OPINION:
Support for Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz this presidential-election season is an obvious backlash to congressional Republicans betraying voters throughout President Obama’s term. Voters, rules and promises no longer seem to matter to those in power. All that does seems to be obtaining power and wielding it to reward friends, punish enemies and amass more power .
For Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, the convention rules (or the rules’ meanings) will change. Only convention-delegate votes — not the voters — matter, so pressure to conform to the establishment will be high. The establishment wins by rigging the game. In Taneytown, a small municipality in rural Maryland, conservative Councilman Don Frazier challenged the status quo, fighting abusively high water rates. Because he presented a threat to the power structure, council members drafted ordinances and a charter amendment to vote him off the council. Evidently the legitimate concerns of the voters who put Councilman Frazier into office are irrelevant.
In Howard County, Maryand, members of the Republican Committee must swear not to speak against any elected Republican. To do otherwise results in dismissal from office. Maryland law guarantees that “an employee of a governmental entity may freely … express any political opinion” but apparently this does not apply to elected, unpaid Republicans in the county.
In Carroll County, Maryland, a legislator recently left office to serve the Republican governor. The central committee is constitutionally empowered to select a replacement, and so it voted 5-4 for a conservative. Yet the committee’s constitutional prerogative was dismissed. The governor demanded three names to pick from. (The Constitution, meanwhile, states that the Central Committee will give the governor “a name,” not three names.) The process was completed and all applicants and newspapers were notified — but because the chosen individual was not the governor’s pet choice, the chair was ultimately strong-armed into giving the governor three names, including the one he wanted.
The Republican establishment wonders why voters are flocking to Mr. Trump or Mr. Cruz. It’s simple: Because voters can see the rigged game.
KATHY FULLER
Eldersburg, Md.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.