Posted on 12/11/2015 3:44:47 PM PST by jazusamo
Anti-establishment Republicans are up in arms over talk of a brokered Republican Party convention.
Ben Carson warned a brokered convention would "destroy" the GOP, while supporters of Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) expressed dismay that party leaders would take part in meetings considering the possibility.
"This is clearly their contingency to stop Trump and Cruz at all costs," Iowa radio host Steve Deace, who is supporting Cruz for president, told The Hill. "These people would rather lose elections than lose control of the party. And they'd rather have Hillary in the White House than someone the GOP base actually wants."
The Washington Post reported Thursday that party leaders -- including supporters of GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio - met privately to discuss the possibility of a brokered convention, ostensibly to derail the hopes of a candidate deemed unelectable by party elites. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus attended the meeting at a Washington restaurant, though they did not speak at it, according to the Post.
The meeting follows months in which Trump has dominated the GOP race. Carson and Cruz, two other candidates that some Republicans believe would be weak in a general election, are also near the top of polls, though Carson has been fading.
Trump's rise in particular has unnerved the GOP establishment, which worries his candidacy could sink Republican hopes of holding the Senate. Trump courted controversy this week by calling for a temporary ban on Muslims traveling to the United States, a position rejected by every other GOP candidate that polls show has support from the Republican electorate.
Supporters for insurgent candidates view the private discussions as desperation from terrified establishment figures, and believe it will only serve to harden their supporters. Carson's campaign was already fundraising off the report by mid-afternoon on Friday.
"Dumb. Big mistake. They just poured gasoline all over the fire," said Jeffrey Lord, a former Ronald Reagan administration official who supports Trump for president.
"I get that you need to have contingency plans in place, but this looks like they're trying to rig the game and it just feeds the narrative that the establishment is completely out of touch with the base."
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had a short message for the RNC:
"Play the game out in front of us," he told The Hill, adding that he's not worried about a brokered convention because "every piece of data shows that [Donald Trump] is the clear front-runner."
The speculation that party leaders are privately discussing what to do if an outsider is on course to land the nomination provided fresh evidence to some of the disconnect between base conservatives and establishment Republicans.
"The Republican establishment is playing with fire if they take any action that is perceived to harm the winners of caucus and primary states," said Adam Brandon, CEO of the conservative activist group FreedomWorks.
"If that's what they are planning or doing, they may inadvertently set the stage for independent presidential campaigns and further damage an already fractured relationship with many conservatives and Republican voters, which is why insurgent candidates are thriving in the first place."
Supporters for Bush and Rubio attended the meeting, according to the Post, and officials from those campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
The RNC pushed back strongly Friday against the characterization that some within the party are plotting a takeover at the convention.
RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said the discussion about the potential for a brokered convention was merely "cocktail conversation" over the nuts and bolts of the race.
"There was a dinner where the subject was how the delegate process works," Spicer said Friday on CNN.
"We walked through the delegate selection process, what states were going on what date, how each state handled the delegate process, and at the end we took a series of questions," he said. "It's really nothing more than that."
Spicer argued that it wasn't suspicious that supporters of Bush and Rubio were on hand, noting that Priebus's days are filled by meetings with representatives from all the campaigns, as well as conservative pundits, consultants and advisers from all corners of the party.
Still, some say the optics of the meeting are bad for the national party, which is once again seeking to stamp out a fire that has sprung up over its handling of the primary process.
Fair or not, the alleged discussion about a brokered convention will confirm the suspicions many in the base have harbored for a long time, which have helped to fuel the rise of Trump, Carson and Cruz.
"It's completely counter-productive if it looks like Republican power-brokers are trying to orchestrate this," said former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who is supporting Bush for president.
Gregg said the party may be headed to a contested convention - not to ambush an outsider, but because it will be difficult for one candidate in the huge field of contenders to lock down a majority of delegates ahead of the convention.
The party needs to have the infrastructure and processes in place to handle that scenario, but it's unhelpful to plan for it in a way that could be perceived as putting a thumb on the scale, Gregg argued.
"It's something Priebus has to plan for, but he needs to be careful who he's discussing it with," Gregg said. "The days of party boss politics are over and have been over for a long time. People will have a negative reaction to anything that has a whiff of that kind of backroom dealing."
Supporters for establishment Republicans running for president mostly rolled their eyes at the controversy, saying it was an example of outsider candidates looking to stoke outrage over the byzantine rules governing the GOP nominating process.
"This is getting totally blown out of proportion," said Katie Packer Gage, a veteran of Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign whose consulting firm is assisting Rubio's efforts in Michigan.
"The idea that the Illuminati within the party is coming down from on high to decide who will be the nominee is ludicrous," she continued. "Ben Carson needs to call someone versed in parliamentary procedures to explain to him how this all works."
While some Republicans say the huge field makes it more likely that the party could face its first contested convention since 1976, there is still broad skepticism from many quarters that that's where things are headed. Many believe the eventual nominee will emerge once the primaries turn to winner-take-all contests on March 15.
"This is just a story that turns up at points in the cycle when there's no definition to the race," said former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath, who is supporting Ohio Gov. John Kasich for president. "This idea that there will be a stampede on the floor is very romantic but I don't see it happening."
A spokesperson for Chris Christie's campaign declined to weigh in, other than to say that the New Jersey governor is only focused on winning the nomination outright. That was the general message coming from campaign operatives in private conversations with several other campaigns.
"Here's the bottom line," Spicer said. "Republican voters will choose the delegates that go to the convention in Cleveland next July. Those people will decide the nominee."
The rebellion is on!
How the %$@# did they think the base would react when hearing this crap after listening to people Like iYeb and Kasich saying they guartentee Trump won’t be the nominee ?
Amen
And they’d rather have Hillary in the White House than someone the GOP base actually wants
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Insert Obama and that statement was true for the last two elections.
The Cheap Labor Express uses the Designated Loser to block us from electing anyone who can stop them.
Yeb! was supposed to be the Designated Loser this time around.
Here’s some information to help you out to call them, let them know your feelings.....
Republican National Committee
Hours
Mon: 9:00am-5:00pm
Tue: 9:00am-5:00pm
Wed: 9:00am-5:00pm
Thu: 9:00am-5:00pm
Fri: 9:00am-5:00pm
Phone Number
202-863-8500
Address
310 1st St SE
Washington, DC 20003-1885
Thank You!
Senate [Sorority] Leader Mitch McConnell (?-Ky.) and Republican Committee Whatever Reince Preibus think that we are pretty stupid.
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Of course they do. Cochran was re-elected after the dirty tricks primary. McConnell was re-elected. Grahamnesty was re-elected. McCain was and probably will be again.
Y’all be sure to call the Speaker of the House and the Senate Minority Leader and let them know if they pull this crap in March they will lose their seats/ Majority in November!
I sure would like to know where it is going on so I can show up for it
I still am sitting here getting screwed to the wall by our federal government and lied to every day of the week by Obama or one of his minions or the Republicans in Congress, but I repeat myself
Better yet, call your own state’s RNC members, at home preferably. Start calling NOW, don’t wait until they actually pull something.
Already did my State...today...also call your Senators and House Representatives, let them know how you feel....
They are trying to rig the game and they are completely out of touch. Yebbie's pissed 75 million buckadingdongs down the drain and some of the big boys may be wanting a little return on their investment, yes, but blowing the party up is a losing bet no matter how you look at it, and coming out of the convention with "Let Them Eat Cake" as the new slogan is going to make folks just a little cranky.
If they wanted it to be secret it would’ve been secret. News does not leak unless somebody wants it to leak.
“Okay we didn’t mean it” but it was funny watch Jonathan Karl gettting a woodie talking about Trump can’t get more than 35; while in Reuters and OAN polls he’s at 42 AND 41. Ha ha ha RNC eat dirt and die.
Holding the Senate??? If Trump gets the nomination and runs, the Republicans will SWAMP the Senate with a filibuster proof majority of Republicans. The problem these ideologues have is that those new Senators won't be "East Coast establishment".
Those who poo-pooed the idea that the GOP-e will try to rig the convention conveniently ignore the *fact* that the establishment has been *very* busy trying to rig the state nominations, including rewriting rules on the fly.
One of their worst offenses is to “punish” states that have their primaries early by restricting the number of delegates they can send to the convention. But the *choice* of who stays and who goes is up to the establishment. So even if 4 out of 5 delegates supports Trump or Cruz, only the 1 in 5 that supports Bush or Rubio will be allowed to attend.
And guess what? It was the establishment in those states that decided to have an early primary in the first place, knowing full well what the “punishment” would be.
Perhaps their biggest push is because of what the Ron Paul supporters did last election by trying to take over state delegations. This gave the establishment the idea to freeze out everyone but loyal establishment hacks.
In Arizona, the party censured John McCain, so his organization fired all precinct chairmen who would not sign loyalty oaths to him. He is intensely unpopular in the state, but has the money and the rage to destroy his primary opponent, not just politically, but financially and personally.
While they would never show such backbone against the Democrats, do not underestimate the viciousness of the establishment against conservatives.
Otherwise, it will be business as usual.
And that is a fact.
Oh, you may have a couple of mainstream stalwarts get up and speechify with an intent to undermine the nominee, but if that person has the sworn delegates in hand when they walk in the door, they win.
Count on it.
But, buy another thousand rounds, just in case:)
Pictures are worth thousands of words! :)
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