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-...

[kevin kiernan]

Dv , I have no clue what you are asking me

[Rhodes]

If it comes to the point of desperation where there only remaining hope is that of bringing it all down and crashing it, fully aware of the consequences, then yes stop pulling and start pushing... hard!

Remember who has sold more firearms than any person in history...

[BLADES]

rhodes I think your point is along the same lines of mine about BO...that he was better than mccain, in that it woke up the sleepers and brought us the tea party...even though some have reverted back to their party line politics  some are still pushing....but I cant vote for the hildibeast....beside the republicans will have her in jail by then...i'm sure....maybe....ok they wont but that makes no dif.

[Rhodes]

Then that point has not been reached for you, nor me for that matter as Im not getting behind anyone just sitting in the peanut gallery booing all the same old lies we have been fed from day 1.

[jack ludwig]

DV, if Trump wins the nomination it will not be the conservatives that gave him that honor, they helped, but they will not be the deciding vote. Why would the RNC care if Trump won the nomination other than they think he will lose the general. If they thought he could beat Hillary, why would the RNC be against that?

[Rhodes]

Control is more important than victory.

Its an old story and one that isnt hard to ferret out.

[Dmitri Veans]

When it comes to party affiliation you might be surprised to learn I was a registered democrat most of my life, I was brought up being told democrats where the good people. As I grew in my carrier my jobs seem to keep me pitted against government regulation. In my early years I tended to agree with most of it and so I keep voting for democrats but at some point I started viewing new regs as being written by someone who had no idea what they were doing to the industry.

 

I was working for a company called Apeco that made office machines and rode it all the way into bankruptcy. It was at this point I realized government and the constant growth of regulation was hitting the heart of American manufacturing. Xerox and IBM both moved manufacturing to Japan and or China to compete Apeco's stupidity was based on there desire to keep all products American made. In there last few years they did grab two units made in Japan but by then it was to late.

 

It was when they failed and I saw the entire industry leave the boarders of the USA that I realized Washington was going overboard with new regulation and it was killing America. Us manufacturing had to send water back into the environment cleaner then nature delivers it. That alone is not what killed manufacturing but it hurt very badly and with all the other micro management coming out of Washington it was clear we had very big problems and they where just getting worse.

 

Back then we still made TV's and electronics in the US today almost all the plants have closed and moved offshore or in some cases just over our southern boarder into Mexico. With manufacturing dyeing in all except the areas where it does not pay to move over seas, I looked at Washington and noticed democrats had been in control of the house for 25 years, they controlled the senate for the last 8 and President Carter was in the white house and said in a speech that Americas best days were behind it.

 

That to me was a wake up call that democrats just wanted people on welfare and seemed to be doing everything in their power to send our good jobs overseas. Then along came Reagan with a message of hope and a brighter future, he had my vote from day one. After he was elected it seemed like America was on the move again even as he gave democrats in control some of what they wanted in order to pass things he wanted life was better people stopped feeling bad about being an American and started feeling proud.

 

It was at this point I switched parties and since that time knew there was a divided party. The republican party was as it is today broken into two with the establishment wanting to manage what the democrats had created and conservatives trying to reduce the size and power of government.

 

What complicated the war in the republican party was the radical move left in the democrat party. Back in the day we used to have what where known as bluedogs in the democrat party, today they would be called moderates as they positioned them self's just left of center. However they where all removed from office so the moderate left was forced to run as republicans in order to get elected.

 

It is these democrats we call Rino's that have hurt the party so badly, Rino's are not center right they are center left but to moderate to be elected as democrats in this day and age. It is this change in both parties that has me registered as a republican and not an independent. Independents have grown because the media wants us all to be democrats but tries to paint republicans as evil so we should move to the middle and vote for the best candidate, then they tell those unhappy democrats that switched to the middle that this year the democrats are the best choice.

 

Its all just part of the big lie and as you have seen based on my posts here I'm sick and tired of it. I have moved to the right and only support republican candidates. In the primary I vote against the Rino's and in favor of the conservative. When it comes to the general I vote for all republican candidates even Rino's because a Rino will move us to socialism slower then a democrat will.

 

If you have made it this far I thank you but before I sign off let me bring one important fact to your attention. In a recent trip to Washington DC I was looking out he window for near the whole flight. What I noticed was striking, as we flew over conservative states the sky was clear and the clouds seemed whiter then white. As we moved into the blue states of the north it was so strange to see those clouds turn gray the air was no longer clear and it was easy to see.

 

Democrats will always point out how they are the green party and republicans are the party of pollution and poison water. That as I can tell you not just by my flight but by the US pollution map if viewed shows red states with clean air and blue states with red warnings on air quality. Also the rivers in red states for the most part are clean and full of life but there is not a bay or river I've seen in the blue states that I would eat anything out of.

 

The truth comes down to republicans enforcing environmental laws where democrats for the right donation will give business a pass. Democrats want strict environmental laws because its good for the Champaign coffers and other bribes taken other ways. Because the media hates the right and covers for the left they fry republicans and take a blind eye to democrats. If there is no other reason to vote republican it this. The media hates republicans and will watch them like a hawk for anything even close to stepping out of line. Democrats the media will just tell you they have do so much good we should ignore it. Which sounds best to you?

[Dmitri Veans]

INTALECTUAL TERRORISUM

 

The intellectuals tell us.

 

It OK for the world to take in terrorists from Muslim nations.

 

It OK for black lives mater to condone killing COP's

 

Its OK to be anti American because we are bad.

 

Its OK to kill babies up to the day before its going to be born.

 

Its OK to call republicans racist and bigots.

 

Its OK to compare Christians to terrorists.

 

But its not OK to call Muslims Terrorists.

 

Its not ok to call any democrat un-American for supporting intalectuals.

 

Its not OK to say Merry Christmas.

 

Its not OK to call global warming a hoax.

 

It's not OK for law abiding citizens to have guns

 

It's not OK to support the Redskins.

 

Its not OK to read the bible in any public place.

 

Its not OK to support candidates that want to make you feel safe in your own home.

 

It is not OK to support what's right because Intellectuals know how dumb you are.

 

INTALECTUAL TERRORISUM IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE FREE WORLD.

 

If I spent more then five minutes writing this it would be to long to read, this is just a start at defining the damage intellectuals are trying to do.

[Rhodes]

As an intellectual I find this offensive...

Heh

Perhaps these people you speak of, as they do exist, are not intellectual at all but morons, or more aptly useful idiots.

[kevin kiernan]

Rhodes,Unfortunatly I think DV kind of threw a blanket over all intellectuals by mistake. I do not think that he feels that just because some people are smart ,they are evil..God lord I hope not. 

[Rhodes]

Anti-intellectualism was always the favorite of such classic movements as the Khmer Rouge and Maoists.

It is as always applied to those that can think by those that will not caused by those that only pretend to think.

No nothing personal thus the Heh :)

[Virginia Foulk]

Depends on who defines Intellectual. For me, I believe that a true intellectual is someone who has no truck with others - you know, like a mystic that sits upon the mountaintop and contemplates what makes a grain of sand, or whatever happens to catch his/her eye. These pretend smartys, are only as smart as someonelse's rhetoric carries them.