Tag: republican convention
Endorse This: Roger Stone Says It’s Not A Threat To Give Out Delegates’ Hotel Room Numbers

Endorse This: Roger Stone Says It’s Not A Threat To Give Out Delegates’ Hotel Room Numbers

In an interview with Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio on Tuesday, Roger Stone discussed this summer’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and specifically the possibility that delegates who are required to vote for Donald Trump on the convention’s first ballot may support another candidate on subsequent ballots, should Trump fail to receive the required 1,237 votes. Trump had threatened to sue the RNC, until he realized it is a private organization that sets and follows its own rules.

Instead, Stone said he — Stone, that is — would “disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal. If you’re from Pennsylvania, we’ll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them.”

Even in this hectic and violent election season, Stone’s comments raised plenty of eyebrows.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they would be condemned by the Trump campaign. Here’s Healy Baumgardner, “Senior Press Representative” for campaign, shifting the discussion to the protestors who have interrupted Trump events across the country, most notably by shutting down a rally in Chicago.

And then there was this exchange between Jeff DeWitt and Brent Bozell, surrogates for Trump and Cruz, respectively. DeWitt downplays Stone’s comments and his connections to the Trump campaign (relevant discussion occurs at 2:07):

In an interview with Alex Jones Wednesday focused on the “Stop the Steal” protest movement — which is organizing marches in Cleveland should Trump’s path to the nomination be interrupted by, in Jones’s words, “the roaches that are the trash and the Nazi collaborators, like George Soros,” — Jones asks Stone about the types of pressure Stone wants to place on delegates who don’t back Trump.

“And hey, it’s a free country, if we’re staying in the hotel, we can go knock on their hotel room door, like you said, right?” Jones asks.

“I have friends in every delegation, so I will be able to tell you which state delegations are involved in the big steal, which party leaders are ring leaders in the big steal,” Stone responds, before addressing the previous day’s uproar at his comments: “We do not violence, we’re not talking about roughing anybody up, but we are talking about is being a presence to let people feel the pressure of the American people.”


Stone repeats throughout the interview that he’s not advocating violence, but one wonders what exactly he expects will happen when Trump supporters show up at the hotel rooms of convention delegates.

For what it’s worth, this has been the Trump/Stone playbook this entire election: distancing themselves, after the fact, from their wink-and-a-nod calls for violence. It recalls an article we published yesterday, in which a German newspaper editor described the strategy of the anti-immigrant political party Alternative for Germany:

“They are playing both parts… There is this fantasy about violence, and on the other hand, [they say] ‘No, it was a misunderstanding.'”

Trump’s Worst Week Ever Is Over

Trump’s Worst Week Ever Is Over

The Republican frontrunner is experiencing unexpectedly heavy resistance as the weeks run down to the Republican National Convention. Just a month ago, the Republican establishment was increasingly resigned to the likelihood that Donald Trump was going to be their party’s nominee. Now, new polling trends show he might not be as electorally invincible as originally expected.

The Trump campaign was hit from multiple sides this week in what was an unprecedented groundswell of anger from the electorate. Multiple polls show that Trump is historically unpopular — around 67 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of him.

Polls show Trump 10 points behind Ted Cruz in Wisconsin, a recent development, and throughout this past week his campaign has had to deal with the fallout from his birdbrained abortion remarks and charges of battery against campaign manager, Corey Lewandoski.

A loss in Wisconsin, which has 42 delegates at stake in a “winner-take-most” primary, would force Trump to win around 60 percent of all remaining delegates to reach the 1,237 votes needed to secure the nomination. Politico reports that Trump seriously risks delegate flight if he fails to win the nomination outright, suggesting that many of his pledged delegates are voting for him against their will.

“I do know the nature of the delegates. The majority of them, they’re conservatives but they’re party regulars — County chairmen, state regulars, local sheriffs,” said Charlie Black, a veteran convention operative who is advising John Kasich’s campaign.

For his part, Trump said that there would be riots in Cleveland if a brokered convention ended with someone else becoming the Republican nominee. “If we’re 20 votes short or if we’re 100 short and we’re at 1,100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400 because we’re way ahead of everybody, I don’t think you can say that we don’t get it automatically,” he said. “I think you would have riots. I think you would have riots.”

Should Trump end up his party’s nominee, he’s not in for an easy ride to the White House: A new poll from Democracy Works shows a large increase in politically-engaged Democratic voters, likely a response to Trump’s rise, as well as an incredibly large increase in the number of women, especially white working class women, opposed to him. Suffice it to say: Trump may survive the crucible of the Republican presidential nomination process, but he’ll come out the other side one of the weakest general election candidates ever.

 

Dallas Poised To Pitch For 2016 GOP Convention

Dallas Poised To Pitch For 2016 GOP Convention

By Bruce Tomaso, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — After a snow delay, Dallas is ready to join the sweepstakes for the next Republican convention.

Along with officials from seven other cities, Dallas representatives were poised to make their pitch to GOP leaders in Washington on March 4, but nature had other plans.

A blizzard dumped a half-foot of snow on Washington, forcing airlines to cancel scores of flights into the nation’s capital.

Dallas, Las Vegas and Cincinnati had to postpone their presentations, which are now scheduled for March 21. Kansas City, Missouri, Denver, Phoenix, Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio, went ahead with their bids.

GOP officials will visit sites in April and announce a winner in August.

The stakes are high. The 2016 Republican National Convention will bring at least 40,000 visitors, as well as global media attention, to the host city.

“You’re looking at over $200 million of economic impact,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. His city, which hosted the Democrats in 2008, is among those pursing the Republicans in 2016.

While the multipliers and assumptions used to generate such economic-impact numbers can be generous, there’s no doubt that a lot of dollars get left behind once a convention has come and gone.

And there are residual benefits. After the Democrats visited in 2008, “Denver emerged as one of the top convention destinations in the world,” Hancock said.

Dallas was the GOP pick in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan was re-nominated. But it was late to this game, tossing together a bid only within the last month or so. That eleventh-hour decision surprised even some members of the Dallas City Council.

“We’re starting late but will give it our very best effort,” said Kay Bailey Hutchison, the retired U.S. senator. Hutchison, a Dallas Republican, is one of those leading the city’s presentation.

Dallas’ strengths, she said, include “our two great airports and airline service … more convenient than others can offer,” plentiful hotel rooms within a couple of miles of American Airlines Center — which would be the main convention site — and the quality of that arena.

Throw in grand spaces for receptions — the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Hall, the AT&T Performing Arts Center, among others — along with world-renowned caterers and an impressive array of fine restaurants, and the city starts to look downright alluring.

Then, too, there’s that Bush fellow (a fairly prominent Republican in his day) and his jewel of a library and museum at Southern Methodist University. It’s hard to imagine many cities that would be seem more welcoming to visiting Republicans.

On the other hand, traffic in Dallas on a good day is bad, and it isn’t going to get better by 2016. Getting on or off Stemmons Freeway, Woodall Rodgers or Dallas North Tollway near American Airlines Center would be nightmarish, especially during evening rush hour, just as the convention’s prime-time sessions would be getting under way.

Dallas’ downtown “renaissance” is a work in progress. Many visitors wouldn’t have cars. Many stuck downtown would be dismayed at the empty sidewalks and eerie quiet that are still the norm after dark.

And the weather in late June, early July? Let’s just say it falls between Denver’s splendid and Phoenix’s scorching.

But closer to scorching.

Here’s a look at the strong suits of the other bidders, along with a few loose threads that might not hold up to a lot of tugging:

Las Vegas

Strong suits: As Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki of Nevada told Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I don’t think there’s a better city in the world to host a convention. This is what we do.” The city has welcomed conventions of 150,000 people. Hotels abound, and they’re centrally located.

Loose threads: Those hotels have casinos. Showgirls, call girls, free drinks and round-the-clock gambling aren’t in keeping with the image that Republicans seek to project. Delegates would have plenty of opportunities to succumb to vice. If they did, and if they had prominent names, the army of reporters on hand would spread the news far and wide.

Denver

Strong suits: In hosting the Democrats in 2008, Denver showed it could handle a national political convention. And it did so with no expenditure of public money, which should impress fiscal conservatives. Even in July, the temperature rarely exceeds the mid-80s.

Loose threads: The airport is in the boonies, an hour’s ride from downtown by public bus. In January, Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational use of marijuana, and by all reports, Coloradans are enthusiastically exercising this new freedom. Comparisons to 2008 would be inevitable. That was when Barack Obama, the first black presidential candidate to be nominated by a major party, wowed a crowd of 84,000 at the Denver Broncos’ home stadium. Such comparisons could be tough on the next Republican standard-bearer.

Phoenix

Strong suits: Tourism is a huge industry. Gorgeous resorts, lush golf courses (even in the arid summer) and dazzling desert scenery abound. Sunsets are spectacular. There are mountains all around the city. The Phoenix area has hosted two Super Bowls, and it’s hosting next year’s. Like Texas, Arizona is a GOP stronghold.

Loose threads: It’s hotter than Hades. The best hotels aren’t downtown or close to it, and mass transit is all but nonexistent. Arizona’s Republicans sometimes do things that bring unpleasant national scrutiny, like passing a “religious freedom bill” (vetoed last week by the governor) that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people. Even Mitt Romney and John McCain, the last two Republican presidential candidates, opposed that measure.

Kansas City

Strong suits: It’s the heartland of America, an idyllic backdrop for messages extolling God, country and family. It hosted the 1976 GOP convention, where Reagan boldly (but unsuccessfully) sought to wrest the nomination from President Gerald Ford. Great steaks. Good barbecue.

Loose threads: Neither Kansas nor Missouri is likely to be in play in 2016. Both are solidly Republican. (Missouri thinks of itself as a swing state, but it hasn’t swung to the Democrats since 1996.) There’s little political gain for the GOP in going there. Since ’76, KC has repeatedly sought the Republican convention and repeatedly been passed over.

The Ohioans

Strong suit: Ohio is critical to the Republicans in 2016. Indeed, few nonpartisan analysts think the GOP could win without the Buckeye State. “The road to the White House runs through Ohio. It is the ultimate battleground state,” said Matt Borges, the state’s GOP chairman. He said of his state’s bidders, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus: “Not only does Ohio have three world-class cities capable of hosting a national convention, but bringing one here would put our candidate and party’s message directly in front of voters.”

Loose threads: Even in Ohio, not a lot of people would call Columbus a “world-class city.” Cleveland and Cincinnati were, but long, long ago. The last time Cleveland hosted a major-party convention was when the Republicans met there in 1936. The last one for Cincinnati was the Democrats in 1880. In all three cities, travel times between convention sites and many hotels would be lengthy. Along the way, there might not be much to see out the windows.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons