Judge Nap: GOP, Democratic Party Are Private Clubs; They’re Not the Government

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
[excerpt]
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: "The Republican Party is a private club. The Democratic party is a private club. They are not the government. Even though [a primary] looks like an election, feels like an election. You use the same equipment where you go for an election, you go to the same place. 

It is not an election. It is not run by the government. 

And these private clubs can do the nominations however they see fit...

The courts are not going to interfere with these rules any more than they would with the running of the NFL or the Moose Lodge...

The people that Trump is railing against —the elites in both parties— have a certain fear. That somebody outside the mainstream, outside of their thinking, could be nominated... outside of their power structure. 

So the Democrats, in order to prevent a Jesse Jackson from getting nominated... and the Republicans, in order to prevent a Ron Paul from getting nominated, constructed and crafted these rules so that those who run the party always have a residual of votes to sort of neutralize the votes of these candidates...

To the extent that Trump and Bernie want to present themselves as anti-establishment candidates, that helps them do that. But these are smart guys who can read the rules and who can hire people to read the rules. And they sometimes take advanatage of it themselves — like South Carolina. Trump got 38% of the vote, but 100% of the delegates. 

But these complaints, I think, help him. And help foster his image as somebody who will bust the stablishment and change things if he gets elected."