Posted on 08/28/2012 5:17:51 AM PDT by xzins
Fresh from the 2010 Tea Party wave that brought millions of new conservative voters into the Republican ranks and restored the GOP to control of the House of Representatives, Washington’s Republican political class is wasting no time in ensuring that the same grassroots conservative voters who have brought them to the threshold of capturing all three branches of government are permanently frozen out of influence in the Republican Party apparatus.
In response, grassroots conservatives have launched an unprecedented Rules fight that threatens to up-end the carefully choreographed coronation of Mitt Romney.
The Rules Committee report, which is set to be adopted Tuesday, includes Rules changes that shift the balance of power away from state and local Republican committees, who elect delegates to the National Convention every four years, in favor of DC’s permanent political class.
The Rules changes would:
Principled conservative Republican Party leaders Morton Blackwell of Virginia and Jim Bopp of Indiana are spearheading the drive to gather the votes necessary to adopt a Minority Rules Report and defeat the proposed rules changes on the floor during Tuesday’s procedural sessions.
To read Morton Blackwell’s letter to Republican National Convention delegates go here http://mranalogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Morton-RNC-Letter.pdf
To read Jim Bopp’s email to Republican National Convention delegates go here:
http://www.conservativehq.com/article/9513-james-bopp-jr-letter
Indiana’s National Committeeman, James Bopp, who also serves as Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an email to delegates, “This is the biggest power grab in the history of the Republican Party because it shifts the power to select delegates from the state party to the candidate. And it would make the Republican Party a top down, not bottom up party.”
Virginia’s Morton Blackwell, a member of the Republican National Committee’s Standing Committee on Rules and on the National Convention's Committee on Rules and Order of Business said these are “rules changes that could fundamentally change our Republican Party -- and not for the better.”
Blackwell noted that DC election lawyer Ben Ginsberg brought these proposals to the Rules Committee where “he represented himself as the leader on the Committee for the Romney Campaign.”
Ginsberg, Blackwell observed, had earlier this year worked for conservative Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign, “is unencumbered by principle.” “After working for Bachmann’s grassroots campaign he is advocating Rules that would centralize power, restrain and eliminate grassroots influence and create a top-down, rather than bottom-up Party – the very antithesis of what allowed a candidate like Michele Bachmann to run,” said Blackwell.
RNC Vice Chairman Bopp dismissed any notion that the Rules changes had an ideological motivation, noting that they represent “a threat to both moderates and conservatives who could be purged, depending on who is the Republican Presidential nominee” and that to preserve the bottom-up nature of the Party the issues raised should be taken care of by changes to state laws and state GOP rules governing the selection of their state’s delegates to the national convention.
To oppose this power grab by Washington’s permanent political class grassroots GOP activists must shine the light of day on this behind the scenes power grab; call your Republican National Convention delegates, blog about, email it to your friends and contacts, post it on your Facebook page and social media sites and call your local and national conservative talk radio programs.
I said this many months ago...
the election of mcromney will mark the end of the conservative / constitutionalist movement..
His goal is to destroy those that do not agree with him, as is the gop-e..
the democrat socialist and the republican socialist have one thing in common... the destruction of the constitutionalist movement..
so, which socialist is better for us?
Yes and in favor of the Texas delegation hours.
He won the Primary, he gets to set the rules. My guess is this is more Paulite sour grapes. Ron Paul lost get over it.
Pray for America
they took away the independence of delegates
read the 3 rules they wanted, bray. Are you ok with that?
If isn’t becoming when you treat people like crap then whine when they don’t vote for you.
Ok. A few things. There is no independence for the delegates. Their states voted for them to vote a certain way. To do so, should get them fired. They are selected, not elected.
The GOP Primary is already screwed up. You didn’t state what they wanted to change it to, so I don’t have an opinion on that. I’m all for changing it. It’s horrible.
I probably would be against the changing of rules between conventions without a vote. But I’d have to see more info on it.
Ryan has already modified his economic priorities to fit those of Mitt's economic plan. Ryan, formerly a staunch pro-life advocate (along with Akin), has shifted so that he now stands with Mitt on allowing abortion for (alleged) rape cases.
If Mittens is elected, VP Ryan will be sent to the hinterlands faster than Kennedy made LBJ vanish after the 1960 election (or stripped for a WH sex orgy). Party loyalty won't save him. Pack your pajamas, Paul; it'll be a long trip.
Over before it started.
They look like rules to get rid of the phony Paulite delegates that were scammed into the Convention. Do you think it was right that RP got 5% of the vote yet half the Delegates in my state?
He was trying to use the Convention to get elected and bypass the Primary process by scamming his delegates onto the floor. Do you think RP should be the nominee by manipulating the Convention, I don’t.
It didn’t take long for Wrongney’s true colors to come out, did it?
The rule change was for 2016; it has died.
An old friend of mine is a delegate at the convention. I wrote him about this issue and how it could lead to a severe rift in the party, possibly leading to its destruction. That was late last night; no answer yet.
Silencing the Tea Party’s influence will be the death knell for the Republicans. Perhaps, in some ways, that’s not a bad thing. Sarah is ready and waiting to start a third party if the republicans screw up this election.
I dont believe the fight is quite over yet.
They expect big trouble from pseudo-republicans (not rinos) in the next few years. The crossover voter primaries are setting the foundation.
Something to think about.
The RNC has historically been a confederation of the state/territorial parties, with each state/territory electing a national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state chairman. These three are the actual Members of the RNC. Each state/territory has equal weight, so liberal Republicans from CT or RI have as much influence as paleos from TX or GA. That’s the usual grumble on the right.
The core institutional responsibility of the RNC and, by extension, all RNC Members, is to support duly nominated Republican candidates. Paleo, RINO, or in between should make no difference. If you have an R after your name, the RNC should support you in the general. Most of us are prepared to accept the rare exception when something truly weird happens in a primary, or when someone Akins himself, but the exceptions should be few and far between. And once the presidential nominee is decided, the RNC is supposed to become his vehicle, period.
That system has served us reasonably well over time. Does anyone know what is motivating the desire for change?
Finally, whether adopted or not, THEY SHOW THE HEART of the liberals running the Romney show.As odious as that first bullet point is. How would you like this:
- allow presidential campaigns to, in essence, “fire” duly elected delegates they don’t like and replace them with individuals of their own choosing
Now that's pretty undemocratic and downright dictatorial, isn't it. Yet that's what happened in Illinois from 1999-2000 through 2008. And the executor of those dictatorial orders was none other than Karl Rove!! First from Dubya's Campaign then from the White House.
Yes. I have NO LOVE for Karl Rove. He gave IL to the RATS! For the previous 20-30 years Republicans ran the high offices of IL! Mostly Governor/Lt Gov and like Sec of State, and that kept the Daley Machine somewhat in check.Rove had a special close friend, KJ, who basically ran the IL GOP Board. But KJ turned out to be a FELON and crony of Democrat Blago and is now sitting in Federal Prison for collusion on a Blago Bond sale scam. But that didn't stop Rove, no siree. When KJ was under federal indictment, Rove appointed his FELON friend KJ as Treasurer of the 2004 GOP Convention. (These are the facts, not something I dreamed up.)
Now I'm sure that Rove had many special close friends like that in other states too and similar things occurred. So what's now being made public with delegates was basically happening with Candidates who would be allowed to run. Heck just think back of some of Rove's comments about Tea Party candidates. He detests them all.
And perhaps we should destroy the GOP. Warning them of it? Maybe we’ve waited several decades too long to do what needed be done then.
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