After Brexit, we know that current voter outrage can produce shocking results. Here’s hoping then, that RNC delegates vote their conscience in Cleveland, and dump Trump.
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On Sunday night, the burgeoning anti-Trump forces within the Republican Party held a conference call hosting 1000+ listeners. During the discussion, elected delegates and other interested parties heard a variety of voices (among them, former Senator Gordon Humphrey, Republican strategist Steve Lonegan, radio host Steve Deace).
The message? Donald Trump must be stopped. And the only way to do that, now, is for a delegate revolt at the upcoming Republican National Convention. July 18 – 21.
July 18 – 21.
There aren’t many dates worth remembering. But these four days have a good chance of making the history books.
And unlike the countless thousands of forgotten party faithful of yesteryear, the Republican delegates of 2016 have every reason to believe their names will be remembered. Perhaps in infamy.
But maybe not. Maybe they will be remembered as something else. Something wild, noble, unexpected.
Heroic.
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One of the speakers during Sunday night’s call was Beau Correll, a Republican delegate who is currently suing to be freed from voting for Donald Trump. His native state of Virginia requires that delegates vote for the state’s primary winner.
Well, Trump won Virginia’s primary (albeit with a paltry 34.7% of the vote). And so, it seems, Correll has to vote for him. Should he choose not to, criminal charges could be brought against him, including a 12-month prison sentence if found guilty.
But as Correll says, he “cannot, in good conscience, cast a ballot for Donald Trump.”
But as Republican delegate Beau Contrell states, he “cannot, in good conscience, cast a ballot for Donald Trump.”
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“Amen” seems an appropriate rejoinder here.
At any rate, Correll is not alone. Hundreds of delegates have expressed interest in dumping Trump, as it were, but are not sure they can, and worry about the potential fallout.
Understandably so.
But there is no political demand so great that it usurps the right of one’s conscience. And casting a vote for Donald Trump is no doubt an egregious affront to the consciences of many current delegates.
And yes, the possibility of Donald Trump as president is so distressing, and so dangerous, that we have now entered those proverbial “desperate times.” Great Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union further demonstrates the unpredictable moment we live in, and that the “unthinkable” has now become fully thinkable. Trump could, odds low as they be, ascend to the Oval Office, should he officially become the Republican nominee.
Thus, here is a look at the potential problems of voting against Trump, and how they are almost certainly less catastrophic than following protocol and voting for the celebrity businessman.
- Potential Problem A: Riots in Cleveland
This one’s easy. Because one way or another, there are probably going to be riots in Cleveland.
For starters, a judge recently overruled the city of Cleveland’s attempt to make protest anywhere near the convention a crime. Being just a few weeks out from July 18, it is unlikely that the RNC will scrap together a coherent Plan B. Remember the massive protests during Trump’s cancelled Chicago rally?
Cleveland is going to make that look like the jayvee warmup.
Perhaps as a preemptive strike against delegate maneuvering, Donald Trump has long warned that his supporters will “riot” if he is not the nominee. Interestingly, these threats came before he had secured the requisite votes to be “assured” nomination. Regardless though, Trump’s loyal groupies have proven rather adept at violence on his behalf, and RNC delegates could certainly expect nasty scenes if they choose to abandon the beloved god-king of the Trump cult.
But angry protesters on the right are no longer alone. Liberal writer Michael Eric Dyson recently published an article at The New Republic entitled “We Must March on Cleveland.” He writes, “Cleveland, the convention, is where we must begin to make our stand against Trump and the malignancy he represents.” Dyson then states, “I know these words can be read as a call to violence unseen at a national political convention since Chicago in 1968. So be it.”
Nominate Trump, or leave the fool behind, either way: riots in Cleveland are highly likely.
- Potential Problem B: Media/Voter backlash
Will the media completely freak out if Trump does not get the nomination?
Yes.
Will Fox News hosts, by and large, be spewing unmitigated rage and horror for days, red-faced and irate perhaps for weeks, at the unfair/establishment-driven/DC cartel who stole away their golden boy’s rightful honor?
You had better believe it.
Will Clinton allies shout faux-outrage at this “subversion” of democracy, knowing that whoever replaces Trump will be a far more formidable opponent?
Of course.
And will all this whip American citizens up into a bit of a frenzy? Will it create an atmosphere of distrust?
Possibly.
But prepare your arguments. You, Republican delegates, have the right and responsibility to nominate the best candidate, with an actual chance of winning.
And because the reasons to vote against Trump are so long and so substantive, if you make your case, even a whirlwind of negative media won’t provoke the majority to abandon you.
Remember: 70% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump.
- Potential Problem C: New Candidate Goes on to Lose to Hillary Clinton
It’s a definite possibility, especially given the damage already done to the Republican party by the DJT circus.
But a loss to Clinton is all but guaranteed if you keep Trump as the nominee.
At least by nominating someone else, you can say you tried when the angry masses attempt to blame you for every disappointment that occurs during a Clinton presidency.
Because if you had allowed Trump to top the Republican ticket, nothing would be different. Everyone would still be in the same Clinton-term boat.
- Potential Problem D: Electorate Never Trusts You Again
This is, in my opinion, the biggest and most formidable problem.
Because how can voters ever trust that you’ll honor their ballots, if you turn around and pick a different candidate whenever their choice “doesn’t suit” your preferences?
But there are times, rare as they may blessedly be, that call for desperate measures. It may be true that voters refuse to trust the Republican party, that hardly anyone shows up to vote in a primary, that anti-Establishment rage is fanned by a Trump-dump, that things get rowdier and less manageable for a little while.
And yet, if you look down the road, to 2017, 2018, 2019, and yes, 2020… Will anyone hold it against delegates who rejected Trump? The litany of his unfitness for the presidency includes an absolute dearth of policy knowledge, no real commitment to learning anything new, a character that is desperately bereft of self-control, empathy, or thoughtfulness, and a real weakness for conspiracy theories and broad-based bigotry.
Is it not more likely that, in the long run, most Republican voters will thank you?
Which leads me to a final hypothetical:
- What if you nominate Trump, and he wins?
The likelihood of a successful Trump presidency hovers just above… zero. The real question is, how bad would things be?
Would there be only race riots, or would we approach something more like a race war?
Would Trump defund the military to pay for his roundup and deportation of 11 million illegal immigrants? Or would that massive bill get pulled from education?
Would we be tugged into a war in the Middle East? Or how about Europe? Would a President Trump allow Vladimir Putin to overrun eastern Europe, or would he abet him? Would Trump only encourage the dissolution of the European Union, or would he fight to break it apart?
The likelihood of a successful Trump presidency hovers just above… zero. The real question is, how bad would things be?
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Would every foreign visitor be entertained at the White House, or is it not more likely that Trump would see his new position as a powerful way to make more and more bucks? Would we not see official state business suddenly conducted out of Mar-A-Lago?
Would we not have the most corrupt, inept, embarrassing president the nation has ever imagined?
And who would be blamed for that?
You.
You, dear delegate.
Because ultimately, no one blames the lowly voter. There are too many of us, and we cast ballots in secret.z
But you, delegate: your name is public knowledge, and your vote will be as well.
And the history books will ask: how could you let this happen? You knew, you knew, you knew.
You knew who this man was, and you knew enough about what he would do in office.
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People don’t often ask to be saved from themselves. Even more: people rarely like what doing that kind of saving entails.
But here we are.
Republican delegates have the legal right to abandon Donald Trump.
They have a moral imperative to do so.
July 18 – 21.
Perhaps the delegates will be remembered as the ones who did the bold, unexpected thing.
Saving “us” from ourselves.
Photo: Getty Images