FEED spoiler party!

One thing I've been wondering about -- why the Ryman ranch? Easly made sense -- either to kill Tate's major primary opponent or to discredit him as being 'soft on defense'. Trying to kill the journalists also, so that no one found out about Buffy, since she was obviously getting cold feet. (And because the others were poking around where they shouldn't, instead of being nice lapdogs for the campaign.)

But at the ranch, it was right before the RNC. It could get Ryman to bow out, but wasn't going to affect delegate votes, unlike if it had happened a week or two before. I'd bet all the pollsters would at least have an inkling which way things would fall, even if politics was more of a surprise in the post-Rising world. Furthermore, Tate mentioned he was in favor of loosening Mason's Law, so having a high profile animal conversion case would hurt this item of his agenda.