Though #NeverTrumper Caleb Howe announced that he wouldn’t switch his vote from Gary Johnson even if the delegates at next month’s Republican convention tossed out Donald Trump and replaced him with someone like Ted Cruz, there are a lot of Trump opponents who are hinging their hopes on such a possibility.
They reason that if they can get enough support on the party’s Rules Committee, it’s conceivable the dump-Trump movement would at least get a chance to vote to oust him on the convention floor.
Or would they…
Tim Alberta of National Review reports on a new proposal to squelch such a movement. “What’s the surest way to prevent Donald Trump’s opponents from re-writing the GOP’s rules to deny him the nomination at next month’s convention? According to a new proposal from Republican National Committee member Solomon Yue, the answer is simple: Don’t allow any new rules adopted in Cleveland to take effect until the 2020 convention…
“Such a drastic modification to the party’s rule-making process seems unlikely, especially at this late stage. But with GOP officials increasingly fearing an ugly anti-Trump rebellion in Cleveland—starting in the Convention Rules Committee, where amendments will be offered to unbind delegates or allow them to vote their conscience—Yue’s proposal could offer a preemptive solution.”
I’ve got to admit, Yue’s is a dramatic solution. It’s almost like killing the patient along with the disease, but yes, it would effectively end the #NeverTrump movement’s hopes of bringing in a White Knight to replace Trump.
But it would also serve to alienate a lot of people who might otherwise be persuadable to support the party nominee once the nomination vote is over. I wouldn’t be surprised if such a policy were adopted that some of the delegates would just get up and leave. The commotion caused by the jilted party members would arguably be just as damaging as the tumult saved by preventing a dump-Trump vote.
There is no easy solution to the delegate revolt issue, though the best possibility appears to be to just let the process play out. Party conventions have become dull and boring in the past few decades just because there isn’t any drama and therefore no reason for anyone other than the most politically tuned-in to watch.
The chances of the delegate revolt succeeding aren’t very good, but it would be riveting to witness. Therefore, let people see that the process itself actually works by having the insurgents lose right before our eyes.
The GOP might just earn some respect in the meantime…and no one on either side will be able to claim the system is “rigged”.
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