No one was being deceived, they just don’t want to appear divided, they say.
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Delegates to the Republican National Convention from Jones, Taylor and Scurry Counties met Thursday to talk strategy for the convention which begins Monday in Cleveland.
On Thursday night, Rules Committee members who opposed the Free the Delegates movement urged everyone to get behind Trump. Although campaign staffers were feeling confident that they would hold Never Trump to about 20 votes, their efforts, buoyed by a text message based whip operation, were even more successful than anticipated. “We support the right of parents to determine the proper treatment or therapy, for their minor children”, states language drafted by Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council and a delegate from Louisiana.
Unruh, like many of her allies a delegate for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the last serious challenger to Trump’s march to the nomination. A vote to end discussion on the proposal received only 21 “no” votes, indicating that a push to force a vote on the convention floor will not reach the 28-delegate threshold.
He and others said the Republican Party prides itself on being a party controlled by the grassroots.
But Unruh and her allies can’t be completely dismissed because while most delegates are committed to backing Trump in the roll call for the nomination, current rules let every delegate vote however he or she wishes on other fights over rules, the platform and credentials.
While on a path to near-certain victory, Trump has drawn bitter opposition from Republicans who say he’s not conservative and is an inept campaigner whose harsh statements will cause his defeat and losses by GOP candidates for Congress and elsewhere.
In one showdown, the rules committee voted 86-23 to reject an effort by conservatives to eliminate the RNC’s ability to change party rules in years between national conventions.
The proposal was defeated by voice vote and no exact numbers were given.
In a gesture to conservatives, the rules panel voted to create a commission that by 2018 could propose changes to the GOP’s presidential nominating process, which came under intense fire this year. Trump called the system “rigged” early on, and his opponents have demanded more power for delegates to select a fresh nominee.
Immediately following that vote, Kendal Unruh, a Colorado delegate who has led the efforts to unbind the delegates, offered her highly anticipated amendment.
Even many delegates who weren’t especially eager to see Trump emerge victorious from the primaries sided against the move on grounds that he’d won fair and square.
The group tried to submit their signatures before proceedings on the platform closed Tuesday night, but were told they would need to wait until Monday, when the full convention convenes.
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RNC chief spokesman Sean Spicer said he would not.
