Charles Koch Is Privately Committed To Getting Paul Ryan Nominated In Cleveland: SourceThe story merely says that if Ryan were the nominee, the Kochs would be very, very pleased:
Charles Koch is confident House Speaker Paul Ryan could emerge from the Republican National Convention as the party’s nominee if Donald Trump comes up at least 100 delegates shy, he has told friends privately.If Ryan does get the nomination at the convention with the backroom assistance of the Kochs, there'd be something Faustian about that. The Tea Party, which was the precursor of Trumpism, might have had grassroots elements in its early days, but from the start it sold its soul to the Kochs, whose octopus of organizations gave the movement money, tactical know-how, and a much higher profile. This just seems like Charles and David visiting the teabaggers-turned-Trumpite Fausts and quietly but firmly calling in the debt.
Koch believes Ryan would be a “shoo-in” at a contested convention, should the campaign get to that point.... he and his brother David are fond of Ryan. As a source close to the brothers told the Huffington Post, they appreciate the agenda he has pursued as speaker, including opposition to tax extenders and heightened warnings against corporate welfare -- positions that contrast with the admittedly vague portfolio pushed by Donald Trump.
I've been wondering for a while why the Kochs haven't tried harder to thwart Trump in the primaries -- but maybe they read the polls correctly and concluded that, while Trump might finish with the most delegates, he was unlikely to get enough to win on the first ballot (or to be savvy enough to hold on to all the delegates he'd won, even on the first ballot), at which point the Kochs and other powers that be could put pretty much anyone they wanted at the top of the ticket. Possibly everything won't work out quite so neatly for them, but if it does, then they were smart not to panic. If so, it's still their party -- and the latest right-wing populist movement got owned by them, after they literally took ownership of the last one. Slick work, boys.
8 comments:
They're bullies in the party that loves 'em some bullies, but their neither omniscient nor omnipotent. IMO the party itself will not bear up well the COST associated with the Kocies getting their way on this.
Ryan is more TOLERATED outside his district, even in his district: it went Obama in both 08 and 12, and I'm not convinced it won't go for Feingold this year. Much of the R base thinks of him as a closet liberal, absurd as Ds generally understand that to be. Even just feigning compassion for Teh Poors is considered Message Treason. They don't trust him - again, absurd, given all he's done to "starve the beast" down to bathtub drowning size, but we're not talking terribly bright bulbs.
What will the Trumpites do if they don't get Trump? Say "Well, we tried"? I don't think so. It could get even nastier that it is already.
EYup, retired, it'll get uglier before it gets pretty. A long, hot summer.
Ummm...Faust was never the creditor in the legend to which you allude. The debt was called in on him.
I heard tonight that it is nearly impossible for tRump to get to the magic number of delegates before the convention, but the last primary contest that could determine that is actually right before the convention. So, you know; right down to the wire.
Do the Kochs have enough money (I know, dumb question) to buy young Paulie a campaign infrastructure, offices and volunteers throughout the country and in time to make it work? Can such a thing even be purchased, or purchased without the Koch's obvious fingerprints all over it, and will that matter to non-teahadis? Loser-stink seems to really hurt rethug candidates, could getting that stinky permanently harm Paulie's political career?
...at which point the Kochs and other powers that be could put pretty much anyone they wanted at the top of the ticket.
This is the part I'm not convinced of. Sure, some of Trump's delegates may actually be establishment shills...but to the extent his delegates aren't his, they're more likely to be Cruz's (he's the one who has been most assiduous in gaming the delegate selection process). In any case, it's probably fair to say that a substantial majority of the delegates will be supporters of either Trump or Cruz--so what's the mechanism for denying both Trump and Cruz the nomination? Delegates make the rules (and Cruz has been packing those comittees), and delegates select the nominee...and most of the delegates will probably be people who hate the GOP establishment with a fiery passion. And we know Cruz would happily burn down the party before he would fall on his sword, so...
Embarrassing error fixed. Thanks, Rand.
Given the context I don't think Faustian is necessarily a failed rhetorical device. Not necessarily embarrassing, given that maybe one in a hundred people would catch it.
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