Much to the disdain of many ant-Trump RINO’s, Donald Trump has been polling well among Republicans in the upcoming presidential primaries.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah recently proposed a plan that he believer will prevent the nomination of Trump as the Republican Party’s candidate for president.
In an opinion piece, Romney suggested that donors and influencers should pressure candidates to withdraw from the primary if they do not have a good chance of winning before February 26th.
“Republican megadonors and influencers—large and small—are going to have to do something they didn’t do in 2016: get candidates they support to agree to withdraw if and when their paths to the nomination are effectively closed. That decision day should be no later than, say, Feb. 26, the Monday following the contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina,” Romney wrote.
“Left to their own inclinations, expect several of the contenders to stay in the race for a long time. They will split the non-Trump vote, giving him the prize. A plurality is all that is needed for winner-take-all primaries,” Romney noted.
“Our party and our country need a nominee with character, driven by something greater than revenge and ego, preferably from the next generation. Family, friends and campaign donors are the only people who can get a lost-cause candidate to exit the race. After Feb. 26, they should start doing just that.”
This would theoretically narrow down the field, allowing one viable non-Trump candidate to emerge and compete with him for the GOP nomination.
Romney’s suggestion comes because of his own history with Trump. The two men have had a tumultuous relationship over recent years – Trump endorsed Romney for U.S Senate in 2018 but since then has attacked him on social media, referring to him as “a fool who is playing right into the hands of the Do Nothing Democrats!”.
Moreover, both during and after his presidency, Romney was an outspoken critic of Trump’s policies and actions – he voted to convict Trump after impeachment in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
The proposed plan could be seen as a desperate attempt by some members of the GOP to keep Trump out of office once again.
It remains unlikely that this strategy will succeed as a large number of Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nomination which could work against Romney’s scheme if they don’t drop out soon enough – especially if they aren’t able to secure enough support from donors or influencers before February 26th as Romney suggested.
This could cause many votes against Trump to be split amongst multiple candidates thereby increasing his chances at clinching victory in early-voting states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina where plurality wins are all it takes according to Romney himself.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how this situation develops over time leading up until primary season next year – whatever happens though; only time will tell who becomes victorious in what promises to be an intriguing race towards becoming commander-in-chief once more!
