After an explosive and divisive primary season, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus decreed the national convention to be a place of unity. After all, bringing together the divided factions of the Republican Party was the only chance Donald Trump would have of achieving a victory in November. This convention needed to be a graceful extension of goodwill from Trump and the RNC to the grassroots. But much like 2012, it quickly descended into a hostile rejection of the conservative grassroots.
Ken Cuccinelli, former attorney general of Virginia, along with the Trusted Leadership PAC, recruited me and a few others to build a coalition of RNC Rules Committee members and grassroots delegates. Among these rules members were U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Morton Blackwell, a well-known conservative stalwart on the RNC. Our goal was to craft and implement a rules package that would incentivize states to close their primaries, reward Republican states with more delegates and decentralize RNC power. It is important to note that, at no time, did this coalition pursue the unbinding of delegates, a common media misconception.
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