A Brokered Convention? Stupid Idea!

J.B. Williams and Frank Salvato published a column today in which they proposed a plan by which the conservative base of the GOP can derail a John McCain nomination in St. Paul. I have two words: Stupid idea. In fact, it would have been more appropriate if these two had waited and published this column on April 1st.

If Republicans Really Want Their Party Back ...
J.B. Williams and Frank Salvato
GOPUSA.com
February 14, 2008

And what's worse is that Williams and Salvato give the very reasons why it would be a stupid idea right in their own column:

If 62.4% of Republicans really do oppose McCain becoming the Party nominee, then they need to do something more than whine and complain about it. If their best plan is to stay home in protest come November, or buy into some insane third party fantasy, they will be sadly disappointed with the outcome of their plan. Further, the idea of getting involved in the RNC or Republican Party organizational process -- becoming a committeeman or precinct captain -- and effecting meaningful change is a genuine solution-based thought to consider for the future, but incredibly late for 2008 and a patently unrealistic method of dealing with the current McCain crisis.

Ever hear the old saying: "You snooze, you lose?" Well, look in that second paragraph above and you will see another poetic tag-line: "Incredibly late for 2008."

The vaunted "Conservative base" of the GOP was conspicuously missing from the voting booths on Super Tuesday and conspicuously missing from the campaigns of candidates like Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Tommy Thompson. The Conservatives jumped into the fray way too late to make a difference.

And now, after surrendering their chance to be heard the first time around, they are demanding a second chance? Here is what Williams and Salvato are proposing:

Mike Huckabee is still in the race with 240 delegates. Romney is sitting on another 285 delegates with his campaign in a "suspended" state. Both can still collect delegates. Even though neither can actually win the nomination before the convention, the two combined have the power to stop a McCain nomination and force him into an open convention where the delegates are all in play. Simply put, what has to happen between now and July 12th is this. Huckabee and Romney have to continue amassing delegates, denying those delegates to McCain and forcing an open convention. ... The goal of affecting an open convention achieved the process of selecting the legitimate Republican nominee will be rightfully back in the hands of the Republican electorate.

Yes, that same electorate that failed to show up on Super Tuesday or in any of the campaigns before that.

The only goal this ridiculous proposal will accomplish is the disenfranchisement of those GOP voters who got up off of their rear-ends and went out to campaign and vote! Not only would it have a seriously negative effect on the GOP Presidential campaign (two months is not long enough to mount an effective national campaign), it would also lead to disastrous results for local campaigns and elections.

Consider my home state of Virginia. Here in the Commonwealth, John McCain won by a 2-digit margin. What would happen if Williams and Salvato's scheme actually worked and the delegates that we pledged to John McCain were suddenly taken away and forced to vote otherwise? It would mean a huge loss of confidence in the GOP as a whole which would mean a lower voter turnout. After all, why vote if your voice has been deliberately silenced?

Well, we have several key Congressional races going here in Virginia, not the least of which is a Senatorial race for the seat being vacated by John Warner. The GOP candidate, Jim Gilmore has a serious uphill bettle ahead of him to defeat the Dem candidate Mark Warner. If the collective voice of the Virginia voters is silenced in St. Paul, the effect will be a smaller GOP voter turnout for the local races. That would mean a larger Dem majority in both houses of Congress.

This same thing would happen in every other state the John McCain won.

No, a brokered convention will only mean a broken and fractured GOP that won't recover from 2008 for at least six to ten years during which the Dem Socialists would run wild over the U.S. We cannot let this happen.

Williams and Salvato should be encouraged to take their brokered convention plan over to the Dems.