Draft for Review8/11/16 – 9:30 am

An Open Letter to Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National CommitteeIn every election cycle, the Republican National Committee (RNC) must makedicult decisions in the closin! months about "here to allocate its limited resources # money, time, sta$, and ads # to ensure the best possible opportunities %or the Party&s success'iven the catastrophic impact that onald *rump&s losin! presidential campai!n "ill have on do"n+ballot enate and -ouse races, "e ur!e you to immediately suspend all discretionary RNC support %or *rump and %ocus the entirety o% the RNC&s available resources on preservin! the OP&s con!ressional ma.orities'  *he si!natories to this letter have "orked "ith Republican candidates and elected ocials at nearly every level' /e have served as %ormer members o% Con!ress and sta$ers at the RNC, in every Republican administration since President Rea!an, on the last seven OP presidential campai!ns, in leadership and personal oces in both the -ouse and enate, as !rassroots "orkers at the state and local level, and as dele!ates to OP conventions' /e believe that onald *rump&s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record+breakin! unpopularity risk turnin! this election into a emocratic landslide, and only the immediate shi%t o% all available RNC resources to vulnerable enate and -ouse races "ill prevent the OP %rom dro"nin! "ith a *rump+embla0oned anchor around its neck'  *his should not be a dicult decision, as onald *rump&s chances o% bein! elected president are evaporatin! by the day' ince the OP convention, less than a month a!o, he has alienated millions o% voters o% all parties by1

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Attackin! old tar %amilies o% soldiers "ho died servin! their country2

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3r!in! a hostile %orei!n !overnment to intervene in a 3'' election2

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u!!estin! that !un o"ners take action a!ainst his opponent i% she is elected2

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Repudiatin! our NA*O treaty obli!ations to protect our allies2

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Reportedly e4pressin! interest in the preemptive use o% nuclear "eapons2

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54posin! his total i!norance o% basic %orei!n policy matters2

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tatin! his admiration %or violent %orei!n autocrats2

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Re%usin! to disclose any o% his past ta4es, includin! those not under audit2 and

 

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eliberately and repeatedly lyin! about scores o% issues, lar!e and small'  *hose recent outra!es have built on his campai!n o% an!er and e4clusion, durin! "hich he has mocked and o$ended millions o% voters, includin! the disabled, "omen, 6uslims, immi!rants, and minorities' -e also has sho"n dan!erous authoritarian tendencies, includin! threats to ban an entire reli!ion %rom enterin! the country, order the military to break the la" by torturin! prisoners, kill the %amilies o% suspected terrorists, track la"+abidin! 6uslim citi0ens in databases, and use e4ecutive orders to implement other ille!al and unconstitutional measures'  *hose dis7uali%yin! elements o% *rump&s personality and positions are re8ected in his plummetin! support' As respected pollin! analyst Nate ilver recently "rote, 9recent :o4 Ne"s, 6arist Colle!e and N;C Ne"s</all treet  =ournal national polls sho

 

" *rump trailin! Clinton by > to ?@ percenta!e points, mar!ins that "ould make %or the lar!est !eneral election blo"out since ?>@ i% they held'BCommentin! on the 6arist poll,

The Washington Post 

 said, 9 *hose numbers are, to put it bluntly, shockin!' 6itt Romney "as never do"n by that much toPresident Obama in D?2 his "orst poll "as a survey in =une %rom ;loomber!that had him do"n ?E, "ith @D percent o% the vote'B On Clinton&s seven+pointlead in the pollin! avera!e, the article continued, 9Relative to 5lection ay inDD@, DD and D?, ClintonFs lead is more than t"ice that o% the eventual victor at this point' 9 Accordin! to ilver, "hose analysis correctly picked @> o% the GD states in theDD presidential election and all GD states in D?, current pollin! !ives  *rump barely a ?G percent chance o% bein! elected president in November'  *hat pollin! pro.ects a potential EGD electoral vote blo"out %or -illary Clinton, includin! a s"eep o% every battle!round state %rom :lorida to Pennsylvania, Ohio, 6ichi!an, /isconsin, 6innesota, Colorado, Hir!inia, and North Carolina' *rump&s across+the+board collapse has put even Republican bastions like eor!ia and Ari0ona in play' As you kno", there are very rarely lar!e shi%ts in support at this late sta!e in a presidential election cycle, particularly "ith t"o candidates as "ell kno"n to the public as the current nominees' ;eyond *rump&s likely electoral %ailure, his actions to"ard his %ello" Republicans should dis7uali%y him %rom receivin! any %urther support' ince "innin! the primaries, *rump has claimed he "ants to uni%y the party but instead has doubled do"n on vicious and ven!e%ul attacks on %ello" Republicans, includin!1