Romney Precedent
Apart from the current candidates, some RNC members have a bitter aftertaste from an obscure skirmish over rules at the 2012 convention. Romney backers raised the bar for how candidates could qualify on the convention ballot, in order to avoid any symbolic floor votes for Ron Paul.
"I really didn't like what happened in 2012," says committee member Peter Feaman. "The Romney folks silenced it with the rule change — we didn't need to do this, and it alienated the Ron Paul supporters — and for what? It was like taking a fly off someone's forehead with an ax," he said.
When those rules were brought to a voice vote on the floor, the delegates cries of "no" sounded about as loud as the "yes" votes, according to a review of the footage.
Image: At the 2012 Republican convention
At the 2012 Republican convention, the prompter for Speaker Boehner's remarks showed he would find delayed voted "yes" on a rules package before the vote was actually held. mckenziedog / YouTube
Speaker Boehner deemed the voice vote a yes, though, and the rules were adopted. As some delegates would later complain, the official teleprompter even scripted Boehner saying the "ayes have it" before the vote occurred (the moment was caught on tape).
The new Speaker, Paul Ryan, will chair this year's convention, a role he mentioned Thursday while noting there's a "perception" that an "open convention" is likely.
Connect With Us