Thursday, December 10, 2015

Republican Establishment Plotting Against Trump; Preparing for Brokered Convention



The Washington Post reports:
Republican officials and leading figures in the party’s establishment are now preparing for the possibility of a brokered convention as Donald Trump continues sit atop the polls and the presidential race.

More than 20 of them convened Monday for a dinner held by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, where the prospect of Trump nearing next year’s nominating convention in Cleveland with a significant number of delegates dominated the discussion, according to five people familiar with the meeting.

Considering that scenario as Priebus and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) listened, several longtime power brokers argued that if the controversial billionaire storms through the primaries, the party’s establishment must lay the groundwork for a floor fight, in which the GOP’s mainstream wing could coalesce around an alternative, the people said.

Because of the sensitivity of the topic — and wary of saying something that, if leaked, would provoke Trump to bolt the party and mount an independent bid — Priebus and McConnell were mostly quiet during the back and forth. They did not signal support an overt anti-Trump effort.

But near the end, McConnell and Priebus did acknowledge to the group that a deadlocked convention is indeed something the party should prepare for, both institutionally at the RNC and politically at all levels in the coming months. 
Upon leaving, several attendees said they would soon share with one another memos about delegate allocation in each state as well as research about the 1976 convention, the last time the GOP gathered without a clear nominee... 
Attendees included Ward Baker, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee; Rob Simms, his counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee; Ron Kaufman, an RNC committeeman and Mitt Romney confidant; and pollster Linda DiVall. Whit Ayres, an adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), and Vin Weber, an ally of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also were there, among others..
 The 2016 Republican National Convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena July 18-21.

The convention will host approximately 2,470 delegates and 2,302 alternate delegates from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories.

The convention will also include approximately 15,000 credentialed media.

-RW

3 comments:

  1. Donald's work for Hilary is done, it seems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This seems to be the new RepubliCAN meme.
      How effective.

      Market War Monger, open borders, BigGov Marco as The Conservative NR approved "Mainstream" alternative and watch him get crushed.

      The same garbage was spewed about RP in 2012.
      Funny how Libertarians now like to spew it against Donald.

      Delete
    2. well what else would one think? either he is going to have a do massive U turn to get the win in November because he can't rely just on the bloc he has now.

      Delete