Well, the Republican National Circus has come to a close. #NeverTrump was a massive failure, as was a push by the Log Cabin Republicans to create a slightly less hateful Republican platform. Ted Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump, while John Kasich has offered back-handed criticisms and refused to make an appearance at the convention in his home state. Oh, and don’t forget Melania Trump plagiarized part of Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech.
What a good time we’re all having!
Two Georgia players — Secretary of State Brian Kemp and influential lawyer Randy Evans — may not have been on your radar while all the drama was unfolding, but had important roles to play in Trump finally crossing the finish line.
Sec. of State Kemp was one of the 76 Georgia delegates in attendance. He chose to tweet about attending the RNC from his official account.
Glad to be in Ohio with Georgia's delegation for #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/gvcMI4TpVf
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) July 20, 2016
His gleeful attendance comes just days after a reminder to register to vote, you know for whoever you want I’m sure.
https://twitter.com/BrianKempGA/status/755756422210740224
Kemp was also a key force behind Georgia’s new primary date, as Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer pointed out.
Enjoyed seeing my friend and our Secretary of State @BrianKempGA in Cleveland. He was a key architect of the SEC Primary. #RNCinCLE
— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) July 21, 2016
The SEC Primary was part of an effort to make Southern states more relevant to the primary election, by clustering a region’s worth of delegate votes (over 1,000 in this case) into a few days of primary voting.
Oh well, at least no one expects good decision-making from Kemp.
The other Georgia player to note is Randy Evans, a rules master, shaping the way the RNC picked Trump.
He is part of the powerful Denton’s law firm, that, according to the AJC, “represents Gov. Nathan Deal, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and leads the Republican National Lawyers Association as well as Georgia’s judicial nominating commission.”
Behind the scenes, Evans worked with the Rules Committee, helping to secure Trump’s nomination by making sure delegate voting and the chairman’s powers worked in a way most beneficial to that outcome.
Although Evans had to be officially neutral, the AJC notes:
Evans will support the status quo, supporting the Trump and RNC effort to tamp down rebellions — or at least see that they do no damage.
This meant working in the Rules Committee to weed out any anti-Trump folks that could have changed the rules of the game. How did that work? The AJC, again, has the report:
Their goal, Evans said, will be to find 28 anti-Trump votes — one quarter of the voting strength of the entire rules committee. Evans will be among those trying to pull the plug on the effort. “But I understand [the anti-Trump] strategy, and it’s not a bad strategy,” he said.
Donald Trump is now the 2016 presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We do, indeed, live in that unfortunate reality.
But, there is no need to thank Brian Kemp or Randy Evans for their work behind the scenes. I’m sure their faithful service was provided from the bottom of their heart.
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