Should candidates be able to woo delegates to the political conventions with cash, gifts, paying for their trip, etc? If so, what’s the limit? Disclosure, Marti is a good friend of mine as everyone in Wyoming, indeed, does know each other.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-24/republican-claims-delegate-vote-buying-exists/7352534
US election: Republican says delegate vote-buying and gifts are part of ‘the free market of politics’
By North America correspondent Michael Vincent
“Cash is on the table,” veteran Republican Marti Halverson says. “I don’t know why you’re so shocked.”
Key points:
Veteran Republican says she would not vote for rule that says candidates couldn’t ‘woo’ delegates
‘It is going around that delegates are going to be offered free Cleveland trips’, she says
Federal Election Commission has never successfully prosecuted anyone for vote-buying
This is not the response I was expecting — my mouth gaping.
I had just finished asking Wyoming National committeewoman Mrs Halverson about the “wooing” of delegates to switch their vote in this very-likely-to-be-contested upcoming Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ms Halverson is also opposed to any rule that would stop delegates accepting gifts.
“This is a great country,” she said. “We give presents to our friends. No, I would not vote for a rule that said candidates cannot ‘woo’ delegates. I wouldn’t do that. It’s not the American way.”
But what is the difference between wooing someone and buying their vote without cash?
“Cash is on the table,” she replied.
“Absolutely. It is going around that delegates are going to be offered free trips to Cleveland. Not Wyoming delegates, we haven’t heard that. But it is on the table. It is not illegal.”
I will point out at this stage Mrs Halverson is also a member of the Republican Standing Committee on Rules, which met this past week in Florida.
“And why would we want to make it illegal? Politics is rough and tumble in this country,” Mrs Halverson said.
“If there’s a loophole, some allowance that a candidate has to make a delegate happy.
“This is a free country. This is a free country despite what a lot of people would like to turn it into. This is still a free country.”
The free market of democracy, I suggested, tweaking a line from the Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, who, when asked to criticise or disendorse Donald Trump over the tycoon’s many inflammatory comments, said he would not, because the GOP is “a free market of ideas”.
“It’s the free market of politics,” Mrs Halverson said.
“And we are not a democracy. We’re a representative Republic.”
She added that both major parties have similar rules.
This will be her fourth convention. What is the biggest incentive you’ve ever been given, I asked. A swag bag? Free dinner?
“Probably a scarf,” she said.
“No, we don’t get swag. Let me put it this way: Wyoming doesn’t get swag. We have a nice size delegation — 29 delegates — more than 14 other states. But no, we’re not courted as some of the bigger states — California, Texas, New York.”
Would she be happy to have a free dinner?
“We don’t pay for a meal at the convention, however it’s usually our coal industry that buys our dinner. It’s our transmission line companies that will provide a lunch or something. So it’s Wyoming companies,” she said.
‘Very few restrictions on delegates’
I did ask the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about delegate vote-buying and if there is anything illegal about it.
They have never successfully prosecuted anyone for it in recent times, and they sent me a copy of their guide for delegates and pointed me to Ohio’s bribery laws.
The FEC directed me to page 150 of their Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees and their delegate guide.
In reality, there are few restrictions except “delegates may not accept any contributions from sources prohibited from making contributions in connection with federal elections — corporations, labour organisations, foreign nationals or businesses, or Federal Government contractors”.
As a former senior lawyer at the FEC told The Washington Post, “we’re in uncharted territory”.
So, it is not just unclear and ageing federal election laws that are open to abuse — publications like Time Magazine and the Cleveland Plain Dealer have turned to writing about the bribery laws in Ohio written in the 19th Century.
It is a sad omen when the fight for the Oval Office is being framed in this way.
‘FEC helpless to stop abuses’
The Federal Election Commission also appears helpless to stop any abuses. Even as far back as May 2015 the head of the FEC described her organisation as “worse than dysfunctional”.
Why? Because, as the New York Times reported back then, it’s about the “worsening stalemate among the agency’s six commissioners”.
“They are perpetually locked in 3-to-3 ties along party lines on key votes because of a fundamental disagreement over the mandate of the commission, which was created 40 years ago in response to the political corruption of Watergate,” the paper reported.
Australia is not without its problems, but as I put it to Mrs Halverson: “We have people going to jail in Australia for trying to influence the outcome of elections like this.”
“You need to loosen up,” she said, and walked away.
“Should candidates be able to woo delegates to the political conventions with cash, gifts, paying for their trip, etc? If so, what’s the limit? ”
Why not?
That is,after all, what will be happening in Congress after they are elected.
Might as well have the best at it up there instead of simple amateurs.
Rules are for the sheep.
The whole thing stinks to high heaven.
“It’s the free market of politics,” Mrs Halverson said.
No, it is the free market of corruption.
In 2012, even the Ron Paul campaign was offering to pay for all or part of delegates travel to Tampa if they were hardship cases.
Like a new rule or law is going to stop our political elite?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Whatthefuckever………
Physicians used to be wined and dined by drug and equipment reps (sometimes way over the top, with trips to Hawaii, etc) to entice them to use their products. This was wrong and has been corrected. Over corrected, really, since Congress passed laws making it a crime for a rep to bring me a freaking sandwich if the only time I have to hear their shpiel is the five minutes I have after finishing my am patients before I see my pm patients. I also have virtually no drug samples to give to folks either. I find it incredibly incredibly ironic that the same folks who disallowed even minor gifts (a godamned pen!), take tens of thousands of bribes from lobbyists.
Spent about 5 min max watching/listening to FBN this a.m. and they pointed out a couple of economic factors that indicated improvement, so they then postulated that consumers would now start spending all that cash they have been hiding under the mattress.
Unicorns
Just one question— How do I become a delegate?
NO one will be buying my vote I can assure you of that.
i thought prostitution was illegal…
ASIG, varies by state, and even then, there can be more than one way. In Wyoming, I won a slot by winning the county delegate at the County convention. They also do an election at state level for 14 more. The other 3 go to the party chair, state committeeman & state committeewoman. Damn sexists. In PA, you have to get on the ballot, and finish in the top 3 of the congressional district.
All this lobbying and arm-twisting and quid pro quo shit needs to stop. Problem is, most politicians are about as honest as used car salesmen. And what about that Dennis Hastert?
@Axel,
Medical bribery by pharma has NOT stopped.
T4C and Card pretty much sum it up.
There was that story about a congressional golf tournament. The swag was so abundant, they soon dropped the pretense of competition and everybody was grabbing armfuls of freebies. These are our leaders in action.
” delegates are going to be offered free trips to Cleveland.”
Damn. Who would even want a free trip to Cleveland?