Some conservative leaders are looking into a campaign to set up a third-party candidate for president, according to a memo circulated by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, reports
The New York Times.
Former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry were mentioned as potential nominees. Coburn has said Trump "needs to be stopped."
Coburn told
NewsOK, "The Times is wrong," and when asked if he was interested in running for president, Coburn said, "No."
Perry has said he remains committed to supporting Ted Cruz.
The first line of attack, according to the Times, requires delegate-by-delegate lobbying, if Trump does not come into the convention with the necessary 1,237 delegates required for the nomination.
Dave McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth said there remains a "winnable race" for a "free-market conservative that's not Donald Trump."
An independent candidate could get on the ballot in dozens of states, or seek the Libertarian Party's nomination. Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark said the party might be open to a new candidate, "but you'd better be a pretty impressive man off the street."
The third-party plan, according to
Breitbart News, could lead to a vote split that would benefit the Democratic presidential nominee.
However, that loss would also keep the Republican Party out of Trump's control.
In an interview with Breitbart News,
Newt Gingrich said Kristol's brokered-convention plan could not "magically change the trajectory of history" and "it's goofy."
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