How the 2012 Republican Convention Rule Committee Could Impact the 2016 Republican Nominee

At the 2012 Republican National convention, the rules committee passed a law that prevented any candidate with fewer than eight states won to be eligible for the Party’s nomination. At the time, this served to keep Ron Paul from overshadowing Mitt Romney on the Party’s largest stage. A Libertarian with strong grassroots support, Paul, threatened Romney’s presence at the convention. In order to prevent Paul from taking the stage, the rule committee passed the eight state rule.[1]

Four years removed from the 2012 convention, the eight state rule could have a much more profound impact at the 2016 convention. If Trump cannot clinch the 1,237 delegates necessary for the nomination, the 2016 Republican Convention would be the first contested convention since 1976. But with the current eight state rule in place, Ted Cruz and John Kasich would not be eligible for the Republican Party’s nomination, as Trump is the only candidate that has won more than eight states.

Currently, many GOP committee members are eager to overturn the rule at the 2016 convention, “ ‘I’m not a big fan of the eight-state threshold. I think that’s an artificial number,’ said David Wheeler, a rules committee member from South Dakota.”[2] Morton Blackwell, a veteran National Committee man, took a different stance on the matter, “Any proposed change will be viewed as to which candidates would be helped and which candidates would be hurt. It’s a classic example of changing the rules in the middle of the game.” He goes on to state that, “It would be widely and correctly viewed as that outrageous power grab.”[3]

In the case of contested convention in 2016, the obscure rule from 2012 will have a drastic impact on the who becomes the Republican’s nominee.

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[1] http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/republican-convention-rules-trump-cruz-221355

[2] ibid

[3] ibid