"ROMNEY AND PRO-GAY SUNUNU STRIKE THE FIRST BLOW AGAINST CONSERVATIVES"
House Speaker John Boehner asked for the nays and
yeas and national television news broadcast the majority voice
against the party rules which would close out many of the
convention delegates from ever being delegates
again.
Boehner then ruled the "ayes" have it and brought the gavel
down. Conservatives who make up a majority of delegates knew the
proposed rules change were not in their interest and clearly voted
no.
A call to have a roll call and division which is routine was ignored.
Several delegations ( Virginia and Maine) were actually
blocked or prevented from getting to the convention due to
parlimentary decisions and actual sabotage.
According to Freedomworks:
Yesterday, the Republican National Committee in Tampa
adopted some rules changes that shift power from the state parties
and the grassroots to the RNC and the GOP presidential nominee.
Former Governor John Sununu of New Hampshire touted the new rules
as providing "a strong governing framework" for the party over the
next four years. But in fact the new rules should be very troubling
and disappointing to conservative grassroots activists, because
they move the national Republican Party away from being a party
that is decentralized and bottom-up toward becoming one that is
centralized and top-down.
And Freedomworks says:
The Romney rules effectively disenfranchise grassroots
delegates, and will thus tend to weaken and splinter the party over
time. They specifically represent a blow to the Tea Party and the
Ron Paul insurgency -- movements that have sprung up precisely
because Washington insiders (of both parties) have abandoned the
traditional bedrock principles of the Republican party, namely,
economic freedom, fiscal common sense, and smaller,
constitutionally limited government.
Indeed, these vibrant new movements (which have attracted
many young people, politically active citizens, and
non-Republicans) represent what could fairly be characterized as
"the Republican wing of the Republican party." They want a real
voice in the Grand Old Party. They've played by the rules. But the
power brokers have now changed the rules, in order to shut them
out. This unexpected hostility forces grassroots conservatives to
reconsider their future within the GOP.
Channel 10 news reports
Sarah Palin reacted to the original measure on her Facebook
page Monday night.
Calling it a "controversial rule change" that is "so very
disappointing," Palin added: "It's a direct attack on grassroots
activists by the GOP establishment, and it must be rejected."
Some delegates reacted angrily to the committee passage of
Rule 16.
"This takes us away from state sovereignty," said Colorado
delegate Florence Sebern. "It takes us away from local control in
our states. And it moves us towards, as a Republican Party, central
control and top-down decisions. That's what this is."
"Are we the Republican Party?" she added.
"My inbox blew up. I had over 8,000 Coloradans emailing and
calling me saying, 'Stand firm on these two issues.'"
Her anger was backed up by others outside the convention. Many
grassroots activists, including tea party sponsor FreedomWorks,
urged opposition to the rules.
JULIANNE THOMPSON
"ROMNEY STRIKES THE FIRST BLOW AGAINST CONSERVATIVES"
Julianne Thompson, a national Romney delegate and a Georgia
State Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, wrote an open letter
to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and members of the Rules
Committee.
"With your current attempt at this rules change, you are
essentially striking the first blow that chips away at that
freedom, and you disenfranchise the very people that turned the
tide for the GOP in 2010 by returning power in the U.S. House of
Representatives to Republicans," Thompson wrote.
Channel 10 News complete report
Freedomworks Report