Colorado GOP delegates won’t campaign for Trump

By Art Moore

See the WND interview with Colorado delegate Jim Gilbreath:

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CLEVELAND – Jim Gilbreath and his fellow Colorado delegates came to the Republican National Convention “praying for a miracle,” hoping the rules might go their way and allow for a “white knight” candidate to take the place of Donald Trump.

As he headed home to Colorado Springs on Saturday afternoon at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, he told WND that while his party has confirmed Trump as the nominee, he and many others in his delegation are not on board.

“I can tell you that from the Colorado contingent, there will be quite a few people who will not be out helping Trump,” said Gilbreath, who describes himself as a pro-life, pro-religious liberty and pro-Constitution activist.

“The activists are the social conservatives, and they are the ones that are embarrassed to put the (Trump) bumper stickers on their car. How do you win? You can’t.”

In Colorado, Virginia and other swing states, he said, “you’ve gotta have people out there doing the work.”

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“I’ve only seen two Trump bumper stickers on cars,” Gilbreath said. “In the last cycle, there were tons of Mitt bumper stickers. And Mitt lost.”

Why not campaign for Trump simply because standing down could result in a President Hillary Clinton?

“It’s inevitable. It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what the populace is going to do,” he replied.

Gilbreath, who initially campaigned for Dr. Ben Carson and was elected as a Ted Cruz delegate, said that for him, it’s “an integrity issue.”

“Do you want to win the battle or do you want to win the war?” he asked.

“For me, the war is conservatism. If you lose conservatism because you choose Trump, then you may win in this cycle [but lose the war].”

Many Republicans, however, fear that the war might be over if four or eight years of Clinton cement Obama’s “fundamental transformation.”

“It’s quite possible,” Gilbreath replied. “I’m not working against Trump, and I’m not working for Hillary, I’m just saying this is why we came to the convention, is for the values.”

He said that, ultimately, conservatives don’t trust Trump.

“So, if you don’t trust him, how are you going to vote for him?”

The Colorado delegates unsuccessfully sought a “conscience clause” in the convention rules that would allow committed delegates to vote against Trump.

In April, Cruz won all 34 delegates at Colorado’s Republican convention after the state party voted last August to cancel their traditional presidential preference poll in response to the Republican National Committee’s rule to require delegates to support whoever wins the caucus. An angry Trump called it a “crooked deal,” charging Coloradans “weren’t given a vote.”

During one of Trump’s big applause lines in his acceptance speech Thursday night, the Colorado delegation largely remained in their seats, with some clapping and others crossing their arms, the Denver Post reported. One delegate told the paper that voting his conscience means voting for none of the above,” explaining Trump “doesn’t have any core principles.”

WND reported from the convention floor after Trump’s speech Thursday night that a number of delegates who had supported Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were going home more confident in the party’s nominee. A Washington state delegate, however, told WND she will not campaign for Trump.

Prior to the RNC program Thursday night, WND captured on video members of the Colorado delegation being led in prayer:

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Fearful of Trump

Gilbreath said that from his experience of knocking on about 2,000 doors for local candidates, about seven of 10 conservative Republicans “will hold their noses and vote for Trump.”

“They’re gonna do it despite how fearful they are of Trump,” he said.

“Then you get one who says, ‘I don’t care what he does, I trust him.’”

Gilbreath said that about two in 10, usually a married woman, says: “I can’t vote for Trump, because that’s an endorsement for evil. My name goes on this. I can’t do it.”

Colorado GOP delegate Jim Gilbreath (WND photo)

“So, if that’s what the statistics look like in Colorado – I don’t expect that’s true in the Rust Belt or other areas, but probably in Utah, Colorado and area where you have a strong, conservative social bent – he’s gonna lose.”

Gilbreath believes Trump is hurting down-ballot candidates such as Darryl Glenn, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in his state.

“It’s falling down around [Trump] in Colorado,” he said.

Give me something tangible

Gilbreath said he has a hard time believing Trump will come through with strict constructionist Supreme Court justice nominees.

He argued Trump initially named his pro-abortion sister as a possibility and later backtracked on his list of 11 when asked which one would be his top pick, saying they are the “type” of judges he would consider.

“Where’s the accountability in that? Why doesn’t he just go ahead and commit?” Gilbreath asked.

“This is what I’ve been saying for the last month: I can get behind Donald Trump if will just promise to give me one, one pick, off that SCOTUS list of 11 and say, ‘I will resign if I don’t.

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“I have yet to see it. I haven’t seen an apology to Ted Cruz yet, either,” he said, referring to Trump’s attacks against Cruz’s wife and his father.

“So, I’m just looking for something to show me some tangibility,” he said.

Cruz ‘maintained his integrity’

Ted Cruz waves before exiting the stage July 20, 2016 at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (WND photo).
Ted Cruz waves before exiting the stage July 20, 2016 at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (WND photo).

Cruz’s speech Wednesday night ended amid a chorus of boos after he chose not to endorse Trump, and, as WND reported, many Texas delegates, while defending the Texas senator’s  character, expressed disappointment in him.

Gilbreath, however, said he was proud of Cruz, who “maintained his integrity” and showed “he is not a person who will just bow to the pressure.”

He said Cruz’s admonition to “vote your conscience” was a nod to Colorado delegates.

In his speech, Cruz appeared at one point on the verge of an endorsement, saying, “To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November.”

But he then said: “If you love our country and love your children as much as I know that you do, stand and speak and vote your conscience. Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”

Art Moore

Art Moore, co-author of the best-selling book "See Something, Say Nothing," entered the media world as a PR assistant for the Seattle Mariners and a correspondent covering pro and college sports for Associated Press Radio. He reported for a Chicago-area daily newspaper and was senior news writer for Christianity Today magazine and an editor for Worldwide Newsroom before joining WND shortly after 9/11. He earned a master's degree in communications from Wheaton College. Read more of Art Moore's articles here.


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