I may have made a mistake burning my Georgia GOP state convention credentials. This morning, Erick wrote that the delegates can vote to unbind themselves.

I was incredulous, and questioned him. It turns out that yes, in all but five states, if the convention votes to change the rules, the GOP can indeed unbind delegates on the first ballot.

Here’s the deal: If Trump thinks he doesn’t need to unify the GOP, then I say to hell with unity. If the delegates have the backbone and means to shut Trump out, then so be it. Let Trump go third party.

Whatever the “free the delegates” plan is, it’s a heck of a longshot.

The idea is, at best, a complete long shot because it would require the 112-member convention rules committee to agree to such a change, and delegates on the convention floor to support it as well. Radio host Ian Bayne unveiled the idea, labeled Save Our Party, last Friday after Trump’s last GOP opponent dropped out.

I reached out to Bayne, who told me “If Trump (really Cruz) delegates hold out at a separate location and don’t show up for a vote, there will continue to be so many votes that eventually all delegates will be completely free to vote how they want.”

Essentially Bayne wants Cruz-supporting Cleveland delegates to hole up until after the first ballot. Written on the website saveourparty.com:

Organize separately as delegates to the 2016 Republican convention at an undisclosed location until such a time as we can not be held to a vote for any particular candidate; Work together to agree upon an acceptable nominee that will, above all else, nominate a member of the Supreme Court that will serve in the spirit of our founding documents; Nominate a Republican candidate that will serve as a caretaker of our Constitution and our rule of law for a period of 4 years; We, as Delegates, are the last line of defense, and we will act within our authority to live up to that responsibility.

I’m not sure how this plan would work out–it’s for the lawyers to kick around–and I think the rules committee would have to go along, no matter what.

If the plan succeeded, I’d expect the GOP to go up in flames. I’d burn down the party to keep Trump from hijacking it. Not everyone agrees on that. At this point, conservatives are in full rout, every man for himself, with no banner under which to gather.

My brother compared it to the Union troops at the first battle of Bull Run.

On the day of the battle, July 21, 1861, politicians, other notables from Washington society, and their wives, packed picnic baskets and drove to the hills around Manassas to witness the defeat of the Confederacy. McDowell’s attack at Bull Run Creek almost succeeded, but the Confederates stopped a last strong Union assault. Under General Thomas Jackson, who resisted the Union advance “like a stone wall” (and was thereafter known as “Stonewall” Jackson), the Confederates counterattacked, screaming the “rebel yell” at the top of their lungs. Already haggard by the battle in which nearly 3000 of their compatriots died, a wave of panic issued through the Union troops, who retreated in a rout back to Washington, along with the ladies and gentlemen of Washington society. However, the heavy losses also suffered by the Confederate side (nearly 2000) prevented their pursuit of the Federals. In the wake of Manassas/Bull Run, Lincoln increased the size of the army, and both sides learned the lesson that it was not going to be a quick and easy war.

The Washington society elites and routed troops jousted each other on the clogged, muddy roads back to the Potomac bridges and the safety of D.C. Along the way, they shed their weapons, picnic baskets, and whatever they couldn’t easily carry.

We have former governors Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, along with sitting Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts pulled along with the panicked crowd. We’ve got millions of conservative voters thinking about giving up on what is not going to be a quick and easy war.

I say fight. I say go full Samson. I say become William Tecumseh Sherman and march all the way from Cleveland to the sea. If the GOP wants to self-destruct, let it happen, but don’t let a charlatan hijack it.

#FreeTheDelegates