Trump already working behind-the-scenes to get a leg up at GOP convention

Donald Trump and his organization are already working state by state in a bid to promote possible delegates who will critically bolster his support at the Republican presidential nominating convention next year, The Washington Post is reporting.

The strategy is well underway even before Trump's rivals — other than Nikki Haley — have announced they're running against him.

The tactic is focusing on state rules and stroking party leaders who select presidential nominating delegates, according to the Post. State Republican parties generally have far greater power than Democrats to determine whom they send to the convention, and how strictly (or not) those people are bound to vote for particular candidates on the first ballot, the Post noted. GOP state parties have to submit their delegate selection plans for 2024 by Oct. 1.

“You can influence the way delegates are selected, whether it’s by primary, caucus or convention,” Henry Barbour, a longtime Republican committeeman from Mississippi, told the Post “You can affect whether a state party will have winner-take-all or what the criteria that a candidate has to get to win any delegates."

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State party officials have been wined and dined at Mar-a-Lago, and invited to meetings with Trump on their home turf as he travels. He's also meeting with national GOP leaders in Washington, and endorsing state officials expected to support him, according to sources.

While Trump has cultivated a persona as a brash outsider, he is increasingly adept at playing a secretive insider game to benefit himself, according to observers.

Trump allies are convinced it will pay off.

“We are running a campaign for the Republican nomination that wasn’t run in 2016,” a Trump adviser told the Post. “There are a lot more than rallies involved in a real campaign.”