Changing the rules? BS! (UPDATES)

This is just the kind of establishment CRAP that's given cause for some of the conservative reservations about a Romney nomination from the beginning. When are the campaign's operatives going to realize they're BAD ideas?!

Levin was livid last night to hear news of the RNC's attempted rule change for a barely convened convention, declaring "Damn it, defeat this RINO power grab!" on his Facebook page Monday afternoon.

Conservatives of all stripes, especially Tea Party activists, this is an attempt to destroy your ability to influence the presidential and vice presidential nomination process in the Republican Party. It is an attempt to eviscerate the input of state parties. It is a brazen assault on the grassroots. And it is sleazy to the core.

If I didn't know better, I'd think Obama was behind it. Instead, Romney's operatives are orchestrating it.

Levin was referencing a report from BuzzFeed over the weekend that described steps taken on Friday by the convention's rules committee "to weaken the power of state conventions and state parties, while consolidating the power of presidential candidates in the nominating process."

Some of the changes — to require that delegations from statewide caucuses and primaries to the convention adhere to the will of voters — weakened the hand of insurgent-type candidates but have been well received by the committee. But a change allowing presidential candidates the right to vet their own delegates to the national convention has many state party officials up in arms — and they are planning to bring it to the convention floor.

The change, pushed by the Romney campaign's top lawyer Ben Ginsburg originally allowed candidates to select all the delegates bound to them in state contests. Now it allows candidates to refuse the delegate, requiring another in his or her stead to be selected by the state.

By last night, we had received news that the backers of the rule change had backed down...

Under a compromise reached late Monday, Romney supporters and GOP leaders agreed to back down from a proposed rule change that effectively would have allowed presidential nominees to choose what delegates represent them at national conventions.

But this morning, it doesn't look like the rules fight is over...Erick Erickson of RedState reports:

At 2:00 p.m. today in Tampa, the Republican National Committee, led by Team Romney, is moving to shut down conservative grassroots activists. I’ve been on the phone with several individuals involved in the fight who tell me that the fight is not over, it is only just starting.

The first rule to be proposed is one that would give the Republican National Committee the power to change rules between conventions with a three-quarters vote of the RNC. One source tells me, “With a Republican President, of course this is doable. Everybody will roll over if a President Romney asks them too. They’ll be able to get Ben Ginsberg’s proposal next year.”

In other words, if Team Romney prevails in this rules change, they don’t have to worry about Ben Ginsberg not getting his way today on the delegate changes. They’ll be able to do it later when the press and grassroots are not watching.

The second rules change would front load winner takes all primaries. Grassroots conservatives point to both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum as reasons to stop this rule. Had there been front loaded winner takes all primaries, neither the Gingrich nor the Santorum campaigns would have been able to get any traction.

“This is going to be a fight on the floor if they don’t back down. They have too much pride to back down and we’re going to humble them,” said one delegate to the convention.

Another tells me, “They’ve gotten social conservatives comfortable with the platform and now that they’re placated [Team Romney] is going to undercut them with this change.”

Bottom line: It could not be more apparent that the Establishment does not want conservatives in power in any way in the Republican Party. They fear this war on women crap, the racist charges and all the other Democrat narratives propagated by a liberal media, but they don't have the spines or intellectual fortitude to fight them, so what do they do...waiver from principle, cave to that elitist media and attempt to suppress the fighters from their side! WTF?!

Keep this crap up, Establishment, and you'll not only split the party (which some would argue that you've done a pretty bang up job thus far)...but you'll absolutely LOSE THIS ELECTION! You CANNOT WIN without conservatives, period. Deal with it...and grow a pair for once in your miserable lives! Face & debunk the Democrat lies with fact, discredit the media narratives, know your political enemies, and stop blaming conservatives for crying out loud!

ADDENDUM: Rush gives more info, insight and fury on this preposterous tactic today...





UPDATE I: Via FreedomWorks...

I just got off the phone with a concerned Florida activist, Laura Noble, who informed me that both of Florida's Rules Committee members, Peter Feaman and Kathleen King, have been removed from the Rules committee and replaced with Romney-appointed delegates.

Clearly anticipating a grassroots backlash against the "compromise" on Rule 15 and the changes on Rule 12 has caused the Romney camp to preemptively replace delegates to ensure they have support on the Rules Committee.

It's enough to make your blood boil. Please call your state's Rules Committee delegates here and ask that they oppose the "compromise" on Rule 15, oppose the changes to Rule 12, and support the full Minority Reports on the Rules.

UPDATE II: Also via FreedomWorks...

Last night there was great optimism after the RNC agreed to compromise on the rule changes in an effort to avoid a floor fight. Unfortunately as a result of that compromise, RNC proposed rule 12, which would allow the RNC to rewrite the rules post convention, free of delegate and grassroots influence, will likely stand.

This new rule could be a huge blow to the grassroots community, the RNC rules committee sets the parameters for how we as a party operate, how we establish the platform and how we choose candidates. Allowing the RNC to change the rules without our influence is a contingency plan for the RNC to keep the power to choose the direction of the GOP out of the hands of patriots like you and me.

The reality is we must pay as much attention to the RNC as we do the DNC, our movement is threatened from both. We have made, and will continue to make a huge impact on the direction of the GOP. The RNC is terrified of our influence, they are worried that we are constantly lurking to hold them accountable to the will of the people, if they weren’t they would not be fighting so hard for rule 12.

FreedomWorks also reported that "there appears to be an effort to gather signatures to push for a floor on the minority report." This is still developing...

UPDATE III: Does this sound like a rule that's been passed 'without objection'? Unbelievable...and please note, this is not just a Ru Paul thing, as many in the media are attempting to frame it. This rule inevitably centralizes power in the RNC, power that's been reserved for delegates from the states. Imagine that, embracing centralization, something grassroots conservatives have been fighting for over the past four years!



And on the Mark Levin Show this evening, Mark reiterated how these kind of moves by the establishment effectively cast the GOP Convention in a lackluster light, fizzling the excitement, "and that is because the Republican Establishment has distanced itself from the American people - the conservatives and the Tea Party. The very movement that allowed for a landslide victory in 2010 is now being suppressed by the Establishment bureaucracy."