If the GOP establishment is desperate to stop Trump, I have wondered why they haven’t changed the winner-take-all delegate rules in various states which gives Trump a built in advantage in a big field with his hardcore base of about 30% of the party. Well, it looks like they might be doing that:
The piece to which she refers said this:
Ahead of 2020, the Trump campaign successfully played the role of the party establishment. From their perch at the White House, his aides shaped state parties’ rules to make it harder for challengers to accumulate delegates. The goal — which they achieved — was to strangle any primary challenges before they could develop.
Heading into 2024, the Trump team’s outlook is very different. With memories of the 2016 efforts to stop Mr. Trump’s victory in mind, they have been canvassing state parties to hunt for opportunities to shape convention and delegate rules to Mr. Trump’s advantage.
Though people involved in the effort said no lobbying for rule changes had yet occurred, the Trump team has begun calling officials of state parties and has dispatched staff members to attend some party gatherings.
The Trump campaign isn’t alone in preparing for a delegate fight. Other prominent Republicans, including Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and a top delegate expert, have been discussing amendments to the delegate rules, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Cuccinelli declined to comment, saying only that he was not publicly committed to a candidate.
Now that Cuccinelli has come out for DeSantis, I think it’s probably that he’s going to try to change the delegate rules to make it harder for Trump. I’m not sure it will make a difference — He’s still pretty popular and even if it comes down to Trump vs DeSantis there’s no guarantee that Trump can’t get a majority of delegates. And Trump still has clout with the state parties which may not go along.
This battle will be a preview of the coming GOP primary campaign.