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politics and politicians Title: GOP Third Party Revolt Gets Serious As Romney Powwows With Kristol As Donald Trump becomes the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee, many influential leaders in the party are dealing with the crisis of conservatism he represents. Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, and key Neoconservative organizer, is now leading an effort to draft a third party candidate. The movement is apparently becoming serious, as Kristol just met with the last Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. The Washington Post reported on Friday that Kristol met with Romney in Washington D.C. to discuss the movement. Though Kristol was coy about what he discussed with Romney, despite a fairly lengthy interview with the Post, it was clear that at least three things were discussed. Kristol wanted Romney to weigh in on whether he thought a third party campaign was a good idea, “I wanted to get his wisdom on whether it was more or less doable than I thought.” Kristol also wanted Romney to consider running, though they had not necessarily committed to backing him as the candidate, “He came pretty close to being elected president, so I thought he may consider doing it, especially since he has been very forthright in explaining why Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton should not be president of the United States,” … “It was not like, ‘You should do it.’ I wouldn’t presume he’d do it. But I’m hoping that he begins to think about it a little more,” Kristol said. “His name is one of the names that is part of the discussion.” Finally, Kristol wanted Romney’s input on who Romney would back if he didn’t run himself. But knowing Romney’s reluctance, Kristol told Romney that if he remains unwilling to run, many top conservatives would appreciate having the former Massachusetts governor’s support for an independent candidate, should Kristol and other right-leaning figures enlist a willing contender. “Obviously, if there were to be an independent candidacy, Romney’s support would be very important,” Kristol said. Romney has been a leader in the Never Trump movement among Republicans. In March, he encouraged Republican voters to vote for the candidate most likely to defeat Trump in each state going forward. With Ted Cruz, widely detested among his Congressional Republican colleagues, running in second place, and so many Republicans having split the anti-Trump vote, no credible challenger ever materialized. Yet, also in March, Romney filed with the Federal Election Commission and reactivated his 2012 campaign committee and Super PAC, as Reverb Press reported. So, his infrastructure is already in place, should he choose to launch a third-party bid. But if Romney doesn’t run, Kristol is considering other options. Kristol previously courted retired Marine Corps General James Mattis to run as a third party candidate. Mattis was briefed, but declined to run. In a “just spitballing” tweet in April, Kristol also mentioned Senator Ben Sasse as a possibility. This idea seems to be serious, and Sasse seems to be interested in being an ideological anti-Trump leader. As Trump clinched presumptive nominee status, Sasse published on his Facebook page a 1,445-word 10-point manifesto addressed to “the majority of Americans” who don’t support either Trump or Clinton. One of Sasse’s key points was, “Imagine if we had a candidate: …who hadn’t spent his/her life in politics either buying politicians or being bought…” This is a not-so-subtle endorsement of himself. Sasse has only been Nebraska’s Senator since January, 2015. Prior to entering politics, he mostly had an academic career as a professor and then university president. He has pitched himself as a political outsider despite being a Republican. At 44, Sasse would be one of the youngest people ever to run for president. Given the age of Trump and Clinton, some may see this as a virtue. But it seems more likely that Kristol might groom Sasse as a Vice Presidential nominee for a more seasoned Republican like Romney. Despite courting speculation on Facebook, Sasse has sought to distance himself from it on Twitter. He said that because he is raising small children, he’s too busy to run for president. This is obviously the kind of “aw shucks” dodge that is a selling point, not an actual refusal. Kristol tweeted a rather aggressive response that Sasse could home-school his kids on the plane while they see the country. Those three little kids will enjoy their dad's 6-month campaign–do home schooling on the plane, see the country… https://t.co/yNZRun9cpl — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 5, 2016 If something like a Romney-Sasse ticket is in the offing in the general election, they would have to move fast. The clock is already starting to tick on the general election, in terms of fundraising and building infrastructure in key states. Such a ticket would almost certainly be doomed. A Romney-like third party candidate would be very likely to split the conservative vote with Trump. But Trump has generated a ton of enthusiasm both for and against his candidacy among conservatives. So, even though there would be a split, it would potentially help Republicans in down-ballot races across the country. However, if a 3-way race managed to deny any of the 3 candidates an outright majority in the Electoral College in November, then the Constitution mandates that the House of Representatives elects the next president. Republicans could be eyeballing this as a possibility to turn their careening dumpster fire of an election into a way to steal the White House, by giving Paul Ryan the power to choose the next president virtually by fiat. Now may be a good time to invest in pitchforks. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
#7. To: Deckard (#0)
Somebody ought to tell Kristol that if he wanted to search for wisdom he could do a lot better than consult a corrupt asshole loser whose only success in life was cashing in on his father's family name.
There are no replies to Comment # 7. End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.
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