Posted on 04/15/2016 4:50:53 AM PDT by don-o
Local politicians and activists are apprehensive about the upcoming Republican convention in July.
“The fight I hope to lead once we get to Cleveland is that the rules that we started with are the rules that we end with,” former State Rep. Joe Carr, a delegate for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, said.
Carr was a Newt Gingrich delegate in 2012, when the RNC changed the requirements for winning the nomination.
Prior to 2012, a nominee was required to have won a majority of delegates from at least five states to be on the ballot at the convention.
Then, the GOP increased the requirement to a majority of delegates from eight states.
“It was put in place specifically for [Mitt] Romney by Romney people,” Carr said. “That was put in place specifically to keep Ron Paul off the stage.”
By the convention in 2012, Romney had won 43 states and Ron Paul had won 4.
Tricia Stickel, President of the Maury County Tea Party, said she believes the RNC may change the rules again this year to make it easier for an establishment candidate to compete for the nomination.
“I think this change in the rules will happen before the convention. If the RNC decides to make its own rules, it’ll be the end I’m telling you, it’ll be the end of it,” she said. “If the people decide that this is who they want, the party would be filled with folly to go against that.”
Stickel said she wants the system to better reflect Republican voters.
“What’s important to me is that the system is honest and fair. We need to make sure that it’s clean and legitimate and fair and then take our licks,” she said.
Carr said a rule change can be prevented if enough committed Donald Trump and Cruz delegates are sent to the convention.
“We’ve got to make sure that there are enough delegates who will unify, while we’re making sure that the integrity and rules of the process are maintained and that they’re not altered to benefit the establishment,” he said.
Cruz has a definite chance of winning the nomination if voting continues for several rounds at the convention, Carr said.
“Ted Cruz’s campaign has a very, very good understanding of what binds delegates and what unbinds delegates,” Carr said. “For a second ballot, I think he’s going to be in a very strong place.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s delegates will most likely support Cruz on subsequent ballots, Carr said, and some Trump delegates may even switch sides.
Stickel said if the Republican establishment tries to nominate a candidate other than Trump or Cruz, the party may be irreparably split and lose its chance at the presidency.
“I do actually think it’s a possibility,” she said. “What if the Republican party doesn’t give the nomination to Trump? What if he runs as an independent? Because if that happens it’s over. So what are the choices here?”
Stickel said tensions between grassroots groups like the Tea Party and the GOP aren’t as pronounced at the local level as they are on the national level.
“I really think that the Tea Party itself has tried to take back our party. And in local areas like Maury County, I think we’ve done that. You actually see the Tea Party and the Republican party come together.”
While we cannot control what our candidates say, we grass roots CAN stop the ongoing fighting among ourselves that does nothing to advance the takeover. Rather, it weakens us and plays right into the GOPe hands.
This article discounts that hypothesis. I did not realize that Republican Party finagled rules to deny both Gingrich and Ron Paul in the same fashion they'll try this year, unless there's "infighting". Constitutional Conservatives are NEVER going to have a chance like we do now to clean out the elitist garbage who've made decisions to thwart us in the past.
If this nomination is stolen from Trump, there is NO chance at the US Senate, HOR or Presidency going Republican. They will have demonstrated that the party cannot be changed. In that case, it must be dismantled.
And you're saying we should stop the infighting? Isn't that the political equivalent of just lie back and take it?
grrr......
The GOPe has contracted Ted Cruz to derail conservative/tea party movement to over throw the R wing of the uniparty. #NeverCruz
There’s no contract. It’s mere expediency and it works for them if Cruz can be demonized like I see 24/7 on this board. Divide and conquer. Can’t anyone see that?
We can all agree that the deck is stacked. I don’t know how skillfully it is stacked. But, the more force we can bring in united opposition, the better the chance to foil them.
They are right to be apprehensive however the state GOP leaders not mentioned in this article will be part of the problem
“For years her we have called for a Conservative takeover of the GOP. It could become a reality in this cycle. But, only if everyone who wants that make it THE priority. While we cannot control what our candidates say, we grass roots CAN stop the ongoing fighting among ourselves that does nothing to advance the takeover. Rather, it weakens us and plays right into the GOPe hands”
Good advice, don-o.
What I don’t know is who is solid for Cruz or Trump and who is a tool. Joe Carr has said that tn delegates are unified as far as not allowing the GOP to pull a fast one.
“The GOPe has contracted Ted Cruz to derail conservative/tea party movement to over throw the R wing of the uniparty. #NeverCruz”
That’s preposterous. Cruz is the last person the Republican establishment would go to. They hate Cruz and the consistent, conservative policies he stands for (the same policies as Reagan).
They fear Trump, only because they think he will take the party down to a historic defeat. But they hate Cruz.
To the insiders, the choice has come down to picking their least attractive poison: Cruz or Trump, full bore conservatism (which the establishment espouses, but actually rejects) or a reality TV star who could do a 180 degree turn at any moment.
if it goes to brokered I think who’s solid becomes more who can be bought
Like I said up front the GOPe runs the state even though we have an insurgent right of center group in the legislature etc
Even Mississippi where whites vote GOP 90% in statewide elections the GOPe is at the top like in the McDaniel affair
This is what needs to be checked and eventually replaced
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