Many notable Illinois Republicans are skipping this year’s GOP convention this week, including Gov. Bruce Rauner who has treated Trump comments as toxic and opted to steer clear. Delegate Kevin Marks says the head of his state’s delegation, Susan Hutchison, tried to persuade delegates on the convention floor to remove their names by warning them they’d embarrass their state.
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A CNN/ORC Poll in mid-June found that two other convention speakers also land in positive territory with GOP voters. However, the headliner was potential First Lady Melania Trump.
Right now, up to 50 percent of expenditures by nonprofit corporations like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS or the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity can go toward politics.
Ending the dust-up was important to show at least a veneer of party unity behind Trump. “When someone rolls their eyes at us, they are not likely to open their ears to us”.
Chairman Tim Schneider riled up the crowd of IL delegates at a delegation breakfast Monday morning in Cleveland, vowing that IL would work to elect Donald Trump in November, and that, counter to reports of division among the ranks, the state is “in lockstep” with Trump.
The platform vote Monday afternoon during the first day of the Republican National Convention was less controversial than a move anti-Trump delegates made to let delegates vote their conscience – and against the nominee.
Former Arizona governor Jan Brewer, an early supporter of Trump, calls the issue of security “a priority” for women.
“The new platform gets evangelicals back under the tent”, he said. “They want the peace of mind to know that they are secure and that their families are secure”.
Be competitive in Florida: Watch the accompanying video to see why Andersen says Florida is key to this election, and critical for Trump to demonstrate that he understands the hard math behind the Electoral College.
“That is very strong language and we as a party condemn that”, said Maddock, the 11th Congressional District delegate for Trump. He has endorsed Trump, but needs to focus on his own competitive re-election – one that’s been made more hard by some of Trump’s incendiary comments about Hispanics in the heavily Latino state. “From other conservatives! But who are you to judge me?”
The former speaker was unruffled by numerous more controversial elements of Donald Trump’s platform, such as building a wall with Mexico (“Legal immigrants often agree that you should have legal immigration”) and shutting down Muslim immigration to the US temporarily.
Capito praised Trump’s choice of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate, calling him an “excellent pick”.
Republican pollster Whit Ayres – author of 2016 and Beyond, which in the wake of the 2012 defeat urged the GOP to focus on appealing to the nation’s increasingly diverse electorate – is skeptical Trump can overcome his past provocative statements about women and others.
The reason state Republicans are faring so well could be that big-time Republican donors are bypassing Trump and giving directly to contested campaigns.
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That means continuing one thing Trump has been doing from the start: bashing Clinton.
