# The Answer to the GOPs Convention Dilemma **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 13, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079 "2016-04-13T15:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/1 "2016-04-13T15:03:39Z")
At a brokered convention, the GOP need a savior but currently can’t come up with a name that satisfies all divisions in the party. Well, what about someone whose celebrity and name recognition is equal or higher to that of The Donald? Someone who embodies Republican values and is known to be a loyal party member? Someone with actual governmental experience? Someone who is more adapt at working the media than any of the current contenders? Someone who is famed and loved for a prior appearance at the Convention? Ladies and gentledelegates, I give you your next President of the United States of America. Clint Eastwood. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/2 "2016-04-13T15:10:16Z")
I dunno, wasn’t he outdebated by an empty chair a few years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/3 "2016-04-13T16:23:16Z")
I was thinking empty chair for Veep. Still more consensus than what they have now. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/4 "2016-04-13T16:59:54Z")
Piffle. Ronald Reagan. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say the President has to be alive. And he is guaranteed not to piss off large segments of the electorate. And even when he was deep in dementia he made more sense than Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/5 "2016-04-13T17:12:23Z")
Ron Reagan. Many of the folks who would vote for Trump will vote for Ron, mistaking him for his dad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/6 "2016-04-13T17:14:58Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Ron Reagan. Many of the folks who would vote for Trump will vote for Ron, mistaking him for his dad. We’d have another first, an openly gay President. Oh yeah Republicans would love that… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/7 "2016-04-13T17:34:58Z")
I understand Hillary Clinton might be available… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/8 "2016-04-13T17:40:47Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I understand Hillary Clinton might be available… Nyuk nyuk nyuk. Sorry, she’ll be otherwise occupied for the next four to eight years. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/9 "2016-04-13T18:14:44Z")
I am not a Republican and I have zero claims to any credibility for speaking on behalf of the American conservative zeitgeist. Having said that, I can’t imagine why they aren’t doing everything in their power to draft Condoleeza Rice into serving her country at the Convention. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/10 "2016-04-13T18:26:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Nyuk nyuk nyuk. Sorry, she’ll be otherwise occupied for the next four to eight years. Only if she’s found guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/11 "2016-04-13T18:33:15Z")
John Cornyn. Robert Gates. Susana Martinez. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/12 "2016-04-13T18:34:09Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Only if she’s found guilty. You see a signpost up ahead… In other words, Twilight Zone. Fantasyland. BernieBro fever dream. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/13 "2016-04-13T19:08:31Z")
The convention won’t be that competitive nor is it going to be that open to outsiders. The way it’ll go down is no one wins on the first ballot because of all the pledged delegates and no one having a majority. Enough states require pledged delegates to hold on after the 1st ballot and into the second that no one will be able to win on the 2nd ballot. By the 3rd or 4th ballot, Cruz will win. It’s not about what the electorate wants or “all the divisions in the party want.” Cruz has actually built an extremely well ran and effective delegate recruitment machine. A lot of the pledged delegates (including some who will have to vote Trump in the 1st/2nd round) are already really Cruz delegates, and unlikely to flip. Trump on the other hand didn’t even bother inserting himself into the delegate process at all, meaning for a lot of the bound delegates he’s won they are likely to be people who his campaign has **no** relationship with, while Cruz’s does. It’s not a popular vote, it’s a delegate race, and Cruz is the only one who has been playing the delegate loyalties for post first round scenarios. Trump has only really just now started that, and it’s too late. The broader electorate and many Republican powerbrokers really dislike Cruz, but again, they don’t get votes at the convention–the delegates do. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/14 "2016-04-13T19:19:05Z")
Clint Eastwood, the pro-choice, anti-war, often votes for Democrats candidate would assuage conservatives’ fears? I know most people’s memories are of the chair, but you can criticize a candidate (after previously saying many nice things about him), and that doesn’t mean that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. > [@Velocity](#): > > John Cornyn. > > Robert Gates. > > Susana Martinez. These are celebrities to you? I can’t wait until the 2017 trading card series comes out! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/15 "2016-04-13T19:51:00Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > The convention won’t be that competitive nor is it going to be that open to outsiders. The way it’ll go down is no one wins on the first ballot because of all the pledged delegates and no one having a majority. Enough states require pledged delegates to hold on after the 1st ballot and into the second that no one will be able to win on the 2nd ballot. By the 3rd or 4th ballot, Cruz will win. > > It’s not about what the electorate wants or “all the divisions in the party want.” Cruz has actually built an extremely well ran and effective delegate recruitment machine. A lot of the pledged delegates (including some who will have to vote Trump in the 1st/2nd round) are already really Cruz delegates, and unlikely to flip. Trump on the other hand didn’t even bother inserting himself into the delegate process at all, meaning for a lot of the bound delegates he’s won they are likely to be people who his campaign has **no** relationship with, while Cruz’s does. It’s not a popular vote, it’s a delegate race, and Cruz is the only one who has been playing the delegate loyalties for post first round scenarios. Trump has only really just now started that, and it’s too late. > > The broader electorate and many Republican powerbrokers really dislike Cruz, but again, they don’t get votes at the convention–the delegates do. Let’s say that Trump tells the RNC that he will actively sabotage a Cruz campaign. While he has no leverage to get nominated, the RNC might want to find a candidate Trump would endorse. While you are right about Cruz being effective in delegate wrangling, many delegates depend on the party in one way or another, and might be subject to pressure for the good of the party, especially after the second ballot. The RNC might prefer Cruz to Trump, but they know Cruz would get crushed in November, especially if Trump acts up, and might prefer a more electable candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/16 "2016-04-13T20:14:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ladies and gentledelegates, I give you your next President of the United States of America. > > Clint Eastwood. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I was thinking empty chair for Veep. The _Doonesbury_ strips will practically write themselves! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/17 "2016-04-13T20:29:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > At a brokered convention, the GOP need a savior but currently can’t come up with a name that satisfies all divisions in the party. > > Well, what about someone whose celebrity and name recognition is equal or higher to that of The Donald? Someone who embodies Republican values and is known to be a loyal party member? Someone with actual governmental experience? Someone who is more adapt at working the media than any of the current contenders? Someone who is famed and loved for a prior appearance at the Convention? > > Ladies and gentledelegates, I give you your next President of the United States of America. > > Clint Eastwood. I don’t know if you’re being serious or not, but why on earth would he accept? And he’s like 200 years old, too. > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > The convention won’t be that competitive nor is it going to be that open to outsiders. The way it’ll go down is no one wins on the first ballot because of all the pledged delegates and no one having a majority. Enough states require pledged delegates to hold on after the 1st ballot and into the second that no one will be able to win on the 2nd ballot. By the 3rd or 4th ballot, Cruz will win. > > It’s not about what the electorate wants or “all the divisions in the party want.” Cruz has actually built an extremely well ran and effective delegate recruitment machine. A lot of the pledged delegates (including some who will have to vote Trump in the 1st/2nd round) are already really Cruz delegates, and unlikely to flip. Trump on the other hand didn’t even bother inserting himself into the delegate process at all, meaning for a lot of the bound delegates he’s won they are likely to be people who his campaign has **no** relationship with, while Cruz’s does. It’s not a popular vote, it’s a delegate race, and Cruz is the only one who has been playing the delegate loyalties for post first round scenarios. Trump has only really just now started that, and it’s too late. > > The broader electorate and many Republican powerbrokers really dislike Cruz, but again, they don’t get votes at the convention–the delegates do. Thank-you for bringing some sanity into into yet another “the sky is falling” thread about the GOP’s convention. It won’t be as clean as ones in the past, and Cruz is certainly not an ideal candidate, but it will not be some end-of-the-world scenario where electors are jumping out of balcony windows. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/18 "2016-04-13T20:42:58Z")
Colin Powell. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/19 "2016-04-13T20:49:42Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I am not a Republican and I have zero claims to any credibility for speaking on behalf of the American conservative zeitgeist. Having said that, I can’t imagine why they aren’t doing everything in their power to draft Condoleeza Rice into serving her country at the Convention. Condoleeza “Secretary of state during one of the biggest foreign policy screw-ups in the story of the country” Rice? ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079/20 "2016-04-13T21:08:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ladies and gentledelegates, I give you your next President of the United States of America. > > Clint Eastwood. He’s got my vote. Punk. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-answer-to-the-gops-convention-dilemma/752079.md?page=2)