We the people rise up.

[Dmitri Veans]

Anti-establishment Republicans are up in arms over talk of a brokered Republican Party convention. 

Ben Carson warned a brokered convention would “destroy” the GOP, while supporters of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz expressed dismay that party leaders would take part in meetings considering the possibility. 

“This is clearly their contingency to stop Trump and Cruz at all costs,” Iowa radio host Steve Deace, who is supporting Cruz for president, told The Hill. “These people would rather lose elections than lose control of the party. And they'd rather have Hillary [Clinton] in the White House than someone the GOP base actually wants.”

The Washington Post reported Thursday that party leaders — including supporters of GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio — met privately to discuss the possibility of a brokered convention, ostensibly to derail the hopes of any candidate deemed unelectable by party elites. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus attended the meeting at a Washington restaurant, though they did not speak at it, according to the Post. 

The meeting follows months in which Trump has dominated the race. Carson and Cruz, two other candidates that some Republicans believe would be weak in a general election, are also near the top of polls, though Carson has been fading.

Trump’s rise in particular has unnerved the GOP establishment, which worries his candidacy could sink Republican hopes of maintaining Senate control. Trump courted controversy this week by calling for a temporary ban on Muslims traveling to the United States, a position rejected by every other GOP candidate but that polls show has support from the Republican electorate.

Supporters for insurgent candidates view the private discussions as desperation from terrified establishment figures, and they believe it will only serve to harden their supporters. Carson’s campaign was already fundraising off the report by mid-afternoon on Friday.

“Dumb. Big mistake. They just poured gasoline all over the fire,” said Jeffrey Lord, a former Ronald Reagan administration official who supports Trump for president. 

“I get that you need to have contingency plans in place, but this looks like they’re trying to rig the game, and it just feeds the narrative that the establishment is completely out of touch with the base.”

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had a short message for the RNC:

“Play the game out in front of us,” he told The Hill, adding that he’s not worried about a brokered convention because “every piece of data shows that [Donald Trump] is the clear front-runner.”

The speculation that party leaders are privately discussing what to do if an outsider is on course to land the nomination provided fresh evidence of a disconnect between base conservatives and establishment Republicans.

“The Republican establishment is playing with fire if they take any action that is perceived to harm the winners of caucus and primary states,” said Adam Brandon, CEO of the conservative activist group FreedomWorks.

“If that’s what they are planning or doing, they may inadvertently set the stage for independent presidential campaigns and further damage an already fractured relationship with many conservatives and Republican voters, which is why insurgent candidates are thriving in the first place.”

Supporters for Bush and Rubio attended the meeting, according to the Post, and officials from those campaigns did not respond to requests for comment. 

The RNC pushed back strongly Friday against the characterization that some within the party are plotting a takeover at the convention.

RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said the discussion about the potential for a brokered convention was merely “cocktail conversation” over the nuts and bolts of the race.

“There was a dinner where the subject was how the delegate process works,” Spicer said Friday on CNN.

“We walked through the delegate selection process, what states were going on what date, how each state handled the delegate process, and at the end we took a series of questions,” he said. “It’s really nothing more than that.”

Spicer argued that it wasn’t suspicious that supporters of Bush and Rubio were on hand, noting that Priebus’s days are full of meetings with representatives from all the campaigns, as well as conservative pundits, consultants and advisers from all corners of the party.

Still, some say the appearance of the meeting is bad for the national party, which is once again seeking to stamp out a fire that has sprung up over its handling of the primary process. 

Fair or not, the alleged discussion about a brokered convention will confirm the suspicions many in the base have harbored for a long time and have helped to fuel the rise of Trump, Carson and Cruz.

“It’s completely counterproductive if it looks like Republican power-brokers are trying to orchestrate this,” said former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who is supporting Bush for president.

Gregg, a columnist for The Hill, said the party may be headed to a contested convention not to ambush an outsider, but because it will be difficult for one candidate in the huge field of contenders to lock down a majority of delegates.

The party needs to have the infrastructure and processes in place to handle that scenario, but it’s unhelpful to plan for it in a way that could be perceived as putting a thumb on the scale, Gregg argued.

“It’s something Priebus has to plan for, but he needs to be careful who he’s discussing it with,” Gregg said. “The days of party-boss politics are over and have been over for a long time. People will have a negative reaction to anything that has a whiff of that kind of backroom dealing.”

Supporters for establishment Republicans running for president mostly rolled their eyes at the controversy, saying it was an example of outsider candidates looking to stoke outrage over the byzantine rules governing the GOP nominating process.

“This is getting totally blown out of proportion,” said Katie Packer Gage, a veteran of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign whose consulting firm is assisting Rubio’s efforts in Michigan.

“The idea that the Illuminati within the party is coming down from on high to decide who will be the nominee is ludicrous,” she continued. “Ben Carson needs to call someone versed in parliamentary procedures to explain to him how this all works.”

While some Republicans say the huge field makes it more likely that the party could face its first contested convention since 1976, there is still broad skepticism from many quarters that that’s where things are headed. Many believe the eventual nominee will emerge once the primaries turn to winner-take-all contests on March 15.

“This is just a story that turns up at points in the cycle when there’s no definition to the race,” said former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath, who is supporting John Kasich for president. “This idea that there will be a stampede on the floor is very romantic, but I don’t see it happening.”

A spokesperson for Chris Christie’s campaign declined to weigh in, other than to say that the New Jersey governor is only focused on winning the nomination outright. That was the general message coming from campaign operatives in private conversations with several other campaigns.

“Here’s the bottom line,” Spicer said. “Republican voters will choose the delegates that go to the convention in Cleveland next July. Those people will decide the nominee.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/262995-backlash-grows-against-...

[jack ludwig]

The GOP leadership is the only ones in the country who know just how many votes Trump has at this date. They know he could be substantially short of the number needed to get the nomination. Therefore, they have to plan based on the numbers they have who will be the challenger to Trump and does that person have the votes to win the general election. Given this knowledge, they have to develop a strategy to either push the challenge even harder or assist Trump more to get the needed votes. My guess is they are looking at pushing the challenger harder to get past Trump. A Trump nomination will not be good for the party or for the country. Given those two concerns, if would be a shame if the GOP didn't act to try to avoid such a condition.

[Dmitri Veans]

I see the big problem going into the convention is that if Trump wins the RNC will be lost to the conservatives. What I fear is the RINO's would rater have Hillary then lose that control over the party, my bigger fear is that they are so short sited they would underestimate the damage they would do in the general to the party.

The only thing that could dissuade them from such an error is the number of establishment candidates that lose in the primary. In the house if that number is over 12 and the Senate one or two, that would send chills down their spin and they will do the right thing. This is why I keep saying we will not know how things will go until after March 1st voting on super Tuesday. By then we will have a picture of just how much change will take place in the party. 

[kevin kiernan]

Picking up more conservative seats in the Senate And the house would be the icing on the cake..It is a lot to ask for but ,it needs to happen.Switching McCain out for a good solid Tea Party conservative would be so so nice...HEY  IT`S  CHRISTMAS..I`m just working on my wish list.

[Dmitri Veans]

Kevin their are more then a few RINO's in trouble this primary season in the house and yes in the Senate McCain is 25 points behind in the last poll taken. As with all Rino's they go scorched earth the last month leading to the elections. Should that fail this year as it just might based on anger from the base we just may have a lot to celebrate this time around. Fingers crossed

[jack ludwig]

I would be more concerned about keeping the senate as majority then replacing RINO's. No matter who you have on the top of the ticket it is going to be very difficult to hold the senate. 

[kevin kiernan]

Jack, I really do not care a whole lot about the Republican Party the way it is now. I left the party during H.W. years. Came back when I joined Tea Party to try and reshape it. So far so good. I said to my self that I would get behind the movement because it sounded good to me.I f we (the Tea Party ) do not get it done after this election. I will leave the movement and change my registry. Would not want to die a Republican as it is now.

[jack ludwig]

Kevin, if you don't care about the republican party and you are throwing your hands up to politics altogether. If you give up on the republican party you are handing the control of the country over to the democrats. If that is what you wish, I am sure you are working in the right direction.

[kevin kiernan]

Jack. Jack Jack...Republican or Democrat ..........Black or White......... The world is made up of more than two defined colors. To imprison oneself to the confine`s of Two parties is the cause of our problems. Keeping people in groups makes it easier to herd them.

[kevin kiernan]

I suggest everyone should shed their label.

[BLADES]

labels are not something I apply to myself but a thing others apply to me...so it is others that need to stop putting labels on other people

[Rhodes]

Just a question from the peanut gallery...

What other course can a reasonable and educated man set?

If one is not ready to shed his own misconceptions in the face of fact can he even claim to be reasonable?

[Dmitri Veans]

Kevin

Do I get this right because of center left Rino's in the republican party you plan to switch to the communist party of the democrats if they are not kicked out this election cycle?

Or you should be a democrat now the right will never go far left if that's what you are hopping.