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Zombie Candidacy: What Happens When Your Campaign Is Suspended
A Republican candidate needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination outright going into the convention, which this year will begin on July 18. But with the bitter battle currently being waged by the five remaining candidates, some think a contested convention is becoming a real possibility.
That’s where the zombie candidates could come in. If the Republican field barrels towards a contested convention, with, for example, businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio each heading into July without a majority of delegates, then “they’re all kind of looking at each other, that’s when a guy who’s got 100 [delegates] could make a difference in some way,” Richard Hohlt, a longtime Republican donor and political consultant, told TIME.
That man (or woman, as former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina suspended her campaign and is on 37 state ballots), with 100 delegates almost definitely won’t be able to finagle his or her way to a nomination. But those delegates could be useful bargaining chips towards other ends.
Take Christie. He suspended his campaign on February 10 after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire. But his home state’s primary isn’t until early June. So if by June it’s looking more likely that there will be a convention battle, the sitting governor could re-start his campaign to go for the win in New Jersey, which is a winner-take-all state that awards 51 delegates.
If Christie were to win, he could then trade those delegates to one of the leading candidates at the convention in exchange for any number of things: a Cabinet position, money to pay off campaign debt, provisions in the party platform, or consideration for Vice President, to name a few.
A famous example of this is Pat Buchanan, who parlayed his delegate count in 1992 into a prime-time speaking slot ahead of incumbent George H. W. Bush, unleashing a now-famous speech on the "cultural war" gripping the country
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-year-of-the-living-dead-the-effect-of-suspended-candidacies/ar-BBpZX9U?ocid=spartandhp
That’s where the zombie candidates could come in. If the Republican field barrels towards a contested convention, with, for example, businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio each heading into July without a majority of delegates, then “they’re all kind of looking at each other, that’s when a guy who’s got 100 [delegates] could make a difference in some way,” Richard Hohlt, a longtime Republican donor and political consultant, told TIME.
That man (or woman, as former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina suspended her campaign and is on 37 state ballots), with 100 delegates almost definitely won’t be able to finagle his or her way to a nomination. But those delegates could be useful bargaining chips towards other ends.
Take Christie. He suspended his campaign on February 10 after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire. But his home state’s primary isn’t until early June. So if by June it’s looking more likely that there will be a convention battle, the sitting governor could re-start his campaign to go for the win in New Jersey, which is a winner-take-all state that awards 51 delegates.
If Christie were to win, he could then trade those delegates to one of the leading candidates at the convention in exchange for any number of things: a Cabinet position, money to pay off campaign debt, provisions in the party platform, or consideration for Vice President, to name a few.
A famous example of this is Pat Buchanan, who parlayed his delegate count in 1992 into a prime-time speaking slot ahead of incumbent George H. W. Bush, unleashing a now-famous speech on the "cultural war" gripping the country
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-year-of-the-living-dead-the-effect-of-suspended-candidacies/ar-BBpZX9U?ocid=spartandhp
While we're all celebrating the demise of Jeb! and the BFEE - just remember that he's still on the ballots in a lot of states. Doesn't mean he's going to gain votes or win over delegates. The RNC is going to be very interesting to watch.
