Another predictable tripwire triggered TODAY.   Back in the spring of 2014, when we first discovered the GOPe roadmap for 2016, there were essential elements in the financial constructs of Jeb’s hope for success.
perry smarty glassesOne of those constructs was the necessary use of Super-PAC’s to avoid the pitfalls of electoral support withdrawal from candidates who were important to the overall objectives.
In essence, regardless of electoral support, specific candidates would need to be kept in the race beyond their traditional ability to do so.  The Super-PAC’s would be the guarantors of the retention.
Former Governor Rick Perry was, and is still, part of that original construct.  We shared yesterday it would be too risky for the GOPe roadmap to rely on a Texas electoral splitter who was not part of the team strategy, ie. Ted Cruz.
The Super-PAC guardians, who are charged with keeping each of the “splitters” in the race, come from inside the GOP Mid-Term roadmap team.  Specifically, from inside the group of DC insiders who act as bag-men for Senator McConnell and Tom Donohue. The same guys who insured Thad Cochran’s re-election in Mississippi, by any means necessary.
Obviously one of those key guardians was/is Austin Barbour, son of GOPe member, former RGA Chair and Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. Austin was the guy who arranged the racist attack ads against Chris McDaniel in the Mississippi Primary, and who coordinated the payments to Democrat voters to vote for Cochran in the 2nd primary.
As a consequence, after the mid-terms’ Austin took the role of Super-PAC head for Rick Perry support.  The larger goal is to keep each of the original splitters in the race.
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Austin Barbour’s job is to keep Rick Perry afloat through:

Tuesday March 1st, 2016  Texas Primary: 155 Delegates (proportional assigned) / Open Primary.
108 Texas delegates will be proportional by district vote.  Meaning divided among all of the candidates according to the percentage of vote in each of the 36 districts.  Each district gets 3 delegates.

  • If a candidate receives a majority of the vote (more than 50%), or only 1 candidate receives 20% or more of the vote, that candidate is allocated all 3 of the district’s delegates. [General Rules for All Conventions and Meetings. Rule 38. Section 8.a. and 8.b.]
  • If no candidate receives a majority of the vote and at least 2 candidates receive 20% or more of the vote, the candidate with the most votes (plurality) receives 2 delegates and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes receives 1 delegate. [Rule 38. Section 8.b.]
  • If no candidate receives 20% of the vote then the top 3 vote getters each receive 1 delegate. [Rule 38. Section 8.c.]

44 at-large Texas delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 34 bonus delegates) are to be allocated to the presidential contenders based on the primary results statewide. These delegates are allocated to the presidential contenders.

  • If a candidate receives a majority of the vote (more than 50%), or only 1 candidate receives 20% or more of the vote, that candidate is allocated all 44 at-large delegates. [Rule 38. Section 9.a. and 9.b.]
  • If no candidate receives a majority of the vote and at least 2 candidates receive 20% or more of the vote, the 44 at-large delegates are allocated proportionally among those candidates receiving 20% or more of the vote.
  • If no candidate receives 20% of the vote, allocate the 44 at-large delegates proportionally.

The GOPe roadmap to elect Jeb was created in 2014 with KEY STATES and key state vote splitters.  They are: South Carolina (Lindsey Graham), Ohio (John Kasich), Texas (Rick Perry), and Florida (Marco Rubio) – After the initial map was created, and because 2015 polling showed a safety margin was needed, further insurance policies were purchased in Virginia (Jim Gilmore) and New York (George Pataki).
Within the construct Iowa is viewed irrelevant; New Hampshire is viewed as more important but only for optics and momentum (23 delegates proportional); South Carolina 50 delegates winner-take-all, is where the campaign actually begins.
In order for the roadmap to succeed, each of these “splitter” candidates must be kept in the race (through specific moments in 2016) by assigning a specific Super-PAC to prop them up. Hence amid the story of Rick Perry campaign finances coming up short:

Perry-Facepalm[…]  Although polling suggests Republicans have a favorable opinion of Perry, he has struggled to gain traction in the deep field of candidates. He narrowly failed to crack the top 10 in national polling, relegating him to the undercard debate last week on Fox News Channel.

He had hoped for a breakout moment there, but rather it was Carly Fiorina, the former technology executive, who emerged from the so-called happy hour debate with momentum.

But Perry’s campaign aides as well as leaders of an allied super PAC said they will continue raising money and that the former governor is committed to a strong performance in the early contests next year. Perry is planning to campaign in South Carolina on Thursday and to visit Iowa next week.

“As the campaign moves along, tough decisions have to be made in respect to both monetary and time related resources,” Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller said. “Governor Perry remains committed to competing in the early states and will continue to have a strong presence in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

The Perry campaign reported raising $1.14 million in the second quarter of this year and on July 15 reported having $883,913 on hand.

But a group of Opportunity and Freedom super PACs promoting Perry’s candidacy was in far healthier state financially, having raised nearly $17 million by the end of June.

Austin Barbour, senior adviser to the super PAC, said the group would step up “to aggressively support the governor in a number of different ways.”

We’ve got plenty of money,” Barbour said. “That’s what I know. And we’re going to put that money to use in Iowa to make sure the governor is in the top three there. The super PAC is not going to let Rick Perry down.”

News of Perry’s money woes has surprised people in his political circle. In the 2012 campaign, Perry was a fundraising leader, bringing in $17 million to his campaign in a single quarter.

“Nobody talked about money being a problem,” said one former Perry appointee and longtime ally.  (read more)

There are 10 states on Super Tuesday March 1st.  Nine of them, including Texas, can be expected to present as “proportional assignment” because even the two states which have Winner-Take-All structure (Tennessee, Vermont), they also require a 50% threshold to take them or they default to proportional; with multiple candidates, that 50% goal remains unlikely.
Only one state, Oklahoma, is truly winner take all (43 delegates) until Florida (99 delegates) on March 15th.
The plan is for the “splitter team” (Graham, Kasich, Christie, Perry, Gilmore, Pataki, Huckabee, Santorum and Fiorina) to gobble up delegates in dribs and drabs, until they can deposit them in Jeb’s bucket, with endorsements after Jeb’s victory in Florida.
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Know the plan, see the plan.  Know the players and see through the game:

Following The Money
The GOPe Roadmap
♦ Why Support Trump – Part One (The GOPe Ruse)
♦ Why Support Trump – Part Two (Stop being played)
♦ Why Support Trump – Part Three (Intellectual Details)How We Predicted Megyn Kelly’s Attack Well Before the Debate
Expectations from Carly Fiorina

carly fiorina 2Carly Fiorina on Immigration: Pass the DREAM Act. For other undocumented immigrants, a direct path to citizenship is unfair.  While running for the U.S. Senate in California in 2010, Fiorina said she supports the DREAM Act, which would give legal status to people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Carly Fiorina on Climate change: It is real and manmade. But government has limited ability to address it.  Speaking in New Hampshire in February, Fiorina said there is scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by humans.

Carly Fiorina on Education: Supports Common Core – Set national standards but give local districts maximum control. No Child Left Behind was positive.  In a position paper while running for the U.S. Senate in California, Fiorina strongly advocated for metric-based accountability in schools. She praised No Child Left Behind as setting high standards and Race to the Top for using internationally-benchmarked measures.

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