Thread: I said I wouldn’t back Donald Trump at the GOP convention. Then the threats began.

I said I wouldn’t back Donald Trump at the GOP convention. Then the threats began.
Trump supporters have tried to make my life a living hell.

By Craig Dunn April 15 at 10:05 AM

Craig Dunn is the Republican Party chairman in Howard County, Ind., and GOP chairman for the Indiana 4th Congressional District. He works as a financial consultant in Kokomo, Ind.

The first email I opened had the subject line, “Trump Bull****.” The message was pretty simple: “You sorry mother******! I hope the worst for you and yours!”

The next email had the unambiguous subject line, “Traitor of the people and what was the Conservative party/now the conjoined twin of the Progressive left.” This missive carried a religious message: “God calls me to pray for my enemies and you are my enemy. Your thinking causes you to be a traitor to the citizenry. Imagine the disgrace U R.”

What was the heinous offense that I committed that made me, according to one person, “the biggest traitor since Benedict Arnold?”

I made the mistake of expressing my opinion.

You've probably heard the term "Republican establishment" thrown around. What does that actually mean? (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

At the conclusion of a long interview with Politico last week, I was asked whether or not I support Donald Trump. I said that I did not. I was then asked if there was any situation where I could see myself supporting Trump. “If Satan was one vote away from the nomination,” I replied, “I would consider voting for Trump if he was the only alternative.” As a result of that remark, Trump supporters have tried to make my life a living hell. I’ve received hate email to my business and political accounts. People have left hateful messages on my home and office and home phone. This is totally unprecedented in my decade as a political party chairman.

Here’s the truth: I may well vote for Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Indiana’s rules require that district delegates, of which I am one, vote on the first ballot for the candidate who won the congressional district they represent. If Trump wins Indiana’s 4th Congressional District on May 3, I will cast my first ballot vote for him. Case closed. No Benedict Arnold here.

However, if Trump does not win a majority, and we need a second ballot to choose our nominee, Indiana rules unbind the delegates and allow them to vote their consciences. In that case, I’ll support John Kasich. This is what inflamed the Trump supporters and motivated them to launch their vicious verbal assaults on myself and others who were quoted in the Politico story.

Many Trump supporters have taken the bait and swallowed the stump speech swill that the Republican “establishment” is trying to steal the nomination. Trump and his pundits would have you believe that every delegate who supports Kasich or Cruz is a fat-cat millionaire lobbyist or businessperson who’ll personally prosper only by maintaining the status quo.

What many of these supporters don’t realize is that the delegate selection process for the 2016 presidential election began four years ago in a very democratic way.

For me, the process started when the registered Republicans in my county elected precinct committeemen and vice-committeemen in May 2012. Those elected party officials then conducted an election for county officers in March 2013. At that time, I was elected county chairman. One week later, the county chairs and vice chairs in the 16 counties that make up Indiana’s 4th Congressional District elected me as district chairman.

Earlier this year, we solicited interest for positions as delegates to the Republican National Convention. Candidates were required to submit a notarized application to me by March 15. The district officers then prepared a slate of candidates for a straight up or down vote to be presented at a district meeting in April.

In my district, only two people applied by the deadline. Since we need three delegates, they automatically became our representatives for the convention. I will go as well.

As this shows, the Republican establishment is not top-down. It’s an amazing grass-roots organization that begins and ends with the great loyal Republicans who stuff envelopes, walk neighborhoods, work phone banks, attend Lincoln/Reagan Dinners, vote consistently, and contribute to the election of council people, commissioners, auditors, sheriffs and legislators. They receive no compensation for their efforts on behalf of the Republican Party. They are the true strength of our party and a vital element in the process of selecting national convention delegates.

As a lifelong Republican who attended his first state convention in 1972 at age 18, who has worked to help elect Republicans to every level of government for more than 40 years, who has written two books dedicated to the brave sacrifices made by our soldiers in the Civil War and who still tears up during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” it deeply troubled me to be called a traitor to the American people. I hold my responsibility as a delegate to the Republican National Convention as a sacred trust.

There will always be those who attempt to use harassment and intimidation to try and get what they want. History is littered with those who rose to power via bullying and the jackboot. Here’s one Hoosier who will serve his country and his party without fear.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...threats-began/

"There will always be those who attempt to use harassment and intimidation to try and get what they want."

Isn't that exactly what these "delegates" and "super-delegates" are doing? Over-riding the votes and the will of the people! We need a major overhaul in our Election system and a National ID Law put in place by the next election. Including fingerprint ID, if needed, with solid proof you are a legal US Citizen.

Mr. Dunn, you don't get it. You told Politico as a person bound to vote for Trump if he wins your district, you would never vote for Donald Trump unless Satan was one vote away and Trump was the only alternative on a first ballot and on a second ballot you would vote for John Kasich.

So now you're upset that a Trump Supporter is contacting you expressing their displeasure with you and calling you a "traitor".

Let me explain that most Americans believe that illegal aliens being allowed to enter and remain in the country is treason, which it is, which makes those behind it, traitors. Further, most Americans who understand the consequences of Free Trade Treason Agreements believe people who voted for, support and want more of them are traitors.

While you're apparently very involved with the Republican Party in your district, you have apparently not been in touch with most Americans who want our borders secured, illegal aliens deported and our bad trade deals fixed. Otherwise, you would know that in our language, we call people opposed to the national interest of the United States and the best interest of our citizens, traitors, because that's what they are.

John Kasich whom you support voted for NAFTA, supports the TPP and doesn't want to deport illegal aliens but instead give them amnesty. Donald Trump wants to fix NAFTA and all the other bad trade deals that are bankrupting our nation and impoverishing our people and also wants to secure our borders, build a wall, deport illegal aliens and reduce legal immigration because illegal aliens and excess immigrants are stealing jobs and depressing the wages of our citizens along with committing all types of crimes, including running drugs and killing and raping our citizens.

You have your freedom to support on a second ballot whomever you want it seems just as you have the right of free speech to call the front-runner of the Republican race for President someone 1 vote short of Satan. What you also have is every right to write your article and expose that you're not only a traitor but a hypocrite to boot who believes in "freedom for me, but not for thee."

Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame on you.

judy
I like your post
south bx

Originally Posted by Beezer

"There will always be those who attempt to use harassment and intimidation to try and get what they want."

Isn't that exactly what these "delegates" and "super-delegates" are doing? Over-riding the votes and the will of the people! We need a major overhaul in our Election system and a National ID Law put in place by the next election. Including fingerprint ID, if needed, with solid proof you are a legal US Citizen.

Yes, that is exactly what they're doing. They oppose Trump over his policies on immigration and trade, want all their freedoms to lash out at him, but don't want voters who lash out at them in return, the clear and present double-standard that Elites love so much, "freedom for me, but not for thee."