How much of a boost the GOP gets in OH from holding the convention here: Conventional wisdom (pun intended) is that Republican candidates will fare better in OH because the GOP is holding its convention in Cleveland.
Advertisement
A state senator withdrew from the delegation because of her opposition to the brash NY businessman. They also said they expect Kansas Republicans to be united by their strong antipathy for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a state the GOP nominee has carried in every election since 1964.
State Rep. Niraj (nih-RAHJ’) Antani (an-TAH’-nee) says delegates “all share concerns about Donald Trump”.
In a series of three votes, the committee that sets the rules for next week’s four-day convention here eliminated the persistent argument, made primarily among social conservatives hostile to the unorthodox victor of this year’s primaries, that delegates would be free to follow their consciences and ignore their pledges to support the candidates who won their states’ primaries and caucuses. Delegates loyal to Trump and the Republican National Committee fought back by proposing a counter-measure to clarify that all delegates are bound to vote based on the primary results.
That struggle, which conservatives hope would lead to blocking Trump’s presidential nomination, could still be continued on the convention floor next week. It did not help that no big-name independent conservative candidate arose, who might have influenced the delegates to dump Trump and embrace the renegade instead.
The last Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, refuses to support Trump.
“Many of us are opposed to Donald Trump just on principle”, Minor said.
The Republican primary was a rollercoaster ride for the ages. There’s been talk of some Trump foes walking out of the convention if they feel they’ve been treated unfairly, a spectacle top Republicans would love to avoid.
One of Trump’s most famous surrogates doesn’t seem particularly interested in helping unite the party either. The proposal was never going to pass out of committee, but the goal was to secure the 28 votes that would allow anti-Trumpers to bring the thing to a vote before the full convention.
One factor working against the Trump opponents is that objecting delegates must be recognized by the convention’s presiding officer.
“In the end, I meant what I said when I said any of the people standing on that stage were better than Hillary Clinton”, Walker said, pointing to the latest revelations about her improper use of an unsecured personal server to send and receive classified emails as evidence. “Sir, there is nobody else running for president in this party right now other than Donald Trump”.
He noted that Trump drew an enthusiastic, overflow crowd in a visit this month to the northern Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville, and he said Trump has cross-over appeal that can augment the Republican vote.
Trump does not forget his business relationships, giving speaking slots to real estate investor Tom Barrack, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and even the general manager for Virginia’s Trump Winery, Kerry Woolard. “I think part of people’s frustration…is they feel like Washington is completely out of touch with where the rest of America is at”, Walker said.
“The most recent public polling shows the Republican Party is more divided than ever before”, state Democratic Party spokesman Philip Shulman said.
Advertisement
Janet Weir Creighton, a Stark County commissioner in northeast OH, said the voters have spoken.
