Courtesy of the
Daily Caller:
Several long-time Republicans dissatisfied with the crop of candidates running for president have developed an unorthodox plan to upend what they consider a flawed GOP nomination process.The chaos envisioned by the anonymous drafters of the idea would be a brokered Republican National Convention that might even lead to the nomination of dream candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the plan—that relies on primary voters voting for none of the above at the ballot — on the condition that the names of the Republicans behind the effort not be named.“The whole thing came from a couple people who have political experience,” said one person involved with the project, “who are highly anxious about the status quo, who would like to see a better process, one that is more likely to be inviting to any number of these supposed dream candidates.”The project, the Republican said, grew out of conversations about the perceived weak field and the primary process that rewards good campaigners — and not necessarily able leaders.Despite their insistence on anonymity, that person said the GOPers behind the idea are not acting on behalf of a particular candidate who would benefit from the idea.“The primary process is the problem,” the report states. “It has become a process of division, not addition. It is more likely to produce a loser in November 2012 than it is to produce a conservative who can unite the country and win.”For those who are unaware of what the term "brokered convention" means, here is the
Wikipedia definition.
A brokered convention is a situation in United States politics in which there are not enough delegates 'won' during the presidential primary and caucus elections for a single candidate to have a pre-existing majority, during the first official vote for a political party's presidential-candidate at its nominating convention.Once the first ballot, or vote, has occurred, and no candidate has a majority of the delegates' votes, the convention is then considered brokered; thereafter, the nomination is decided through a process of alternating political horse-trading, and additional re-votes. In this circumstance, all regular delegates (who, previously, were pledged to the candidate who had won their respective state's primary or caucus election) are "released," and are able to switch their allegiance to a different candidate before the next round of balloting. It is hoped that this 'freedom' will result in a re-vote resulting in a clear majority of delegates for one candidate.So in other words the GOP candidate would NOT be chosen until the day of the convention, leaving fundraisers without any idea of where to spend their money, making it impossible to come up with a unifying theme, and leaving Republicans in a state of
disarray until the very last minute?
Okey dokey.
Can't you just imagine what the floor of that convention would look like? I picture a cross between the arena scene in Gladiator and the rescue scene from Blackhawk Down. In other words not pretty, but the Pay-Per-View possibilities would be amazing!
Somehow I DOUBT that when the dust settled this process would ensure that the best Republican candidate would be the last one standing.
I think it is far more likely to see a Michele Bachmann, or a Sarah Palin, or even a Ron Paul emerging with the nomination.
So, like I said in my headline, I am all for it.
By the way, despite what the Republican might tell their constituents, this is yet another indication that their party may in fact be fractured beyond all repair.
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