crying about a system that is actually working in his favor as the front runner. He may not have the necessary delegates to stop a brokered convention, and may have to battle it out with Cruz and the GOP at the convention, but to say that Trump is being screwed by the system is verifiably false. He is benefiting from it.

www.msnbc.com...

op... have you read about or seen what they did to trump in colorado? yes he was awarded extra delegate because he won over 50% or some other stipulation. but what about the delegates that are being stolen from him? its well known the GOP elite want nothing to do with donald trump, and are trying everything to make sure he doesnt get to 1237.

i am mad. not because trump is being screwed, but because the voice of the people means as much as turtle droppings. why even have an electoral primary if the voice of the people is quieted. people are voting, and the votes are meaningless. we are force fed a 2 party system. its time that ends. its time to dissolve this process of electing our president. we need a new system. one where every voice matters and is heard.

get rid of primaries
get rid of parties
get rid of the electoral college

make the popular vote the standard. if you win the most votes, you win the white house. i hate hearing of all these stupid rules and allocating delegates and electoral colleges. i want my 1 vote that i have to matter as much as any one elses.

this is not about screwing trump. this is about screwing my voice.

Trump knows nothing about political process and even less about party politics. He jumped into the deep end of the pool thinking he could brute-force it with his will. And he damn near has.

The sad thing is, he assumes way too much, far overestimates his own abilities, and is too arrogant to admit he needs assistance or has something wrong. As he's said, he's his own Big Brained advisor and consults with himself.

You know if someone jumped into the New York real estate world with an equivalent lack of knowledge and experience about that and proceeded to bitch and whine about how 'unfair' it was, Trump would laugh them out of town.

I thought we were in deep weeds several years ago. We have yet to see the bottom. But it's coming up fast.

You missed the point entirely.

The reason Trump has a a higher percentage of delegates than his raw vote is simple. Some states are winner takes all or winner takes most. In these states it is a straight race where the people get to vote and their votes are directly linked to who wins the state - i.e their votes count.

The arguments right now have nothing to do with this.

Colorado, for example, is a state where the people's vote is NOT directly linked to the result. Their votes do not count. If Colorado's people had voted and it was winner take all and Cruz had won the state with say 40%, then fine, he would win all the delegates. This is not what has happened though.

You have conflated the winner takes all/winner takes most/proportional element of the delegate allocation with the issue of not actually counting peoples votes.

It's a clever manipulation, I'll say that, but it is not going to work on people informed on the state by state rules and allocation process.

a reply to: introvert

Are you really serious here? There is nothing extra. Neither of the candidates are benefiting.


and in the case of Colorado, it is a 3700% bonus for Cruz since there were no votes...right?

This is the equivalent of giving a crying baby a sucker to shut them up.

the juvenile nature of Trump just boggles my mind, He has no clue how any of this works, if he cant get this right, how the heck is he going to be on the economy? Foreign Relations? A disaster situation?

This is really really basic stuff, low information voters indeed.

Believing in Democracy is like believing in Santa Claus...

It will be a cake walk for Hillary.

a reply to: CrazyWater

So they gave them to Cruz to shut him up, right?

a reply to: UKTruth

The arguments right now have nothing to do with this.

Yes, it does.

While you think I have missed the point, the fact is he is crying, along with his supporters, about the party process, but in some cases, like winner take all states, he is benefiting from the party process.

You have conflated the winner takes all/winner takes most/proportional element of the delegate allocation with the issue of not actually counting peoples votes. It's a clever manipulation, I'll say that, but it is not going to work on people informed on the state by state rules and allocation process.

I didn't write the article and I didn't create the party process'. Therefore I have conflated nothing whatsoever.

The premise still stands. He is benefiting from the party process.

a reply to: matafuchs

Did you not read the article?

originally posted by: matafuchs
a reply to: CrazyWater

So they gave them to Cruz to shut him up, right?

Hey look, another person who doesnt know how the process works! AND a Trump supporter.

Im not a Cruz supporter, my candidate is long gone. But your claim makes no sense, Cruz doesnt scream "FRAUD" in every state he enters.

Unlike Trump and his supporters. Even though at every turn its turned out to be a false accusation, or a stupid mistake on the part of Trump and his Campaign.

I see all your stars though, it is sad to see that apparently many people are just as ignorant to how the election process works.

a reply to: introvert

The Democrats have a more corrupt system than the Republicans so it shows up more in their convention. This doesn't mean people can't 'cry' as you so eloquently put it about corrupt systems.

Just because someone might benefit from a corrupt system doesn't mean they have to embrace it or not speak out against a system that is unfair.

a reply to: yeahright

Trump knows nothing about political process and even less about party politics.

Good.

We need more candidates like this.

a reply to: Metallicus

I could not disagree more. You can't beat a system you're entirely ignorant about.

Well, it could happen, but the ignorance isn't a positive. If he wins, it'll be in spite of his inability to put together a team of pros who know how it all works, and listen to them.

a reply to: Metallicus

The Democrats have a more corrupt system than the Republicans so it shows up more in their convention.

What the hell does that have to do with the topic?

This doesn't mean people can't 'cry' as you so eloquently put it about corrupt systems. Just because someone might benefit from a corrupt system doesn't mean they have to embrace it or not speak out against a system that is unfair.

Why are they only crying when their candidate of choice is affected, and why are they crying when he is the one benefiting?

What happened in Colorado, though, was Trumps fault. Not the systems.

There will not be another president. There will only be an ancient King who will return to claim his throne on the world. He's coming and all you scumbags are done. Go ahead and vote for a president that will never be. The faithful will ride this out to the end because they do not follow wicked men. He won this game and has designed the new world already. Funny how no one has realized they made Hell on Earth for themselves. This world is amazing and rewards only true, good People. It's time for all the wicked people to be judged for eternity.

a reply to: Naabaahii

So, Green Party then?

originally posted by: yeahright
a reply to: Metallicus

I could not disagree more. You can't beat a system you're entirely ignorant about.

Well, it could happen, but the ignorance isn't a positive. If he wins, it'll be in spite of his inability to put together a team of pros who know how it all works, and listen to them.

Exactly. What happened in Colorado is indicative of his lack of knowledge on the process. And when he drops the ball big time, he blames Cruz and the process he has agreed to participate in. Hell, like I said earlier, he is benefiting from their rules so far.

a reply to: introvert

Come on, now. You don't actually expect politicians to be honest, do you? Can't have a protest candidate without having things to protest, even if they're exaggerated.

It's like the politicians who claim they hate government but keep running for office. Or the politicians who claim they want small government but keep introducing new laws and restrictions. Or the people who claim they hate socialism, but have been on welfare, food stamps, or other govt social programs. Etc.

originally posted by: introvert
a reply to: UKTruth

The arguments right now have nothing to do with this.

Yes, it does.

While you think I have missed the point, the fact is he is crying, along with his supporters, about the party process, but in some cases, like winner take all states, he is benefiting from the party process.

You have conflated the winner takes all/winner takes most/proportional element of the delegate allocation with the issue of not actually counting peoples votes. It's a clever manipulation, I'll say that, but it is not going to work on people informed on the state by state rules and allocation process.

I didn't write the article and I didn't create the party process'. Therefore I have conflated nothing whatsoever.

The premise still stands. He is benefiting from the party process.

You are still missing the point.

In your example people get to vote and their vote counts towards the result.

In the example currently causing anger, people's votes are not counting towards the result.

Which part of that are you having trouble comprehending?

I know, for some, the state by state delegate process is not easy to understand, so I have made it as simple as possible for you.

Vote counting vs vote not counting.

Does that help?