Over 100 #neverTrump delegates have given up after Ted Cruz was promised a speaking appearance (and maybe something else) at the GOP convention next week. Sucks for the Never Trump loons like Bill Kristol and dough boy Erick Erickson.
RNC Whip Randy Evans said today Never-Trump contingent declined from nearly 680 to 570 since Cruz announced he's speaking @ convention.
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) July 12, 2016
| Over 100 #neverTrump delegates give up |
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So there you go. If everything goes as expected this week and the “Dump Trump” movement collapses, you’ll know whom to blame if you’re unhappy with that outcome. Blame the guy who’s been insulting you. And I don’t mean Trump.
As for tomorrow’s Rules Committee showdown, Kendal Unruh, the head of the “Dump Trump” contingent, continues to claim that she has 28 votes to send a “minority report” to the floor and force a vote on whether delegates should be able to vote their consciences. Trump’s whip operation claims, however, that there are only 15-20 votes right now. Unruh’s probably bluffing — unless Mike Lee, the most prominent member of the Committee, decides to throw down the gauntlet and join the #NeverTrumpers, in which case anything can happen. Given that his “best friend” Cruz has decided to attend Trump’s coronation, I’m guessing Lee won’t make a fuss. To prepare for tomorrow, read Gabe Malor’s rundown of the many longshot ways that the delegates could block Trump if they were so inclined. If Unruh fails to force a vote on a “conscience” rule by mustering 28 votes on the Committee, the delegates on the floor would still hypothetically be able to unbind themselves by refusing to adopt any rules passed by the Committee. They could also organize mass abstentions designed to hold Trump under 1,237 votes on the first ballot; if Evans is right that there are only 890 committed to him, those who are bound by the rules to support Trump but don’t want him as nominee could simply skip the first ballot, then come back for the second where delegates are unbound. But all of that assumes a lot of coordination and a lot of will. If Unruh can’t find a few dozen votes on the Rules Committee to block Trump, how are #NeverTrumpers going to find 1,237 to crown someone else as nominee?
Exit question from a “Dump Trump” delegate: Why is Trump afraid of a “conscience” rule? If he’s got as much support as he claims among the delegates, they’ll vote for him even if they’re unbound.