Historically, political parties in this country had an important check on raw majority rule. If one faction tried to ram through a nominee or platform that didn’t represent the whole party, and offered no form of compromise, then the rest could bolt. That is, they could leave the convention, withdraw their support, and put their own nominees on the ballot in their states.
Honorable Republican delegations to Cleveland should do it this year: Walk out if the minority* Trump candidate is forced on the party.
In 1948 the Democrats had a fight much like they had this year. Southern Democrats felt slighted. President Harry Truman vetoed Taft-Hartley against their wishes, integrated the Army, and went to NAACP to make sweeping promises of a civil rights agenda. However the Jim Crow delegates weren’t going to be able to stop Truman from being re-nominated, so they at least wanted a to hold him to a platform that they could support.
….
The way they hoped they could throw the election to the House was that they were able to put their candidate on the ballot as the Democrat in four states: South Carolina (Thurmond’s home state), Mississippi (home state of Dixiecrat VP nominee Fielding Wright), Alabama, and Louisiana. President Truman was in fact left off the ballot entirely in South Carolina.
….
It would be particularly fitting to use this strategy now, against Donald Trump. Trump has taken the nomination in large part due to yet more Democrat dissatisfaction over civil rights. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders affirmed support for the Black Lives Matter movement, sending many Democrats seeking an alternative. Barack Obama already had them angry, and BLM was the last straw.
Racist white Democrats found their alternative in Trump. They rushed to open Republican primaries to vote for him, sending GOP turnout to record levels. It would be truly just for Republicans to use the tools honed by anti-civil rights Democrats, against their own candidate. Donald Trump is the candidate of those who wish Jim Crow were still around, so it’s only fair to use against him the tactics of Jim Crow delegates.
Republicans, contact your state parties and contact your state delegates. Tell them to bolt the convention in Cleveland, and hold an alternate convention. Get an alternate convention going that will nominate someone else. Get that alternate nominee on the ballot in your state as the Republican. That’s a game changer that lets everyone hold true to principle.
In particular, Texas hasn’t seceded from anything on principle in quite a while. Seceding from the RNC would be a good start. Or how about Ohio? What if John Kasich were on the ballot for President there? I think he could win.
….
- Discussion
-
This important precedent can save the Republican Party from Donald Trump https://t.co/4L8NWmZaL3
— RedState (@RedState) May 5, 2016
Whatever it takes, go for it, there is nothing to lose. If Trump doesn’t get 1237 then we have a new ball game anyway so I guess there are two hail mary ways left to win. Maybe the fat lady is just warming up the vocal chords and is yet to sing.
Why give up hope according to history we don’t have to let the patient die, both ways have worked before… anyway this whole thing has been a surreal nightmare so why not dream a bit.
He will get the number he needs before the convention as most voters from this point forward won’t vote for someone who isn’t running, especially in California. The other names will still be on the ballot as those ballots are already printed and/or the electronic machines will also have the other names on there. It is too late to remove Cruz and Kasich from the ballot. Some voters are still going to vote for Cruz and Kasich but it will not be enough to get any delegates for either one.
Some Republican leaders are not going to the convention. They are not going to try to have a splinter convention, they just are not going to the convention. All that is just talk about holding a splinter convention. Also, no Republican leader or Republican State Party can just pick a name and put it on the November ballot. Election law does not allow that. That is why we have election laws – to prevent screw ups and people trying to corrupt the process.
The law allows one Democrat Presidential candidate and VP, and one Republican Presidential candidate and VP, both elected at their state convention, to be on the ballot. The legal convention dates and locations are set. Legal Independent parties hold their election in the summer (to be legal, these Independent parties are registered with the state secretary of state), and their candidate for president and vice-president are elected there and those names go on the ballot. No other names go on the ballot.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.