Political Party Rules for $1200: What happens when Trump folds or else is found guilty?

[Ford_Prefect]

By this I mean that he either is taken out of the race due to gross incompetence, has a very public "moment" in which he clearly loses the capacity to continue however bizarrely to run, or he is found guilty of criminal or civil charges which make it impossible for him to continue. As much as that may sound wishful, or even CT to some of you I fully expect one of these conditions to occur quite soon. The writing is SO on on the wall.

When it happens someone high up in the GOP will have to do something. I'm wondering what will be done and who will it be done by, or at least who will be done by it? I don't see them taking the ball and going home. IMO too much is at stake for them not to have a visible candidate waving the GOP banner even if its been shredded.

What happens to the GOP candidacy for President? Does it go to the next highest primary vote count (Cruz)? Does the party leadership declare Trump incapable (or some other legalistic term) and appoint the candidate of their choice arbitrarily, regardless of the primary results or other "due process&quot whatever that may amount to in current Republican party parlance)?

What becomes of the funds and personnel gathered by the Republican Party to run the GOP presidential campaign on the ground? What happens to the money, if any remains, that Trump has collected to run his campaign?

I would prefer that we stick to the politically possible rather than the fantastic, even though Trump appears to have destroyed that boundary.

Cheap shots will not count, nor will obvious slurs. They really will try to salvage something from this and I'd like to see if we can figure out what they might do since that may change the direction and content of the campaign in BOTH parties.

[meow2u3]

1. IIRC, it's the party that'll pick a candidate

I am not a repuke, so I don't know for sure, but when Sen. Wellstone was killed in the plane crash, the Minnesota Dems picked Mondale to run in his place.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. There is no process to "take him out". He is the republican

candidate for president. I really don't get the continued delusional belief that somehow some other structure of control exists that will somehow step in and adjust the situation. Not only is he in until the election, he will exceed expectations and has a serious shot at winning.

[jberryhill]

4. It's a replay of the pre-convention nonsense

Or "McCain will have to ditch Palin"

[Ford_Prefect]

7. My assumption is that there is some function within the GOP party rules

which as it so often does in other contracts spells out what is the limit of behavior or other condition by which a person is qualified to run as the candidate. The exit clause if you will.

I do not expect some sort of Republican white knight to save the party. I do suspect that there is something like a sanity clause, or morality clause, all current evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, which would invalidate the GOP candidate's control of the party.

I do not know who would have the authority to initiate such an action or who would carry it through on behalf of the Party. Reince Priebus maybe? Sharon Day, Mitch McConnell, or Paul Ryan? Each has standing within the GOP that could lead to that change taking place.

I understand that the GOP has serious "reality" issues. I don't see the universe as self correcting except by actions of gravity. I do think he's going down one way or the other, or the other.

I don't underestimate his power as a candidate nor the ferocity of his adherents. I do think he's personally already gone down Joe McCarthy blvd. and is headed for the wall at dead man's curve.

[Glamrock]

3. I agree

If he continues to fall in the polls, he'll drop out. He said it at the beginning of the campaign. And he's laying the groundwork for it already. "The whole thing is rigged, the whoooole thing is rigged, believe me, believe me. Everybody knows it. Cmon, what? It's obvious. It's obvious. You know... Bill and crooked Hillary right? I mean Ted Cruz tried it back a few months ago but, it didn't work. I mean, we beat lying Ted. Beat him bad. We had wonderful numbers, terrific numbers let me tell you. 16 candidates we beat. And some of em were pretty good, some of em were pretty good. But that lying Ted, and little Marco. Little Marco. You know he was supposed to be the rising star of the Republican party. Couldn't even win his home state. Very sad, very sad. But yeah, lying Ted tried it but, I mean the Clinton's? Listen it's fixed , it's fixed. Been saying it for weeks. So there's just no point. I am no longer seeking the presidency. Blah bla blah bla blah blah blah."

P. S. Helpful tip: It'll feel much better if you do the jerk off motion during the blah blahs

[stcsatty]

5. fuck off trump

i think trump should have left awhile ago

[stcsatty]

6. shouts to clinton shes about to trump you

i think trump needs to be shown "the map of the world" in
words i think he needs to be full mooned.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Did I say I told you so? ...And now from ABC News/Rawstory

Republicans think Trump might quit — so they’re scrambling to find a replacement: ABC News

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/republicans-think-trump-might-quit-so-theyre-scrambling-to-find-a-replacement-abc-news/

Source: RawStory/ABC News

Republican officials are so angry at Donald Trump and his imploding campaign that they’re considering replacing him at the top of the ticket just two weeks after nominating him.

The GOP nominee angered party officials by refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain in their primary races, repeatedly insulting a Gold Star family, joking about receiving a Purple Heart and removing a noisy baby from a campaign rally — all in about four hours Tuesday afternoon.

Jon Karl, the chief White House correspondent for ABC News, reported Wednesday morning that Republican officials were scrambling to plan for the possibility that Trump might suddenly quit the presidential race.

“This is absolutely unprecedented,” Karl reported. “First of all, I am told RNC chairman Reince Priebus is furious, that he has had multiple discussions with Trump telling him he needs to drastically change course. But here’s the news, I am told senior officials at the party are actively exploring what would happen if Trump dropped out, how to replace him on the ballot.”

and this says it all:

“This is absolutely unprecedented,” Karl reported. “First of all, I am told RNC chairman Reince Priebus is furious, that he has had multiple discussions with Trump telling him he needs to drastically change course. But here’s the news, I am told senior officials at the party are actively exploring what would happen if Trump dropped out, how to replace him on the ballot.”

Karl said the Republican Party could not force Trump out of the race now that he’s their nominee, but he might solve their problem by dropping out.

“He would have to go out voluntarily, then it would be the 168 members of the RNC, through a complicated process, that would pick a new candidate,” Karl said. “It would have to happen by early September.”

[sofa king]

9. Here you go:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/prod-static-ngop-pbl/docs/Rules_of_the_Republican+Party_FINAL_S14090314.pdf

Note in particular Rule No. 9

RULE NO. 9
Filling Vacancies in Nominations

(a) The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for President of the United States or the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.

(b) In voting under this rule, the Republican National Committee members representing any state shall be entitled to cast the same number of votes as said state was entitled to cast at the national convention.

(c) In the event that the members of the Republican National Committee from any state shall not be in agreement in the casting of votes hereunder, the votes of such state shall be divided equally, including fractional votes, among the members of the Republican National Committee present or voting by proxy.

(d) No candidate shall be chosen to fill any such vacancy except upon receiving a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the election.

____________________

Note that this gives the RNC exactly what they want, the excuse to convene quickly (within 5 days of a resignation) and to select their own candidate without any input from the people. That lets 'em completely bypass both Cruz and Pence. Chris Christie has already seen the writing on the wall, obviously....

There does not appear to be a direct provision for removing Trump, but that's only one rule-change away. They won't need it, though. What we're seeing this week is part of a massive public campaign to force Trump out of the race, which certainly spawns in part from severe national security violations. Seriously, at this point the only thing publicly missing in his reciprocal relationship with a foreign nuclear power is a paycheck stub in Cyrillic.

Many of you think that Trump is too narcissistic to get out, but I beg to differ. He's already fallen silent today, after spending much of yesterday furiously projecting his own crimes onto Mrs. Clinton, trying to tie her to the Russians. Crush his wafer-thin self-esteem and the narcissist crumbles into depression and accurate self-assessment.

Give him a choice between prison and continuing as he is, especially in this moment of weakness, and he'll take it.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Well what do ya know about that! (favorite Jack Benny ironic response)

I think I recall there being something in the party rules about respecting and defending the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution, but that seems to be an optional clause.

So now who do they toss up on the stage, more red meat for the mob? Or an elitist prince with portfolio, or an immoral Texan schmuck who pretends to be American but really isn't sure he wants to be?

Or does Reince Priebus tear off the mask, take the stage and expose the real puppet master at work?

Who ever it finally turns out to be they want that one to say most of what the early Trump version said, without the word salad and the and most of the personal insults. I've said before that they want to say much of what Trump WAS saying out loud without the baboon act that was Trump saying it.

They would be quite happy if it was Cruz, or Rubio, or Kaisch who spoke most of the nasty angry stuff, with just a bit more reserved style and just a tiny bit less delusional fantasy, to give the appearance on camera of a slightly more human presentation.

[sofa king]

11. At first I was sure it WOULD NOT be Cruz.

Part of the reason the GOP is in this mess is because they hated Cruz so much that they tried to cancel him out with Trump.

But now that I think of it more, even though it's still almost 100 days to go, I have never seen a more spectacular reversal of opinion in a Presidential race. Mrs. Clinton acted perfectly competent at the exact time she needed to, while Trump did the opposite. Trump is losing it, but at least as important is the fact that Mrs. Clinton is winning it.

But if Trump leaves, they can use Cruz to keep the rednecks interested while the GOP focuses on holding onto something in Congress, and permanently dash all of Cruz's Presidential aspirations forever with a near-certain crushing defeat.

He's a piece of trash, so why not make him the throwaway candidate?