It's a nice gesture, but it's not going to happen

In my last post, I mentioned that RNC rules do not provide for the "un-nominating" of a candidate.  That was the conclusion Jim Geraghty of National Review- whose article I linked to at the beginning of that post- reached after reading those rules. And it is a very reasonable interpretation.

But it seems that the Free the Delegates people- the group behind the attempt to get a voice vote at the Cleveland convention on the rules, who met the requirements for such a vote, but who had the RNC ignore their own rules and force the matter through on a very questionable voice vote anyway- thinks otherwise.  I just received an email from them which contains the following:

There are several rules that members of the Republican National Committee can use to recall Trump as the Republican nominee. Under Rule 9(a), the Republican National Committee may fill "vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise" of the Presidential nominee. "Otherwise" is open-ended and not defined. However, it is defined elsewhere in the Rules of the Republican Party (when dealing with officers or members) to include disqualification and removal. Who believes that Trump's post-convention behavior - at a minimum - means that he is disqualified from continuing to carry the Republican nomination?

In order to declare the Republican nomination of President of the United States vacant and to fill the vacancy, either the Chairman or just 10% of the voting members of the Republican National Committee need to call a meeting.

This action must be completed urgently and without delay prior to the printing of ballots for the general election.

I'm not sure that "the nominee is the southernmost end of a northbound horse" qualifies under the rule. And this is not an "officer or member"of the RNC; it's the party's nominee for president. Admittedly, if Cleveland taught us anything, it's that a majority of the RNC can get away with pretty much whatever they want, regardless of what the rules say. But ethical questions aside, that begs the question of why the very people who ran roughshod over the sane and decent Republicans at the convention would now reverse themselves and pull a Darth Vader at the last moment, turning away from the Dark Side to which they've already committed their support and their careers.

Unless they were deluded beyond belief, it's not as if they didn't know in their heart of hearts that Little Donnie was going to be obliterated in November while they were running roughshod over fairness and proper procedure at Cleveland!

No, it's not going to happen. Donald Trump will lead the party to a Goldwater-style defeat. It may or may not retain the Senate, but Hillary Clinton's election is unavoidable at this point and realistically sensible conservatives should be working to minimize the damage.

But dumping Trump would be the last chance the GOP has of beating Hillary. And hopeless or not, I've signed the petition these people are circulating. Here's a link to it.

For what it's worth.