At least 400 Republican delegates of the 1,572 assigned to Donald Trump are ready for a showdown with the party convention’s Rules Committee, if the body insists that they are bound by their respective States’ primaries. These candidates, led by Kendal Unruh, a school teacher from Colorado, are saying they are already unbound.
“I am not giving them the right to unbind, they already have it,” Ms. Unruh, a Ted Cruz supporter who leads the Free the Delegates movement told The Hindu on the phone. She, however, calls for the introduction of a ‘Conscience Clause’ — a clause that the 112-member Rules Committee will have to pass freeing the pledged delegates from their commitments.
‘Chaotic floor-fight’“A lot of Republicans are rule-followers and they need a rule. You know, this could be an uphill battle given the Rules Committee… those are your establishment people and those are who are pushing Donald Trump right now, they are all on the same page,” Ms. Unruh said. “If it is not done smoothly through Rules, it’s going to be a chaotic floor-fight. And by the way, so be it. I mean, this is about our republic. This is about taking our party back. We’re activists.”
Ms. Unruh says she has the backing of three U.S. Supreme Court cases and 240 legal precedents establishing that delegates are already free. Her support base includes delegates from the camps of Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio as well as Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Her sentiments were echoed by Steve Lonegan, manager of Ted Cruz’s New Jersey campaign and a former Senate candidate. Mr. Lonegan is now an influential member of Courageous Conservatives, a Political Action Committee (PAC), seeking a candidate who represents “true conservative values” and is capable of winning against Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in November’s general election.
“The Rules Committee will have to adopt a rule binding the delegates… as of today, they are not bound. We’re trying to stop the RNC (Republican National Committee), and the Rules Committee, from binding these candidates and very potentially losing the election to Hillary Clinton as well as losing down ballot,” Mr. Lonegan told The Hindu on Saturday.
Unprecedented vacuumIf Mr. Trump does not make it through the convention, that will leave an unprecedented vacuum in the season. Ms. Unruh does not have an alternative candidate. “It can be a candidate that wasn’t even in the last primaries… We don’t have a picture on the face of the puzzle, we’re just putting the pieces together and that is not something I am worried right now,” Ms. Unruh said.
Mr. Cruz, who suspended his campaign earlier, has already declared that he would not step in to take the place of a disqualified Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump had reacted earlier to the possibility of delegates “voting their conscience”, calling it illegal and a betrayal of those [14 million people] who had voted for him in the primaries.
Battling the establishmentWhile several ranking Republicans, including House majority leader Paul Ryan, have supported the view that delegates should not be bound, the establishment is fighting this.
TheNew York Times reported on Sunday that Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus had sent colleagues out to ascertain which way first-time delegates were leaning and that Committee lawyers were examining ways to prevent delegates from getting unbound.
In some States, opponents to unbinding have threatened the delegates who are planning to deviate from their pledged positions, Mr. Lonegan and Ms. Unruh told The Hindu .
“In North Carolina for example, delegates are being threatened with fines that can’t be levied against them. It varies from State to State,” Mr. Lonegan said.
He added that he would accept Mr. Trump as the candidate if he emerged as the winner after the delegates were unbound.
