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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

GOP Moderates look to block the Tea Party in Iowa


The Peasants are revolting and the GOP Establishment hates them.

The GOP "Moderates" Strike Back
“Anybody outside of the Chris Christie, Jeb Bush,
Paul Ryan triumvirate is a bad guy.”


The Hill reports that Conservative critics say Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) wants to make it tougher for GOP Senators Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and other Tea Party favorites to win the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

Conservatives believe Branstad wants to get rid of the Iowa Straw Poll, which has helped boost anti-establishment presidential candidates, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

Conservative activists say members of Branstad’s campaign operation have tried to manipulate the rules for the upcoming Polk County GOP convention to ensure the selection of a large bloc of loyal delegates. Polk County is Iowa’s most populous county and has significant influence over the future leadership of the state party.

Branstad’s campaign initially tried to stack the process with a slate of 99 delegates, which included the governor’s family members, donors and current and former staff, according to Republicans involved in the fight over the rules. The delegates selected at the county convention will go on to serve at the district conventions later this year, which will then select the makeup of the state central committee.

"Moderate" Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad

These delegates could decide at the state party convention in June who runs for the open Senate and House seats being vacated due to the retirements of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa).

If no candidate wins at least 35 percent of the vote in the Senate or House primary in June, the GOP state convention will choose the party’s nominee.

Conservatives worry that stacking the state and district conventions, and possibly the state central committee, with party establishment loyalists will undermine the perception of Iowa as an even playing field for presidential candidates in 2016.

“My concern is more the perception by presidential wannabes that the caucus is truly a grassroots driven process, that it’s not vulnerable to control by any one powerbroker,” said Danny Carroll, co-chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. “It needs to be fair and perceived as such in order to be meaningful.

“Establishment Republicans get nervous with candidates like Ted Cruz because they believe that kind of candidate does not play well with the independents and certainly the moderates in the party,” he added. “What they fail to appreciate is how that kind of a candidate so mobilizes the conservative base.”

Conservatives say potential outsider candidates such as Cruz, Paul, Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) would all be adversely affected.

“Anybody outside of the Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan triumvirate is a bad guy,” Steve Deace, an Iowa-based conservative radio host, said of the party establishment’s view of Cruz and Paul.

Read more at: The Hill.com
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