Dark horse. The term was first used in horse racing for a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on.
The term as a political description was first used in the United States when it was applied to James K Polk, a little-known politician from Tennessee who won the Democrat 1844 presidential nomination over a number of well-known candidates. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot at the 1844 convention, and went on to become the country’s eleventh president.
Other successful dark horse Presidential candidates:
1852: Franklin Pierce
1860: Abraham Lincoln
1876: Rutherford B. Hayes
1880: James A. Garfield
1920: Warren G. Harding
1976: Jimmy Carter
Phyllis Schlafly, long-time conservative activist at Eagle Forum, believes there may be more shenanigans ahead perpetrated by the Republican establishment, in order to eliminate either of the two outsider candidates, Trump and Cruz, if no candidate attains the required number of delegates to be the nominee.
Will the Republican kingmakers and consultants who picked every nominee since Reagan (Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain and Romney) step aside to let the grassroots, also known as the “base,” work its will this year?
After months of waiting for Trump to self-destruct, the Washington-based Republican Establishment has finally found a way to take back control of the party from the outsiders and grassroots. The plan revolves around the newly empowered House Speaker, Paul Ryan, who is openly contemptuous of Trump and has little use for Cruz ….
Paul Ryan obviously resents the rise of Trump and Cruz and would do anything in his power to prevent either from winning the nomination, but could he influence the convention? To answer that question, consider a remarkable article in the Wall Street Journal by the kingmakers’ top lawyer, Ben Ginsberg.
Ginsberg predicts “pure chaos” if the convention opens on July 18 with no candidate holding a majority of the delegates, and he suggests plausible scenarios by which the Establishment kingmakers could try to manage a “chaotic” convention to produce a nominee acceptable to them. The RNC needs to “be sure that the arena and hotel rooms are available if the convention goes more than four days,” which hasn’t happened in my lifetime ….
Ginsberg admits he wants to change the infamous Rule 40 which he wrote in 2012 to prevent a second candidate (Ron Paul) from being placed in nomination at Mitt Romney’s convention. If no candidate wins on the first ballot, delegates are no longer bound to vote for their state’s primary winner and are free to support a “dark horse” who never competed in a presidential primary or participated in a televised debate.
That’s how “dark horse” Paul Ryan could become our nominee. Such an outcome could destroy the Republican Party and guarantee a Democratic victory by causing disheartened grassroots voters to stay home and tempting an aggrieved candidate to mount a third-party or independent presidential campaign.
Let’s pray that either Trump or Cruz has the required votes by the time the delegates arrive at the convention. The kingmakers may just win again if one of them doesn’t.
If the Republican voters who support either Trump or Cruz cannot heal the rift between them, then we all lose. I’m talking about the Cruz supporters who are currently trashing Trump, Palin, and their supporters all over social media. Trump supporters are also doing some of this to Cruz and his supporters. It has to stop.
Read more at Eagle Forum:
http://www.eagleforum.org/publications/column/will-republican-establishment-stand.html
Mrs. Schlafly’s biography is available at Eagle Forum
Stella's Place 
If anyone cares, here’s what Preezy Dole has to say about the race. 🙄
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bob-dole-warns-of-‘cataclysmic’-losses-with-ted-cruz-and-says-donald-trump-would-do-better/ar-BBoupP9?li=BBnbfcQ
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🙄 is right.
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Good question, might be the last gasp of the GOPe, the last attempt from a corner rat! Then Trump will kill them.
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I think we’re going to see more of this as a way to try and sway Trump supporters that the establishment loves him.
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He should certainly know all about “cataclysmic loss.” 🙄
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A to the Men! 😆
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There is nothing they won’t do.
I just read what crazy Rick Wilson said. He is one disgusting man.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-guest-trumps-alt-right-fans-childless-single-men-who-masturbate-to-anime/
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I saw that too, and tried to forget it. Disgusting is right.
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How could anyone think this is okay to say in public, much less on television?
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Well, it is MSNBC. I’m sure not many people were watching.
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How did he even think of such a thing? Let alone say it.
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This guy, Rick Wilson, just provided an insight into his personal behavior. If I was standing in the group of people when Wilson said that, all I would say ” must be using his personal experience on the subject”. Wilson is one sick puppy!
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My DH said if he had said that in front of him he would have first told him he didn’t need to know what he does and then he would have beat the you know what out of him because people like him need the you know what beat out them.
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Wow.
It is going to get very ugly. Worse than the BLM (Black Lives Matter) rather than (Bureau of Land Management) though both seem equally corrupt.
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My local talker Michael Barry talked about this tonight on his radio show. Can you imagine how scrooed these hacks are going to be if they are unable to pull off the great bamboozle of the century. Rove, Schmidt, Dowd, and the list goes on and on. Don’t underestimate all of them. They probably have the most to lose. If Trump doesn’t make it through somehow, he’ll survive. If he does pull it off, these sh*tstains are toast, and we will all be the better for their demise.
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My local talk show host Jay Weber has lost his mind. He sniffs and sighs when he talks about Trump and Trump supporters and our ignorance all while proclaiming his neutrality.
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Yeah. Sorta like Rush, anymore.
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Another one I had to stop listening to because he was trying to be too clever in his bad mouthing of Trump while “Boy golly gee wilkers that Ted Cruz is a neat non establishment guy.” Rush is more subtle than out local fellows.
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Mark Belling is one of our other locals and he is of the mind that Trump is not a serious candidate and his supporters aren’t serious people. I’ve stopped listening to both him and Weber.
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If the Republican voters who support either Trump or Cruz cannot heal the rift between them, then we all lose.
Does anyone think such a rift can be overcome after what Trump has done? The only way that could happen is if Trump cleaned his side of the street and admitted his wrongdoing. Only then could such a thing occur.
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I’m sorry, scherado, but there is cleanup required on the other side of the street too. I won’t fight with you, but there is.
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What do you mean? Do you mean Cruz?
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I don’t intend to fight. I came to see what’s going on and take a reading of the Trumpsters. The entire thing’s afloat on a tenuous string, teetering. You know that I know I’m right.
But today, I’m celebrating what I expect to be the end of a 25-year-long nightmare.
I don’t know when I’ve ever felt so alive. I’m referring to the possible death of the Clinton Machine.
I feel that Ive been violated repeatedly since 1992, Sean Hannity has closed the loop.
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