Only in America's so-called democracy could a proven "loser" so vehemently and shamelessly condemn a current "winner" with the goal of overturning 'we, the people's' prospective leader in favor of himself. In the latest (and most desperate) action from the neocon establishment, CNN reports Romney has instructed his closest advisers to explore the possibility of stopping Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention (by revising rules for instance). As The GOP self-immolates, perhaps Romney - as the mouthpiece of the establishment - should pay heed to Florida Governor Risk Scott who explained "I trust the voters, so I will not try to tell the Republican voters in Florida how to vote." Democracy, indeed.
Following his attack speech this morning, CNN reports that Romney is quickly mobilizing Plan B...
Mitt Romney has instructed his closest advisers to explore the possibility of stopping Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention, a source close to Romney's inner circle says.
The 2012 GOP nominee's advisers are examining what a fight at the convention might look like and what rules might need revising.
"It sounds like the plan is to lock the convention," said the source.
Romney is focused on suppressing Trump's delegate count to prevent him from accumulating the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination.
But implicit in Romney's request to his team to explore the possibility of a convention fight is his willingness to step in and carry the party's banner into the fall general election as the Republican nominee. Another name these sources mentioned was House Speaker Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate in 2012.
Because nothing says "success" like an old establishment "loser" when the American people are screaming out for change... and not this kind of change (again)...
According to the source, CNN reports that Romney does not expect Rubio, Cruz or Kasich to emerge as the single candidate that can accumulate 1,237 delegates and outright defeat Trump before the convention. So the only way to rob Trump of a victory would be to keep him from reaching that magic 1,237 number.
Most Republican states allocate their delegates proportionally, or in a hybrid format that gives delegates both to the statewide winner and at the congressional district level. This means rather than winnowing the competition down to a single Trump alternative, it could make more sense for all of the current candidates to stay in the race for a stop Trump movement, according to one source.
In addition, two senior Republican Party insiders told CNN that the convention scenario is now dominating a lot of conversation in GOP fundraising circles. To be sure, both of these sources are skeptical about Romney being able to execute this plan, but both believe that there is a real attempt underway to try to do this.
Even Lou Dobbs was shocked...
"@MittRomney and @SpeakerRyan are despicable. They are absolutely dishonorable," says @loudobbsnews pic.twitter.com/4E9cGVHyee
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) March 4, 2016
Perhaps Mr Romney should listen to Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott:
Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott is not endorsing a candidate in the party's presidential race ahead of his state's March 15 primary.
"I have made it my practice to not get involved in primaries because picking the Republican candidate is the voters’ job," Scott wrote in a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday.
"The political class opposed me when I first ran for office, they did not want a businessman outsider, but the voters had other ideas," he said.
"I trust the voters, so I will not try to tell the Republican voters in Florida how to vote by endorsing a candidate before our primary on March 15," Scott continued. "I believed in the voters when I first ran for office, and I still believe in them today."
Ah - we love the smell of democracy in the morning; or is that the burning smell of a Republican party on fire? As The Patriot Post's Nate Jackson so eloquently sums up the farce:
Millions of Americans are fed up with the establishment of both parties. And the Republican base is fed up with nominees like Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney, all of whom lost to younger, more energetic and appealing Democrats. So naturally, the solution to that frustration yielding the rise of Donald Trump is to … roll out Mitt Romney to denounce him. That’s exactly what the last GOP presidential loser did Thursday.
...
But the most important takeaway is that the messenger is deeply flawed, which will only reinforce in the minds of Trump supporters that they should stand by their man.
That said, Romney’s speech isn’t for Trump supporters. It’s to stem the tide of elected Republicans conceding the nomination to Trump without continuing to fight.
Romney lost in 2012 because he implemented ObamaCare in Massachusetts before there was ObamaCare. He was a moderate technocrat who spoke conservatism as a second language. That doesn’t mean he would’ve been a bad president; on the contrary, his generally non-ideological philosophy and his history of turning around both companies and the Salt Lake City Olympics perhaps uniquely qualified him to serve at that moment in American history. But he lost, despite the fact, as Trump said, he “should have beaten Barack Obama easily.”
Even Trump’s endorsement couldn’t save Romney in 2012.
...
Going forward, Romney’s advice is simple:
“[T]he rules of political history have pretty much all been shredded during this campaign. If the other candidates can find common ground, I believe we can nominate a person who can win the general election and who will represent the values and policies of conservatism. Given the current delegate selection process, this means that I would vote for Marco Rubio in Florida, for John Kasich in Ohio, and for Ted Cruz or whichever one of the other two contenders has the best chance of beating Mr. Trump in a given state.”
Translation: Aim for a brokered convention. If Trump loses in such a way, however, it would surely drive away Trump supporters, and Trump himself would no doubt launch a third-party run after having been not “treated fairly.”
So we have many in the establishment signaling they would be just fine with a Washington dealmaker like Trump — Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee and others come to mind, but also conservatives like Jeff Sessions. And we have conservatives like Sen. Ben Sasse and a growing list of others who vow not to support Trump. Many among the conservative intelligentsia (for lack of a better word) also have declared Trump unacceptable. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich show no signs of exiting the race, even amidst growing calls on the Right for a Cruz/Rubio unity ticket.
Now we have the two previous Republican nominees denouncing the current Republican frontrunner. Are we witnessing the collapse of the Grand Old Party? And is there any way to win a gimme election this year with such a fractured party?
Source: Ben Garrison
And in tonight's debate (the 23781st we believe), Trump destroys Romney with his response to the first question:
"He was a failed candidate. He should have beaten President Obama very easily,"
"He failed miserably. And it was an embarrassment to everybody, including the Republican Party."
"So I don't take that. And I guess obviously he wants to be relevant. He wants to be back in the game."