‘I Can Watch It on TV’: Excuses for Republicans Skipping a Donald Trump Convention
By JEREMY W. PETERS
nytimes.com
A wave of prominent Republicans have announced their intention to skipthe party’s national convention in Cleveland this summer, the latest signthat Donald J. Trump, who last week secured the delegates needed to clinchthe Republican presidential nomination, continues to struggle in his effortto unite the party behind his candidacy.
The list of those who have sent regrets includes governors and United Statessenators — almost all facing tough re-election fights this year — and lifelongparty devotees who have attended every convention for decades. Some arerenouncing their seats like conscientious objectors.
“I could not in good conscience attend a coronation and celebration ofDonald Trump,” wrote one Indiana delegate, Josh Claybourn, in a blog postresigning his position.
The coolness toward Mr. Trump amounts to a remarkable rebuke. A broadrange of party leaders are openly rejecting the man who will be theirnominee. And the July 18-21 convention, usually a moment of publiccatharsis for political parties after contentious primaries, is shaping up tobe another reminder of the disarray and disunity that is still rocking theRepublican Party after a bitter 17-way fight for the nomination.
Even the two highest-ranking Republicans in the convention’s host state ofOhio — Gov. John Kasich and Senator Rob Portman, who is fighting to holdonto his seat — say they do not know if they will set foot in the conventionhall.
Mr. Kasich, who only four weeks ago quit the presidential campaign and hasnot endorsed Mr. Trump, has no idea “what role if any he will have,” aspokesman said. He will be in Cleveland that week but has no plans, as ofnow, to partake in any official convention activities.
Several other of Mr. Trump’s former rivals for the nomination have saidthey will not attend or have not committed. Jeb Bush, former governor ofFlorida, will not be there. Neither will Senator Lindsey Graham of SouthCarolina.
“I’m sure it will be fun, I’m sure it will be entertaining,” Mr. Graham saidlast week. “And I can watch it on TV.”
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is a delegate as well as a formerpresidential candidate, has yet to decide. “T.B.D.,” a spokesman said. “Theschedule is still being firmed up.”
At least two former competitors of Mr. Trump’s are expected to attend: Gov.Chris Christie of New Jersey and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who lastweek offered his services as a speaker should they be wanted.
Among those staying away include some major corporations like Coca-Cola,Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.
And some who do plan to be there might find the atmosphere somewhatuncomfortable.
Mr. Trump has still not fully reconciled with Speaker Paul D. Ryan, theconvention’s chairman, who said in early May that he was not ready tosupport the nominee and would relinquish the role if asked.
Mr. Trump is also at odds with the head of the Republican GovernorsAssociation, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, who will lead her state’sdelegation in Cleveland. Ms. Martinez has also withheld her endorsement, aslight that evidently prompted Mr. Trump to attack her performance inoffice last week.
Scheduling conflicts seem to be a surprisingly commonexcuse for missing an event that was announced a yearand a half ago. Others offered mushy noncommitments.
“Just as they’re firming up the schedule, it kind of lookslike there’s a lot of stuff for me to do,” said Senator RonJohnson of Wisconsin, explaining why he probablycouldn’t make it.
Asked if Mr. Trump had anything to do with his reluctance, Mr. Johnson,who is in a heated re-election campaign, broke into a big smile and said,“Oh, of course not.”
Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, a state Mr. Trump has said he believes theRepublicans can wrest from Democrats this year, also might have moreimportant things to do at home. “Michigan has some pressing challengesright now,” a spokeswoman said last week, “and state issues are hisforemost priority.”
Mr. Snyder is one of at least nine Republican governors who arenoncommittal or skipping the convention: Mr. Kasich, Brian Sandoval ofNevada, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Bruce Rauner of Illinois, LarryHogan of Maryland, Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, Matt Mead ofWyoming and Nathan Deal of Georgia.
“I don’t even want to be involved,” Mr. Hogan said in an interview inMarch. “It’s a mess. I hate the whole thing.”
Just about every Republican senator in a difficult race is staying away,fearful of what the association with Mr. Trump might do to reputations backhome. Senator John McCain of Arizona will join four of the five livingformer Republican nominees in skipping the convention. “I’m in a verytough re-election campaign,” he said last week, explaining his expectedabsence.
Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshireand Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, two of themost endangered Republicanincumbents, will also be nowhere nearCleveland that week.
Mr. Portman, another senator in a tightrace, said his time would be better spentholding a miniconvention of his own inCleveland, which he plans to do with events for veterans, the homeless andhis volunteers.
“I’ve spoken at every convention since 1996,” he said. “Nobody listens,nobody covers it.”
This mass avoidance might seem, on its surface, to be yet another exampleof party elites snubbing Mr. Trump in the kind of rejection that he wouldwelcome as a professed political outsider. But it also reflects a deeper andmore dangerous problem for him: Mr. Trump’s popularity with Republicansremains uncomfortably low.
The candidate’s own party generally delivers support in the 90 percentrange. (Mitt Romney won 93 percent of his own party in 2012.) Mr.Trump’s support among Republicans, according to the latest NBCNews/Wall Street Journal Poll, was 86 percent.
And the snubs keep coming from the upper echelons of the party and therank and file. In New Hampshire, the former senator Judd Gregg wasinitially a delegate for Mr. Bush. But when Mr. Bush suspended hiscampaign, Mr. Gregg became unbound. He has instead opted to skip theconvention, telling a local television station, “Don’t like large crowds.”
The Indiana delegate who renounced his place at the convention, Mr.Claybourn, would have been bound to vote for Mr. Trump on the firstballot, a step he said he simply could not stomach.
“Donald J. Trump is the Republican Party’s nominee,” Mr. Claybourn said.“But he will not be my nominee, and I will not attend a conventioncelebrating his candidacy.” |
