Ex-Gov John Sununu (father of ex-Sen. John Sununu) was RNC rules committee chairman in 2012. He says Republican rule 40 is being misinterpreted and won't stop Kasich from being nominated. The rule, written in 2012, was meant to apply only to that year.
(rules 26-42) were the rules that solely dealt with the convention and are called the "standing rules" for the convention. These rules are only in effect for the five days the convention is running. After the convention, those rules are no longer valid.
....The elder Sununu told CNBC: "Each convention write its own rules. Tweaking Rule 40 will be part of that process. But remember, you do not have to be formally nominated under the requirements of Rule 40 to receive delegate votes. Last time Ron Paul did not qualify to be nominated under Rule 40, but he received his delegate votes (around 200) when the balloting took place."
The elder Sununu was on Greta yesterday, which I listened to on the car radio. Here's what I think he said: The new Rules committee, which will meet the day before the Cleveland convention, will replace it with one that meets the needs of this years candidates. There will be 2 delegates from every state, likely picked by the state's delegate winner. I think he said Rule 40, the 8 state rule, has to do with who gets TV time and have their nomination televised, not who can get delegate votes and be nominated. Because of Hurricane Katrina, Republican TV time had been cut into, so they needed to limit the televised floor speeches of nominations.
Meanwhile, Trump's unfavorability ratings seem to be growing. A new poll:
Fifty-five percent of Americans say they have a negative opinion of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the latest AP-GfK poll. But that's not nearly as bad as how they view the leading candidate for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump. His unfavorable rating stands at an unprecedented 69 percent.
It seems Dems are much happier with Hillary than Republicans are with Trump:
And unlike Trump, members of Clinton's party largely like her. More than 7 in 10 Democratic voters have a favorable opinion, compared to 53 percent of Republicans who have a positive view of Trump.
Just 17 percent of Democratic voters say they wouldn't vote for Clinton in the general election, about the same share as wouldn't back Sanders should he win the nomination. Thirty-one percent of Republicans say the same about Trump.
Clinton remains the candidate viewed by the most Americans as able to win a general election, with 82 percent saying she could capture the White House. Just 6 in 10 say that of Sanders or Trump.
Trump plans on taking every New York Delegate. Cruz thinks he can win some upstate conservative New Yorkers. New York has one of the worst voter turnout records. Will Trump be able to get his supporters to care enough to vote?
