Thread: Senior GOP Officials Exploring Options if Trump Drops Out

Mike Pence 'Strongly' Endorses Paul Ryan as Trump Refuses to do the Same

That's what you get when you select a VP for "unity" instead of policies and principles. So be it. Pence doesn't vote in that district so it really doesn't matter.

RYAN'S GOTTA GO!

SUPPORT PAUL NEHLEN!!

So please tell me in direct speak what exactly it is that you think Trump has done to "sabotage his own campaign"?

I am so sorry, if I would even have to explain a few of these situations or the times he has needlessly buried his campaign, then we just see things differently and I would leave it at that.

Just seems to me like he is winging it most of the time. When he comes off message, he creates controversy, needless of course. Doesn't demonstrate a clear knowledge of anything for that matter, but does have a few good ideas and understands that the system as it is, doesn't work for the average American. I guess you just have to trust him without knowing much more than he will fix it and make it better.

I applaud him for not supporting Ryan or McCain, both need to go.

I must be the only supporter who sees Trump differently, but I still support him and I think it is ok to expose flaws because when they are acknowledged and fixed, you end up with a stronger and better candidate, that's all.

Insiders to Trump: Drop out

'I’d rather take our chances with nearly anyone else than continue with this certain loser who will likely cost the Senate and much more,' said a New Hampshire Republican.

By STEVEN SHEPARD
08/05/16 05:18 AM EDT


Republican insiders in key battleground states have a message for The Donald: Get out. | Getty

Amid widespread chatter that Donald Trump could drop out of the presidential race before Election Day, Republican insiders in key battleground states have a message for The Donald: Get out.

That’s according to The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of activists, strategists and operatives in 11 swing states. The majority of GOP insiders, 70 percent, said they want Trump to drop out of the race and be replaced by another Republican candidate — with many citing Trump’s drag on Republicans in down-ballot races. But those insiders still think it’s a long-shot Trump would actually end his campaign and be replaced by another GOP candidate.

“I’d rather take our chances with nearly anyone else than continue with this certain loser who will likely cost the Senate and much more,” said a New Hampshire Republican — who, like all respondents, completed the survey anonymously.

“The effect Trump is having on down-ballot races has the potential to be devastating in November,” added a Florida Republican. “His negative image among Hispanics, women and independents is something that could be devastating to Republicans. Trump’s divisive rhetoric to the Hispanic community at large has the potential to be devastating for years to come.”

Trump has given no indication that he’s considering quitting, and his campaign insists his perseverance is one of his best attributes.

But two network reports recently suggested senior GOP leaders were eyeing how that process would work, just in case.

A Trump exit from the race after he’s been formally nominated would trigger a rarely used vacancy rule in the national Republican Party’s rulebook. That rule empowers the Republican National Committee — a 168-member panel that includes three GOP leaders from every state and territory — to select a replacement. The RNC is also authorized to reconvene the national convention, which would be all but logistically impossible.

The RNC is extremely sensitive to any suggestion that it — the party establishment — is attempting to supplant the will of grass-roots Republicans, so invoking this process is already fraught with peril. But if the RNC’s 168 members convened to pick a substitute candidate, each state’s votes would be weighted based on the size of their delegation to last month’s convention.

In this scenario, Republicans would likely struggle to find a consensus nominee, but immediate options would include Sen. Ted Cruz (the runner-up in the GOP primary), Trump running mate Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Insiders suggested a handful of replacement candidates: A Florida Republican said Ryan “is the only one who can unite the party,” while multiple others plugged Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But just because GOP insiders want Trump out of the race doesn’t mean they think he will oblige them. Asked about the possibility, a 58 percent majority think it’s certain Trump will stay in through Election Day, including many who want him out of the race. Two insiders compared the odds of Trump dropping out to them winning the Powerball drawing — two extremely unlikely events with relative equal desirability.

“I also wish I could lose 20 pounds, cut 5 shots off my handicap and play the piano,” a New Hampshire Republican added. “None of those things will happen, and neither will Trump drop out.”

“Here is the quandary I find myself in,” an Ohio Republican said.

“While I would love for Trump to drop out and anyone else to take the mantle, that kind of talk will only harden his supporters. We cannot let them think we stole this from them. There has never been a better example of ‘damned if you do, damned if you don't.’”

A number of insiders cited Trump’s ego as proof he won’t slink away from the campaign before voters have their say.

“He is an egomaniac,” a Colorado Republican said. “There is no chance he would voluntarily exit the race.”

“He’s not going anywhere. His ego wouldn’t allow it,” a Virginia Republican added. “He'll dominate the news for the next three months, each day more painful than the last, finally lose, say it was rigged and get a new [television] show.”

Democrats mostly agreed Trump would see his campaign through to the end. A similar percentage, 55 percent, expressed confidence Trump would stay in the race, while 45 percent said it was possible he could drop out.

“Not for a second do I believe that to be a possibility,” said a New Hampshire Democrat. “His ego is way too big for that. It is also too big to entertain the possibility of a loss. Thus, we see this week the beginning of a very vocal narrative about the ‘rigged’ system that may cost him the election. If he loses, and I believe he will, God help us all because Trump and his minions will foment an uprising of epic proportions.”

A handful of insiders said they wanted Trump to stay in, but not because they believe in his ability to win or capability to serve as president. If Trump stays in and loses, they said, it could help the party heal itself after the election.

“Trump won the nomination,” a Michigan Republican said. “He should lose fair and square. Only then will the party base have to reckon with what they've done.”

“I want Trump to feel the blame for this loss,” added an Iowa Republican, “not put it on the doorstep of ‘the Establishment.’”

The Iowa Republican predicted that rumors of a Trump exit are likely only to get louder: “Talk of Trump dropping out will reach a fevered pitch next week, when his poll numbers bottom out,” the Republican said. “We need to brace ourselves.”

These are the members of The POLITICO Caucus, not all of whom participated in this special survey:

Colorado: Ryan Call, Laura Carno, Matt Chandler, Will Coyne, Adam Eichberg, Mark Ferrandino, Cole Finegan, Michael Fortney, Andrew Freedman, Ted Harvey, Craig Hughes, Owen Loftus, Pete Maysmith, Frank McNulty, Karen Middleton, Christopher Murray, BJ Nikkel, Josh Penry, Rick Ridder, Alan Salazar, Janice Sinden, Pat Steadman, Pat Waak, Steve Welchert, Taylor West, Roxane White, Rob Witwer

Florida: Fernand Amandi, Scott Arceneaux, JP Austin, Tim Baker, Dennis K. Baxley, Slater Bayliss, Dave Beattie, Wayne Bertsch, Ron Book, Pamela Burch Fort, Jose Calderon, Kevin Cate, Kelly Cohen, Gus Corbella, Brian Crowley, Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder, Justin Day, Judith Diaz, Nelson Diaz, John Dowless, Ryan Duffy, Jessica Ehrlich, Joe Falk, Alia Faraj-Johnson, Mark Ferrulo, Damien Filer, Marty Fiorentino, Rich Heffley, Nick Iarossi, David Johnson, Eric Johnson, Marian Johnson, Eric Jotkoff, Chris Korge, Jackie Lee, Susan MacManus, Beth Matuga, Fred Menachem, Jon Mills, Joe Mobley, Ben Pollara, Andrea Reilly, Steve Schale, April Schiff, Max Steele, Roger Stone, Richard Swann, Kevin Sweeny, Christian Ulvert, Steve Vancore, Ashley Walker, Andrew Weinstein, Andrew Wiggins, Ryan Wiggins, Rick Wilson

Iowa: Tim Albrecht, Brad Anderson, Rob Barron, Jeff Boeyink, Bonnie Campbell, Dave Caris, Sam Clovis, Jerry Crawford, Sara Craig, John Davis, Steve Deace, John Deeth, Derek Eadon, Ed Failor Jr., Karen Fesler, David Fischer, Ben Foecke, Doug Gross, Steve Grubbs, Tim Hagle, Bob Haus, Joe Henry, Drew Ivers, Jill June, Lori Jungling, Jeff Kaufmann, Brian Kennedy, Jake Ketzner, David Kochel, Chris Larimer, Chuck Larson, Jill Latham, Jeff Link, Dave Loebsack, Mark Lucas, Liz Mathis, Jan Michelson, Chad Olsen, David Oman, Matt Paul, Marlys Popma, Troy Price, Christopher Rants, Kim Reem, Craig Robinson, Sam Roecker, David Roederer, Nick Ryan, Tamara Scott, Joni Scotter, Karen Slifka, John Smith, AJ Spiker, Norm Sterzenbach, John Stineman, Matt Strawn, Charlie Szold, Phil Valenziano, Jessica Vanden Berg, Nate Willems, Eric Woolson, Grant Young

Michigan: Jill Alper, Saul Anuzis, Andrea Bitely, Lori Carpentier, Howard Edelson, Jordan Gehrke, Steve Hood, Darwin Jiles Jr., Joe Lehman, Dennis Lennox, Katie Packer, Ronna Romney McDaniel, John Truscott, Stephanie White, John Yob

Nevada: Mac Abrams, Greg Bailor, Barbara Buckley, Yvanna Cancela, Bob Cavazos, Linda Cavazos, Jim DeGraffenreid, Andrew Diss, Peter Ernaut, Ryan Erwin, Chip Evans, Jay Gerstema, Oscar Goodman, Ryan Hamilton, Dan Hart, Pat Hickey, Zach Hudson, Jeremy Hughes, Megan Jones, Lindsey Jydstrup, Adam Khan, Peter Koltak, Roberta Lange, Sam Liberman, Laura Martin, Michael McDonald, Chuck Muth, Erven Nelson, Kristen Orthman, Neal Patel, Nick Phillips, Jon Ralston, Andres Ramires, Emmy Ruiz, Scott Scheid, Mike Slanker, James Smack, Paul Smith, Jack St. Martin, Mari St. Martin, Daniel Stewart, Brendan Summers, Riley Sutton, Robert Uithoven, Michelle White, Ed Williams, Heidi Wixom

New Hampshire: Charlie Arlinghaus, Arnie Arnesen, Patrick Arnold, Rich Ashooh, Dean Barker, Juliana Bergeron, D.J. Bettencourt, Michael Biundo, Ray Buckley, Peter Burling, Jamie Burnett, Debby Butler, Dave Carney, Jackie Cilley, Catherine Corkery, Corriveau, Fergus Cullen, Lou D’Allesandro, James Demers, Mike Dennehy, Sean Downey, Steve Duprey, JoAnn Fenton, Jennifer Frizzell, Martha Fuller Clark, Amanda Grady Sexton, Jack Heath, Gary Hirshberg, Jennifer Horn, Peter Kavanaugh, Joe Keefe, Rich Killion, Harrell Kirstein, Sylvia Larsen, Joel Maiola, Kate Malloy Corriveau, Maureen Manning, Steve Marchand, Tory Mazzola, Jim Merrill, Jayne Millerick, Claira Monier, Greg Moore, Matt Mowers, Terie Norelli, Chris Pappas, Liz Purdy, Tom Rath, Colin Reed, Jim Rubens, Andy Sanborn, Dante Scala, William Shaheen, Stefany Shaheen, Carol Shea-Porter, Terry Shumaker, Andy Smith, Craig Stevens, Kathy Sullivan, Chris Sununu, James Sununu, Jay Surdukowski, Donna Sytek, Kari Thurman, Colin Van Ostern, Deb Vanderbeek, Mike Vlacich, Ryan Williams

North Carolina: Don Davis, Francis X. De Luca, Anita Earls, Jonathan Felts, Tami L. Fitzgerald, Dylan Frick, Taylor Griffin, Robin Hayes, Morgan Jackson, Patsy Keever, Theresa Kostrzewa, Michael Luethy, Ray Martin, Thomas Mills, Melissa L. Reed, Chris Sgro, Paul Shumaker, Dee Stewart, Brad Thompson, Bruce Thompson, Charlie Wallin, Doug Wilson

Ohio: Jerry Austin, Greg Beswick, Matt Borges, Erica Bruton, Tim Burke, Janet Carson, Jai Chabria, Martha Clark, Bob Clegg, Damareo Cooper, Jo Ann Davidson, Michael Dawson, Bill DeMora, Cindy Demse, Kathy Dicristofaro, Katie Eagan, Michael Gonidakis, Wes Goodman, Joe Hallett, Ian James, Melissa Klide Hedden, David Leland, Nick Martin, Rhine McLin, David Pepper, Molly Shack, Mark R. Weaver

Pennsylvania: Chris Borick, Larry Ceisler, Valentino DiGiorgio, Jason Ercole, Dan Fee, Charlie Gerow, Marcel Groen, Leslie Gromis Baker, Mark Harris, Nan McLaughlin, Aubrey Montgomery, Christopher Nicholas, Nachama Soloveichik, David Sosar, Todd Stephens, Doc Sweitzer, David Thornburgh, Ray Zaborney

Virginia: Ray Allen, Sandra Brandt, Marc K. Broklawski, Patsy Brown, Janet Carver, John Cosgrove, Brian Coy, Doris Crouse-Mays, Tom Davis, Julie Dime, Abbi Easter, Mike Farris, John Findlay, Joe Fitzgerald, Sean Harrison, Margo Horner, Robert Hurt, Gaylene Kanoyton, Chris LaCivita, Sue Langley, Frank Leone, Robert G. Marshall, Tucker Martin, Ed Matricardi, Susan J. Rowland, Peter Snyder, Susan Swecker, Jo Thoburn

Wisconsin: Meg Andrietsch, Mary Arnold, Kevin Barthel, Mike Basford, Rebecca Bonesteel, Barry Burden, Terri Burl, Jim Camery, Patrick Guarasci, Robert Hansen, Gary Hawley, Marian Krumberger, Emily Nehring, Jason Rae, Brandon Scholz, John Zapfel

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/0...#ixzz4GV32zB71

Can G.O.P. Tell Donald Trump, ‘You’re Fired’?

Joe wrote (excerpt):

I must be the only supporter who sees Trump differently, but I still support him and I think it is ok to expose flaws because when they are acknowledged and fixed, you end up with a stronger and better candidate, that's all.

No, you're not the only one. If he does something good, I'm all for acknowledging it. On the other hand, when he does something not so good, I'm all for acknowledging that too. I'm not the facade cheerleader type. The truth is important to me, be it good or bad.

I want Trump to win in the worst way, but I'm not going into this blind. I still have a lot of trust issues with him. He's like a bouncy ball I can't seem to keep up with. He's all over the place on details.

Everything else aside, I don't even want to think about the damage Hillary Clinton would do to this country where the U.S. Supreme Court is concerned. I've heard it said repeatedly that the next President could potentially place 2-3 justices. Can the country survive 3 more justices like Sotomayor, Kagan, or Ginsburg?

The Trump train has been put on the tracks once again. His attorney (Cohen) promises that there will be no more side tracking outbursts that place attention and focus on him (in a negative light of course) moving forward. I expect at least two per month unless he has become an overnight quick study in taking bait by the Dem's which he has proven up until now he is not.

When Trump engages in these tangential outbursts, he is taking himself further away from the White House. Sometimes it may sound as if I am critical of Trump and I am. No one hurts Trump more than Trump and when he does that, he helps the Queen of Corruption get closer to the WH. I don't care what it takes for Trump to get there. Clearly his decision to endorse establishment candidates yesterday helped his campaign, but left many of us scratching our heads.

If he is able to stay on course like this for a few more weeks, he will start to garner the necessary support to outright win the election. Once in the White House, he doesn't have to be as flexible with some of the issues we are concerned about, but may have to do plenty of bending to get there.

Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:57am EDT

One-in-five U.S. Republicans want Trump to drop out: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK | BY GRANT SMITH

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at Crown Arena in Fayetteville, North Carolina August 9, 2016.
REUTERS/ERIC THAYER - RTSM8DY

Nearly one-fifth of registered Republicans want Donald Trump to drop out of the race for the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, reflecting the turmoil his candidacy has sown within his party.

Some 19 percent think the New York real estate magnate should drop out, 70 percent think he should stay in and 10 percent say they "don't know," according to the Aug. 5-8 poll of 396 registered Republicans. The poll has a confidence interval of six percentage points.

Among all registered voters, some 44 percent want Trump to drop out.

That is based on a survey of 1,162 registered voters, with a confidence interval of 3 percentage points. That is 9 points higher than his support for the presidency in the latest Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll registered on Monday.

The figures underscored deep divisions within the Republican Party over Trump's candidacy. A number of prominent Republicans have declined to endorse him in the Nov. 8 election against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, citing his fiery rhetoric and policy proposals such as building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and temporarily banning Muslims from entering the country.

Trump found himself embroiled in yet another controversy on Tuesday after saying at a rally that gun rights activists could act to stop Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices - a comment his campaign said was misinterpreted, but that Clinton's campaign called "dangerous."

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump said at the rally at the University of North Carolina. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know," he continued.

The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees a right to keep and bear arms.

He had previously stirred criticism for engaging in a spat with the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. Republican Senator Susan Collins said on Monday that dispute led her to announce she would not vote for Trump.

In addition, 50 prominent national security experts signed an open letter saying they would not vote for Trump in the fall, saying he "lacks the character, values, and experience" to be president. Trump dismissed the group as part of the Washington establishment that he blames for many of the United States' problems.

To be sure, neither Trump nor Clinton enjoys great popularity. Some 53 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Clinton, who has been accused of mishandling her emails as secretary of state, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

Nearly 63 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump.

Clinton led Trump by more than 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, up from a less than 3-percentage-point lead late last week.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKCN10L0YS

Reuters is a crooked polling company who changed its polling method that it used for 5 years to a different method to try to swing the outcomes to Clinton. As despicable as this was in the middle of a Presidential election, only 3 months from the General Election, it won't work. Americans are smarter than that.

Any "registered voter" dreaming of a free uncontested race for the White House because Trump "dropped out" is a delusional moron, suffering the same sickness, the same mental illness in such grand display by the SICK MENTALLY ILL CORRUPT MEDIA, of which Reuters/Ipsos is a part. Their prayers are "please God or Allah, please make Trump drop out, so we don't have to fix our polls before the election and prove to the world we are an unreliable polling agency due to our own corruption and Hate Trump Mental Syndrome."

Trump isn't dropping out. He's going to win the election and this is what his haters are so terrified of. Not because he'll be a "dangerous" or "reckless" President, but because he'll be one of the greatest Presidents in US history. They aren't afraid of his possibility for failure, they're scared to death of his high probability for success.

Don't Panic Folks, The Establishment is Supposed to Be Against Trump