Posted on 04/04/2012 4:32:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Three months have passed, 36 states and territories have voted, and the Republican party has yet to settle on a presidential nominee. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have pinned their hopes on a brokered convention in which committee members, most of whom can vote independently, could play a decisive role. Nonetheless, members of the Republican National Committee tell National Review Online that a brokered convention is unlikely to happen. And thankfully so, since most members believe it would harm the party’s chances of victory in November.
“There won’t be a brokered convention,” says Jack Lindley, chairman of the Vermont GOP. Mitt Romney is “more than halfway there” in terms of delegates, he argues. “I don’t know where the other guys’ Kool-Aid is coming from.”
Slightly more circumspect, Jim Bopp, national committeeman for Indiana, tells NRO that a brokered convention is “extremely unlikely.”
“To me it’s obvious that Mitt Romney has a substantial lead,” says Joe Trillo, national committeeman for Rhode Island. “And I think as it gets closer to the convention the other candidates should certainly step aside.”
There’s not much sympathy for ex–speaker of the House Newt Gingrich among these members. “I don’t understand where the heck Newt is,” says Pat Longo, national committeewoman for Connecticut. “One day he says Romney is the likely nominee; today I read that he wants his positions in the platform. I’ve served on a platform committee twice, and, quite frankly, I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of changes.”
“Gingrich doesn’t have a chance; he’s just being Gingrich,” says Jody Dow, national committeewoman for Massachusetts.
It’s worth noting that all of the foregoing Republicans are Romney supporters.
“I think Newt has gotten into the Don Quixote mode,” says Bob Bennett, national committeeman for Ohio. “I think he’s tilting at windmills.”
Not everybody is convinced the race is over. “All three candidates are a long way from 1,144 delegates,” says Peggy Lambert, national committeewoman for Tennessee. Nonetheless, she adds that those candidates who are “so far behind that they don’t really have a chance, I think they should drop out. But I’d like to keep Newt Gingrich’s pugnaciousness in there.”
Sandy Boehler, national committeewoman for North Dakota, is similarly torn over the pros and cons of a brokered convention. “I’ve kind of been looking forward to the excitement,” she admits. “It just brings the adrenaline out.”
“The president gets ink every day whether he likes it or not, so we are in a position to compete because there’s news — there’s something going on,” says Mark Zaccaria, chairman of the Rhode Island GOP. Zaccaria, however, thinks Romney will win the nomination before the first ballot is cast.
Because the RNC has been accumulating a war chest to use in the general election, “I don’t think a brokered convention would be detrimental to the candidate,” says Phyllis Woods, national committeewoman for New Hampshire.
Priscilla Rakestraw, national committeewoman for Delaware, agrees — to a certain extent. “A brokered convention is an advantage probably only to the viewing public,” she says, “and perhaps to the point that it adds additional excitement and electricity to the convention.”
Although she believes Romney will ultimately win, Rakestraw adds that she’s concerned with the tone the other candidates have taken recently. “I think from time to time they’ve forgotten who they’re running against. They’re not running against their fellow Republican; they’re running against President Obama.”
“I’m an agnostic on whether a contested convention would be a good thing or a bad thing,” says John Ryder, national committeeman for Tennessee. “The idea of the delegates elected by primary voters throughout the country making actual decisions is not a bad thing — in terms of small-r republican principles. On the other hand, the convention finishes on August 30, and early voting starts in many states 30 days after that. I think our candidate’s going to need more time to lay out the case against Barack Obama.”
Solomon Yue, national committeeman for Oregon, thinks the chances for a contested convention are slim, and for evidence he cites the lack of lobbying of RNC members by the candidates. “In 2008, I helped to organize RNC members for Mitt Romney, and we had 87 supporters,” he says. “Nothing is happening this year.” The reason, he suspects, is that the Romney campaign is confident it can win the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination without a “buffer” of super delegates.
For now, the prospect of a contested convention remains mere speculation, albeit speculation that brings a gleam to the eyes of some conservatives.
— Brian Bolduc is an editorial associate for National Review.
A brokered convention was never likely. This race has been in Romney’s hands for quite a while, even in the few days of seeming Santorum and Gingrich momentum.
When you are about to get raped there is no reason to give up and stop fighting. Romney / RNC / Fox / Media don’t have a gun.
We can vote against Romney as long as it is possible, and then make sure Obama doesn’t win in November. They are not mutually exclusive.
I don’t know about you people but I am not an etch a sketch. I’d like to see Romney lose some states.
Let me put it this way, friends, and I must ask you to please pardon my ungentlemanly choice of words:
I do not suffer from battered spouse syndrome, and I never will. I know when I am not wanted and it is clear that the Republican Party no longer wants me.
Either I help change that party, or I leave it. But I will not live on my knees.
They knew what they were doing.....they've done this before....they will do it again
Leaving seems the only option for me.
Santorum could improve his chances by campaigning with the following idea:
Due to the FHA, Fannie and Freddie Bankruptcies of September, 2008, American home owners lost 30 % of the value of their homes. That is a 30 % cut in just one month. Home values are still down 30 %.
Thus, let us cut the total compensation to all elected Federal politicians, and their staffs by 30 %, and an additional 10 % cut to elected Federal politicians each year until Federal Spending is LESS THAN the average of the previous 2 years of Federal income.
BTW, since slightly less than half of the US House, and 2/3 of the US Senate are Millionaires, it will be a great opportunity for Congress to lead by example that EVERYONE should give up their “fair” share of the American Dream.
What better way can there be to demonstrate that America is truly a SUB-PRIME NATION?
Well said, Sir.
I’ve drawn some allusions on here to Richard Nixon and the Southern Strategy, seeing as Obama is doing his level-best so scare working class whites over to the GOP with hoodie riots and rampaging hippies.
Then I watched Mitt’s speech from Milwaukee last night, and it dawned on me that “My God, this fellow actually IS Richard Nixon! The consummate used car salesman. He can talk out of all sides of his mouth at once”.
I’ve drawn some allusions on here to Richard Nixon and the Southern Strategy, seeing as Obama is doing his level-best so scare working class whites over to the GOP with hoodie riots and rampaging hippies.
Then I watched Mitt’s speech from Milwaukee last night, and it dawned on me that “My God, this fellow actually IS Richard Nixon! The consummate used car salesman. He can talk out of all sides of his mouth at once”.
Been predicting a CW for a while. It’s back on the table again for me. I just hoped it could be avoided, but it can’t be.
No changes will be allowed in the party. The game is rigged. All the levers of power are controlled by the liberals of the party and will never be relinquished-—never.
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