The Republican Party’s arrogant scheme to select the 2016 GOP presidential candidate years ahead of the election and attempt to force the party electorate to like and support their choice has become a disaster. Their choice was Jeb Bush. Predictably, the electorate has rejected Bush three months before the first primary election, and the fallout is threatening to tear the party apart.
Unfortunately, Bush, who is a capable individual with some unpopular ideas, is the unintended victim of the RNC who intended to assure his nomination, but instead assured his demise.
In my view, the blame for the failure of the Bush candidacy is more the blame of the party than it is the candidate. In simple terms, conservative Republicans who are the base of the Republican Party are fed up and sick and tired of being told which liberal or RINO candidate to vote for.
The recent debate hosted by CNBC was both a disaster and a blessing. It was a disaster for the network and the Republican National Committee, but a blessing for some of the candidates.
In preparation for the presidential primary, the RNC has attempted to purge people they consider to be TEA Party, Libertarian and right wing Conservative-leaning from the party leadership all the way down to the precinct level. The purge has been quite effective even in conservative Greenville County; however, it has weakened the party and made it less effective, having lost credibility.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and his staff selected CNBC to host the October debate in Bolder, Colorado, and negotiated the terms of the debate. After having vented their anger on the questioners, some of the Republican candidates were going after the RNC Chairman, who quickly announced that he had “suspended” the agreement to allow NBC News to host a debate in February 2016.
Few people believe the RNC intends to cancel the NBC debate. Use of the word “suspended” leaves an option to reschedule and reinstate the debate after the anger of the candidates and their supporters subsides.
A spokesman for NBC News, in a statement, seemed to support the idea that Priebus was only raking action to “settle the dust,” pacify his critics and take pressure off himself. The NBC spokesman told Newsmax: “This is a disappointing development. However, along with our debate partners at Telemundo we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party.
Despite the quick actions by Priebus, several of the Republican candidates met Sunday, 1 November, in Washington, DC, to discuss the way debates are being arranged and conducted under RNC direction.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Texas Senator Ted Cruz took advantage of the situation to slam the media and make points with the Republican constituent base.
When moderator John Harwood interrupted Christie, the Governor fired back, “Are you going to answer the question or allow me to answer it? Even in New Jersey what you’re doing is called ‘rude.’”
Ted Cruz, who has a “steel trap” memory, quoted some of the questions back to the moderator. “Look at the questions,” Cruz said. “Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen? How about talking about the substantive issues people care about.”
If Trump receives the nomination, the RNC will become mostly irrelevant. Otherwise, the RNC must become a lot more effective at dealing with the media and potential Republican voters or we will be looking at another President Clinton and the end of the Christian-based constitutional republic thousands of Americans have sacrificed for and many have died to preserve.