Most Republicans have by now conceded that Donald Trump will be the named the nominee at the party’s convention in July. However, while the nomination fight may be over, other convention conflicts are just beginning.
The New York Times reports that conservative delegates to the convention are gearing up for yet another wave of attempts to water down the Republican Party platform, especially on social issues:
In an email sent Sunday to pro-Cruz convention delegates, a top aide to [Cruz] wrote that it was “still possible to advance a conservative agenda at the convention.”
“To do that, it is imperative that we fill the Rules and Platform Committees with strong conservative voices like yours,” wrote Ken Cuccinelli, who was the campaign’s former delegate wrangler and a former attorney general of Virginia. “That means you need to come to the national convention and support others in coming, too!”
Mr. Cruz is planning a Monday evening conference call where, as Mr. Cuccinelli writes, Mr. Cruz’s former officials plan to “discuss what we can do at the convention to protect against liberal changes to our platform, and how we can right the wrongs in the rules from 2012!”
[…]
“This is about protecting movement conservatism,” [Cuccinelli] said, pointing to party planks on abortion and saying the delegates should consider language regarding transgender bathroom access.
Although the article notes some are worried about attempts by Trump to change the party platform, given recent statements to that effect on abortion, the GOP’s presumptive nominee is far from the only — or perhaps even the largest — concern.
As we reported last month, the business wing of the Republican Party, led by mega-donors such as Paul Singer, has been quietly working for some time to liberalize the GOP’s plank on marriage, and there will no doubt be other attempts by elites to further embed a truce strategy in the platform, despite that strategy’s failing time and time again.
Vigilance will be required if a conservative catastrophe is to be averted in Cleveland this summer.
Paul Dupont is the managing editor for ThePulse2016.com.
