It’s down to the wire. Republican leaders who are adamant against supporting Donald Trump as the party’s standard-bearer are getting ready to launch a 100-day campaign to deny him the presidential nomination, according to the New York Times. And they’re apparently ready to put their money where their mouth is, ready to spend millions to make sure Trump does not get the 1,237 delegates necessary to clinch the nomination.
If all else fails, the Republican leaders are allegedly ready to support a third-party candidate in the general election. Who could be the potential candidate? A few names are being thrown around but former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry are seen as potential choices.
The Times piece contends the stop-Trump movement within the GOP is alive and well—if a bit desperate—shortly after Politico claimed the opposite, publishing a long piece on Friday that said many Republicans think it’s time to give up and accept the real estate mogul’s inevitable nomination. “You’re going to push the big red button and blow up the party, at least in the short term,” said Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, a conservative group. “It’s asinine, it really is.”
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According to the Times though, there continues to be more than a few important Republican leaders who are still eager to do everything they can to stop Trump. Key to that plan is Wisconsin, which votes on April 5 and is seen as the launching pad for the “100-day campaign to deny [Trump] the presidential nomination.”
The conservative Club for Growth, which has already spent millions on ads against Trump, is apparently ready to spend a lot more. The group increased its fundraising fourfold last month, raising $4 million in February, reports Politico.
