Posted on 08/29/2012 6:56:59 AM PDT by xzins
It seems like every time Governor Mitt Romney gets conservatives looking his way, his ham handed advisors and staff do something to weaken conservative support for his candidacy and drive away conservative leaders who could be rallying the troops for the fall election.
The latest unforced error on the part of the Romney organization involves an attempt by Washington election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, operating allegedly on behalf of the Romney campaign, to change the Republican Party rules. Ginsberg's changes would, among other things, allow the presidential campaigns to “fire” duly elected delegates to the National Convention.
This unprecedented power grab by the Washington-based insiders and consultants of the Romney campaign provoked outrage from state GOP leaders and activists across the country and threatened to upend Governor Romney’s carefully choreographed nomination in Tampa this week.
The controversy about this and other proposed rules changes -- including allowing Party bureaucrats to change the Republican Party Rules between Conventions, without a vote of delegates elected by the grassroots of the Party; and a plan to un-do the rules regarding the primary calendar that were designed to stop the trend toward front-loading the primary season and preserve the opportunity for grassroots Republicans across the country to have a say in who their presidential candidate would be -- prompted Virginia’s principled conservative Republican National Committeeman Morton Blackwell to organize a floor fight over the Rules changes.
Blackwell, a Romney delegate and substantial donor to the Romney campaign, said in a letter to fellow delegates, these are “rules changes that could fundamentally change our Republican Party -- and not for the better.”
Blackwell should know; he’s been a delegate to the Republican National Convention since the 1960s and is 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.
In a political party of millions of members, you can’t get every vote. Competing candidates and issues are what makes a party strong and brings new voters into the party as candidates and issues vie for support. This is something Team Romney has apparently never understood, as their half-hearted attempts to heal the Party after the hard-fought primary demonstrate.
We hope this kind of contempt for the grassroots of the Republican Party isn’t what Governor Romney really thinks of the millions of local GOP activists who are supposed to be out working for him this fall.
More to the point, if these undemocratic rules changes truly originated with Governor Romney, they speak very poorly of the character of a man seeking to lead the free world.
A president must lead, and presidential leadership -- particularly in matters of foreign affairs and dealing with the separate branches of our federal system of government -- involves persuasion, example and moral courage, not bullying.
If this is truly Governor Romney’s personal response to a few catcalls from the peanut gallery at the Republican National Convention, we wonder what he will do if Luxemburg and the Netherlands refuse to go along with some foreign policy of his, change the rules of NATO?
You almost got it right, technically that is. The reality is the Speaker has immense power over the entire house and almost total power over his party. Committee assignments are totally in his control for reward or punishment. Few congers critters are willing to put their positions in jeopardy by challenging the incumbent Speaker. Recall that dem James Traficant was stripped of all his committee assignments for voting with the GOP, thus isolating him and making him powerless as well as useless to his constituency back home. The weak and powerless don’t survive.
Aside from Newt can you name one challenger that succeeded? Never happened with the Dems.
An account of GOP Speaker Thomas B. Reed’s tenure would be an interesting and informative read about how much power the Speaker really has.
Best to knock ‘em off in the Nov polls once you make the decision they have to go. Never leave them merely wounded. They have to be stripped of all power lest they cause back bench mischief.
We all know Romney is not a conservative; arguing he is would be a waste of time and a loss of credibility for anyone. That is why I asked what you are smoking; as it is a silly argument.
People here are more sophisticated than to buy that. Most are holding their noses; as they realize 4 more years of Obama is just not acceptable.
He is a barely acceptable alternative to what is currently in the WH.
His record in MA is hardly conservative! Of course to be fair it was MA he was governing in.
We really don't need to discuss Romneycare; the template for Obamacare.
“I have to vote my fear instead of conscience”.
Then you will always live in fear.
To be precise, Yehuda, I said “his will be no different than Obama’s” in reference to judicial selections for the Supreme Court. Romney is pro-homosexualism, pro-gun control, pro-choice, and pro-big goverment. It really will make no difference.
In fact, it could be worse, because a Republican being in the oval office could cause one of the conservatives justices intentionally to retire, thinking it is a safe time to do so.
Then we have the nation returned to a liberal majority, due to Romney’s liberal appointments, and the work of decades will be undone.
As for the remainder of Romney’s policies, I do think they are little different than Obama’s. They are a group of 9’s and 10’s on the scale of evil and Obama has just a few more 10’s than does Romney. So, it’s like voting for Ba’al instead of Moloch, both among the sins of the Israelites.
Amen!
Use TOO many 'facts', over and over again, and one gets called a HATER.
And/or a BIGOT...
...since RACIST seems to get NO traction any more.
He COULD?
Nits make lice.
It all depends on how long you have been on FR. If you have been a member more than two years, everything you say is right and true.
So we get either a deceived MORMON; or a deceiving one.
Exactly right. As I watch this convention and it’s speakers, I find that they are trying to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. That is how we win in a landslide. If the American people pull Mitt across the finish line they expect him to lead and get things done - not ram one-sided bills through congress. People are sick of that.
“He COULD?”
Yes, read the original post:
“The latest unforced error on the part of the Romney organization involves an attempt by Washington election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, operating allegedly on behalf of the Romney campaign, to change the Republican Party rules. Ginsberg’s changes would, among other things, allow the presidential campaigns to “fire” duly elected delegates to the National Convention.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.