The Tea Party Update:
GOP Discusses “Nuclear Option” in Closed-Door Meeting
It’s been a while since the days of Ralph Nader and Ross Perot but we might actually have a third party candidate this year. According to Politico, three conservative leaders of the increasingly desperate #nevertrump movement are discussing the nuclear option, a third party candidate.
The more votes Cruz and Kasich split, the better for Trump. The fact that many voters continue to support and vote for John Kasich despite the fact that he has been mathematically eliminated is spreading despair to some conservatives in the party base.
At this point Ted Cruz would need full support from all anti-trump forces to win the nomination outright, even with a Kasich endorsement he still may not pull it off.
Politico has the story:
Three influential leaders of the conservative movement have summoned other top conservatives for a closed-door meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., to talk about how to stop Donald Trump and, should he become the Republican nominee, how to run a third-party “true conservative” challenger in the fall.The organizers of the meeting include Bill Wichterman, who was President George W. Bush’s liaison to the conservative movement; Bob Fischer, a South Dakota businessman and longtime conservative convener; and Erick Erickson, the outspoken Trump opponent and conservative activist who founded RedState.com.“Please join other conservative leaders to strategize how to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination,” the three wrote in an invitation obtained by POLITICO that recently went out to conservative leaders, “and if he is the Republican nominee for president, to offer a true conservative candidate in the general election.”
This is not the first group to discuss the third party strategy, but this particular group is the most significant since it has very influential members.
All GOP contenders took a pledge not to run as a third party candidate and agreed to support the republican nominee no matter who it is. Marco Rubio took that pledge but also says that Ted Cruz is the only conservative left in the race and that it becomes harder and harder to support Trump everyday.
A third party conservative candidate might sound far fetched but Politico confirms it is actually being discussed.
Tags: Bill Wichterman, Bob Fischer, Donald Trump, Erick Erickson, Marco Rubio, RedState, Ted Cruz, Third Party
