Politics –
Brokered Convention For Republicans?
With the racist/misogynistic Donald Trump still leading the pack and no single contender breaking out as a viable second option, Republican leaders have started considering what was once the unthinkable: a brokered convention.
Politics
Despite Tuesday night’s umpteenth GOP debate from Las Vegas, poll numbers remain unchanged and have not seemed to move one iota. Donald Trump is still the runaway frontrunner, which scares the Republican establishment into the realization that Trump can’t beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. What’s even scarier to them is that Trump’s closest contender is Ted Cruz, who is almost as much of a liability as “The Donald.”
A “brokered convention” happens when no single candidate has a sufficient number of nominating delegates at the convention to become the party’s choice for president, forcing a brokered deal in a smoke-filled back room to settle on a nominee. This would be a huge deal for the Republican Party, since there has not been a brokered convention in more than 60 years.
The possibility that the Republican battle for a nominee will extend to the July 18-21 convention in Cleveland has become very real. This probability (and what to do about Donald Trump) was discussed at a private dinner on Monday of top party operatives hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. One anonymous official compared the meeting to “planning for a hurricane.”
Trump’s rise to the top of the field of 14 candidates has perplexed establishment Republicans who’ve been waiting in vain for the New York billionaire’s campaign to collapse. So far, it hasn’t — and only appears to be growing more energized. Republicans are openly alarmed at his incendiary rhetoric and proposals, including his idiotic plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. They realize this rhetoric is a death sentence in the general election and it’s becoming clearer by the day that they are nearly powerless to stop it. Their only hope for making sure an actual contender secures the nomination is a brokered convention.
Various scenarios could play out in the coming months and the GOP is currently weighing all options. One such plan includes engaging former presidential nominee Mitt Romney and current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to negotiate an exit plan for a few lower-tier candidates. By whittling the playing field down from 14 to maybe 3 or 4 candidates, party leaders hope to channel unified support behind a single candidate (other than Trump). The thinking is that if several candidates will drop out and get behind one strong candidate, that person can overtake Trump during a likely convention floor fight.
Still, Republican National Committee (RNC) senior adviser Sean Spicer towed the line that the RNC is neutral in the process.
“Our goal is to ensure a successful nomination and that requires us thinking through every scenario, including a contested convention,” he said.
Stay tuned…
This is all very funny to me. Repubs in such confusion the whole primary might be a waste, if they have to pick somebody at the convention. LOL this is just getting better and better.