In prior years, I remember hearing, from pretty reliable sources, how the Republican presidential primaries work in New York. They use computers, arcane rules, funny business, etc... so that only certain candidates will be on the ballot.
In 1996, Steve Forbes had to take them to court, to get on the ballot. Pat Buchanan was the agenda setter during that election campaign, and used hard working volunteers (the Buchanan Brigades!) to be competitive. They were the only ones who could do anything, amidst the Establishment's support of Bob Dole.
"Is the Empire State a Lock for Dole?" I recall one news report asking. The NYGOP Establishment manipulated the system, to keep other candidates off of many ballots. You can hear about these shenanigans from folks in Upstate New York, and elsewhere.
On to today...
Have things changed, since then? One very good thing about this year's Republican presidential primary race is that - unlike in 1996 and 2000 - the GOP Establishment wasn't able to rig the nomination, in favor of their candidate. In fact, being an "Establishment candidate" was a major liability... At this point, the voters have had enough!
I hope that Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and even John Kasich were granted ballot lines, in all Empire State districts today. With all that's been going on, I haven't been able to follow these races closely!
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