It’s the End of the Line for GOP as We Know It

National Review ^ | March 23, 2016 | JONAH GOLDBERG

[Steelfish]

It’s the End of the Line for GOP as We Know It By JONAH GOLDBERG March 23, 2016

(snip) Nominating Donald Trump will wreck the Republican party as we know it. Over the weekend, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus showed the first public signs of acceptance about what’s in store for the party. He finally acknowledged that the Republican nominee was probably going to be determined on the convention floor in Cleveland. Priebus explained, rightly, that the rules are the rules, and that if Trump can’t secure the required 1,237 delegates before Cleveland, it’s anyone’s game. “This is a delegate-driven process,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash.

“The minority of delegates doesn’t rule for the majority.” Donald Trump Doesn’t Have the Character to Be President Trump’s response to this floor-fight talk was to vomit up the usual word salad. “All I can say is this, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Trump told ABC’s This Week. “But I will say this, you’re going to have a lot of very unhappy people [if I’m denied the nomination].

And I think, frankly, for the Republicans to disenfranchise all those people because if that happens, they’re not voting and the Republicans lose.” Even through the syntactical fog, Trump’s point is clear: If he can’t reach 1,237, he should get the nomination anyway. Because he is Trump. If that doesn’t happen, his supporters will stay home, defect from the party, riot, or all three.

[Grampa Dave]

Grampa Dave - this would probably be the only way to get him to donate to FR. Then again, he’d probably renege because that seems to be part of his character and the character of who he’s all-in for.

I started out donating to Cruz until it became obvious that he was willing to “drift” from some of his stated ideals if it meant leveraging a situation or two and that Trump was the best chance we have of taking the WH - guys like Steelfish can’t pry their mind off a direction once they have it embedded and the actual thought process no longer holds sway and they sure don’t think that it’s proper for them to have to pony up their own fair share - funny how so many claim to support a candidate who has conservative values while they exhibit none of the values they claim to support.....

PS - I donate $50 a month to FR (not a monthly donor with auto-pay, I hit the donate button each month) but will tell you now: Bet Trump - if I’m wrong, I’ll donate an extra $50. If I’m right, I’ll donate an extra $100. You can count on it.

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I have been a monthly donor since Jim started monthlys. I donate an auto $35 and often do another $35 during the campaigns.

One of the worse Cruz supporters with a religious sign on name never donated, and I challenged him whenever he made his Trump slams to donate. He never did and finally disappeared.

Anyone, who supports any can!didate with FR posts/replies and doesn’t contribute to Free Republic is like the illegal aliens sponging off working Americans. A real douche bag

[NRx]

The GOP is already doomed. Most of Trump’s people will not vote if he is not the nominee. And many of those opposed to him won’t vote for him if he is.

It’s game over. The wicked witch can start working on her inaugural speech.

[Pelham]

I think a lot of Trump and Cruz voters will vote for the other guy when it comes down to it. Not everyone is involved in the fierce infighting.

I prefer Trump but can vote for Cruz. I don’t let the nastiness coming from zealots in both camps decide things for me.

What the two groups have in common is being insurgents. Over the years I’ve come to despise the entrenched GOP ruling class with the same cold anger that once was reserved only for the Democrat left. I won’t miss the chance to damage those bastards, whether the vehicle is Trump or Cruz.

[ek_hornbeck]

No fan of Mr. Priebus but he is right. If Trump doesn’t have 1237 locked down when he shows up in Cleveland then the nomination is not his for the demanding. An open convention is dangerous but thems the rules.

As I've said before, the RNC will thank Cruz for denying Trump the 1237 delegates and giving them a brokered convention. At best, they'll reward him with a promise of a mid-level cabinet appointment in the next administration, but he won't be their nominee or even VP. Those are reserved for their candidates of choice: Jeb, Mitt, Marco, and Ryan.

If Cruz managed to win 1237 delegates and get the nomination outright (now nearly mathematically impossible), I'd vote for him in the general election, because warts and all Cruz is still better than Hillary. If a brokered convention gives us another Bush or another trial run for Mitt, I'm staying home on election day, because a choice between one of those and another Clinton is no choice at all.

[Pelham]

I doubt that the Sea Island Republicans will reward Cruz with anything at all even if he does serve their purpose of preventing Trump from locking up 1237 delegates.

Cruz will end up in the trash bin along with Trump. The GOPe ruling class hates both of them more than they hate Hillary. You can hear it on a daily basis by tuning in Medved and Hewitt on Salem radio.

[PA Engineer]

Agreed. It is bad when true believers and useful simpletons do not have skin in the game. It is even worse when bundlers and ops ply their trade here without even a dime.

[HeadOn]

“But you can rest assured I won’t sit home in November.”

Thank you for that.
Hope your weekend is good. Happy Easter.

[nclaurel]

Happy Easter to you as well

[trebb]

Full agreement - hope Steelfish got the message - he hasn’t said anything to me yet and probably won’t.....

[Grampa Dave]

I don’t believe any of the big daily hate Trump haters are willing to put a little money where their mouth is with this challenge:

Put Your Money, Where Your Mouth Is: Who do you think will win the Republican Nomination???!

opinion | 23 March 2016 | ShivaFan
Posted on 3/23/2016, 4:34:05 PM by ShivaFan

This is simple. If you are so sure, who has the momentum and will get the Republican convention, put your money (donation to FR) where your mouth is.

Personally, I would set this bet at $100 as fair game, but I think some are also suffering under the Obama “recovery” so I think a $40 bet in more fair.

Here would be the bet. Pick who you think will get the Republican nomination below responding BET (name) in upper case. If your choice does NOT get the nomination then you donate $40 dollars to FreeRepublic.com support donation.

What do you say? This isn’t really gambling, just sort of a fun way to donate to Free Republic if you are wrong.

WHO WILL WIN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION? CHOOSE ONE NAME, NO SECOND CHANCES LATER. IF YOU ARE WRONG, YOU DONATE $40 DOLLARS TO FREE REPUBLIC:
Choices
BET TRUMP
BET CRUZ
BET KASICH
BET OTHER

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3412919/posts?page=1