I wonder if any of the “study groups” foresaw a snowball effect? Where a ball of consternation grows and the so called “100th monkey” effect kicks in? (I am not calling conservatives monkeys, but something needs to get them off their dime and maybe this is it, or a piece of it, by divine plan.)
We'll likely never know. The National Executive Committee is made up of ~23 members, many of them CEOs and the like. Doubtful they got their hands dirty in the analysis. It would be reasonable to presume that the study groups contracted some of the analyses out to professional organizations. We shall see if a snowball effect transpires over the next 7 months before the new membership policy becomes effective.