Several long-time Republicans dissatisfied with the crop of candidates running for president have developed an unorthodox plan to upend what they consider a flawed GOP nomination process.
The chaos envisioned by the anonymous drafters of the idea would be a brokered Republican National Convention that might even lead to the nomination of dream candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the plan—that relies on primary voters voting for none of the above at the ballot — on the condition that the names of the Republicans behind the effort not be named.
“The whole thing came from a couple people who have political experience,” said one person involved with the project, “who are highly anxious about the status quo, who would like to see a better process, one that is more likely to be inviting to any number of these supposed dream candidates.”
The project, the Republican said, grew out of conversations about the perceived weak field and the primary process that rewards good campaigners — and not necessarily able leaders.
Despite their insistence on anonymity, that person said the GOPers behind the idea are not acting on behalf of a particular candidate who would benefit from the idea.
“The primary process is the problem,” the report states. “It has become a process of division, not addition. It is more likely to produce a loser in November 2012 than it is to produce a conservative who can unite the country and win.” (Leaders with Ginni Thomas: Sen. Marco Rubio)
Here’s how the plan would work: “In researching the primary delegate rules of the state Republican Party, we learned that a slate of delegates pledging not to vote for announced candidates but to reserve judgment for the convention in Tampa is possible,” the memo states.
This would allow the delegates to wait until the convention — the drafters say — to decide who is best to be on the party’s ticket.
The drafters say this is a fairer nomination process, as opposed to the current system “where the playing field is tilted to those with enough money and consultants to mobilize a fraction of the voters to win ugly.”
“Polling consistently shows that large pluralities of Republican primary voters are choosing ‘none of the above’ in the 2012 field of candidates … What if the Republican primary voters could vote for ‘none of the above’ or ‘let’s wait until Tampa?”
The documents provided to TheDC state that it’s possible to nominate 1,211 unaffiliated delegates — or 50 percent plus one — to the convention, which would allow this scenario to play out. (PPP to drop Pawlenty from state-level polling against Obama due to poor numbers)
The drafters hope that a brokered convention would lead to voters “rising to their responsibility,” the Republican said, together “to produce a principle conservative nominee who can win.”
“Lets have a real convention,” the Republican said. “Lets have a brokered convention.”